Skiing definitely demands a great deal from your body..mostly coordination and balance. Coordination can sometimes be a tricky thing, but at least, in this case, it can be worked on. Of course, the issue with lack of coordination when skiing is you risk falling and breaking your body (which would be unfortunate).
I recently started skiing again after a long break. By “break” I mean like, 5 years. When I say ski, I mean for like 3 days at a time. Since we live so close to ski resorts now, we’ve already been 8 times in the past 2 weeks which is probably my record. Needless to say, the skiing has been activating muscles that have been asleep the past few years which is definitely a good thing.
The issue is, when I get tired, I start to make mistakes, and then I take a tumble down the mountain. No bueno. So, I put together a workout that activates the major muscles that skiing requires. Not only will it increase strength, but it also works on balance. Even if you’ve never skied a day in your life and have no plans of doing so, balance and coordination are important in any activity you partake in.
In my opinion, one of the best tools you can use to work on your balance is a Bosu Ball
Anyway, here’s a tough workout that works your entire body (no skiing necessary). Hope you enjoy it!
Skier’s Workout- Go through it 1 -3 times
- Lunge Jumps– 30 seconds (or a minute if you’re feeling extra bossy).
- Step Ups– 1 minute, switch legs at 30 seconds. Try to step up on the highest surface you can.
- Side Lunges– 1 minute, switch legs at 30 seconds
- Squat Jumps– 30 seconds
- Single Arm Plank– 1 minute, switch hands at 10 seconds. You could also do single leg planks. Just lift one leg up at a time while in plank position.
- Bosu Ball Squats– 1 minute. Do these on the black side of a Bosu-they’re really hard! If you don’t have access to a Bosu you could do single leg squats instead.
- Skaters– 30 seconds. These are great because you’re jumping back and forth landing on 1 foot. This will definitely work on your balance and stability.
- Single Leg Rear Lateral Raises– 1 minute, switch legs at 30 seconds. Standing on one leg, bend over at the waist raising one leg so it’s in line with your upper body. From there, perform lateral raises. This is pretty intense since it’s so unstable. Your butt will be on fire as well as your upper back so it’s a great full body exercise.
- Single Leg Triceps Kickbacks– 1 minute, switch legs at 30 seconds. This is the same position as the SL rear lat raises.
- Wall Sit– 1 minute
Wall sits are a great exercise especially if you’re skiing because while you ski, you’re in a similar position: a squat. It might be a minor squat but you stay in that position long enough that those legs start to burn. Just like a wall sit.
I’ll leave this topic with an awesome video. I’m not sure how this happens..but it’s hilarious so I’m all about it:
In other news, we found a Black Widow spider yesterday. Let me say that one more time…a Black…Widow. Sick! My husband tried to kill it with his shoe but it managed to get its’ bulbous butt back into the hole it crawled out of. Probably plotting its’ revenge on us as we speak. Gross.
What’s the grossest bug/pest you’ve come across? Well, obviously Black Widows. Ew. I’m also pretty familiar with scorpions which are plentiful in Arizona. I’ve never been stung, but everyone in my family has-every time I go home I’m scared it’s my turn! My husband had one crawling up his leg once…lucky for him I was there to shake it off (probably wasn’t the best strategy considering it could have stung him still). My brother’s (ex) girlfriend was stung on the neck….the neck!! That gives me nightmares.
So, good luck getting images of Black Widow’s and scorpions out of your head today :). Sorry about that.
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