


Guidelines For Skiing Conditioning Skiing requires a combination of dynamic balance, muscular strength and endurance. Although the legs are heavily relied on for power in skiing, a skier's strength should be developed throughout the entire body to allow the body to work as a team. That means that the very famous “CORE” must be adequately strengthened, specifically in rotational type of movements. For those of you who do not perform strength training on a regular basis, I recommend that you spend a good 6-8 weeks to develop a base of stability and strength across the whole body. Get yourself properly evaluated by a certified trainer and have them establish a program involving all of the basic movement patterns: pushing, pulling, squatting, lunging, bending and twisting. Be sure to work exclusively with compound movements, (multiple muscles being worked at the same time). Also, train muscles that are antagonists to the obvious muscles being used during skiing (don't just train the quadriceps, work the hamstrings as well). This will create balance within the body's musculature that is crucial for stability and to avoid injury.					Mike Pellegrini is the President of Team Trainwithmike since 1997. His team performs 1 on 1 and small group training out of Club LaCite and at private homes. Visit them at www.trainwithmike.ca You can also hear Mike on the radio. Tune in to Team 990AM, "Montreal's Sports Authority", every Thursday morning at 9:10am to hear Mike talk fitness!