Exercises for a Skiing newbie .....

[Fab Foodie]

Dears

No, not me, Mrs FF has decided she's going Skiing for the first time around her 50th Birthday in the new year. Whilst she's a bit of an exercise-class gym bunny, walks a fair bit and a fair weather cyclist, what exercises do the skiers here recommend she starts building up with?
Bit worried about endurance too ....

No worries for me... I'm not going :-)

 

[Crackle]

Breaking your fall will be a useful one......

.....ok,ok, Cross trainers are quite good for leg strength, core stuff for flexibility as once you get going it can be quite intensive on the upper body.

 

[Fnaar]

I've never skied, but a skier I knew put me on to this simple exercise for leg strengthening. I still do it now.
Stand back against wall, bend knees to about 90deg, and simply see how long you can maintain that position, back flat against wall.

 

[biggs682]

try jumping off the wardrobe in training for jumps !

 

[Fnaar]

Get a real fire going, pour some drinks, and stand round saying "yah, yah, Gstaad isn't what is used to be."

 

[Fnaar]

Tell her skiing is fantastic fun at first, but it's all downhill after that

 

[Doseone]

This is slightly OT (sorry Fab Foodie) but my mate tells this great story of when he was ski-ing and managed to find a bit of piste where he was all by himself. He stopped to enjoy the peace and tranquility when the silence was broken by two women ski-ing past and having a loud conversation, the only bit of which he caught was one of them saying in a broad Essex accent "no sh!t, he came in my eye".

 

[berty bassett]

If she has never been before and is going to have lessons then unless she is a very quick learner she will be doing the snow plough most the week what is gonna really hurt her thighs and knees so anything to get them use to hard work - and if she keeps falling over then core and arms are going to get a battering getting up all the time - on the plus side after a few days it gets easier and is just as addictive as cycling

 

[Glow worm]

Buy her some crutches and tell her to walk around with one arm in a sling- that should be ample preparation

 

[Chris Norton]

Anything that works the legs. So squats are good and also other resistance leg exercises (get her to ask the gym, if they don't know then leave and go to one that does!). If she is quite fit already then I really doubt she will have any real requirements other than get a second liver installed for the apres ski.

World of difference if your hammering moguls all day on blacks to snow plowing down greens and then blues. Although with the new ski's some places do not even start with snow plough now. Just straight into parallel turns.

 

[bianchi1]

Cycling is a great exercise for skiing, concentrates on the legs, builds aerobic capacity ready for all that oxygen deficit at altitude and if you get out at this time of year you will be used to not being able to feel your fingers and toes for half the day.

That said I can still remember the searing pain in my thighs half way up a button lift. Can't sit down, can't get off just grit your teeth and hang on.

Enjoy!!

 

[slowmotion]

If she has never been before and is going to have lessons then unless she is a very quick learner she will be doing the snow plough most the week what is gonna really hurt her thighs and knees so anything to get them use to hard work - and if she keeps falling over then core and arms are going to get a battering getting up all the time - on the plus side after a few days it gets easier and is just as addictive as cycling

This^^^^^! Thighs and knees take the strain when you are learning. Nothing else matters if you have a reasonable bit of stamina, and it sounds like she is pretty fit. The only thing you do with your upper body is to wave your sticks about as you fall in a heap, giggling.
Your wife will have a whole lot of fun, but be warned...it's hopelessly addictive , and absolutely ruinously expensive. Quite dreadful really. Good luck.

 

[TVC]

Serious suggestion. Do a 'Learn to ski in a day' course before she goes £100 approx, MK or Hemel. She will learn so much and short cut the first three days of her visit. I did the one in Tamworth for my 45th birthday and by the end of the day I was ploughing down the full length of the slope. It was much fun, but I decided that although I could do it, it really did not rock my boat, so saving lots of money on gear and flights to France to learn the same lesson.

 

[bianchi1]

Serious suggestion. Do a 'Learn to ski in a day' course before she goes £100 approx, MK or Hemel. She will learn so much and short cut the first three days of her visit. I did the one in Tamworth for my 45th birthday and by the end of the day I was ploughing down the full length of the slope. It was much fun, but I decided that although I could do it, it really did not rock my boat, so saving lots of money on gear and flights to France to learn the same lesson.

I'm not convinced a day in Tamworth is a true reflection of an Alpine ski holiday

 

[slowmotion]