This week I am going to make a plot twist and turn this into this week’s “Warm Up of the Week”. Recently, I have adopted a simple warm-up to do before I go out skiing. As we know skiing is not a kind sport to your body… The nature of the sport has a tendency to overwork the quads and build compensation around the hips. However, a proper warm-up and activation series can help with your body’s performance and longevity.
The only equipment you need for the warm-up is a foam roller (or a large water bottle) I start with a 10-minute rolling routine where I focus on rolling my quads/hamstrings and piriformis.
10 min Rolling Sequence
- 2.5 min (R) Quads/Hamstrings
- 2.5 min (R) Figure 4 for Piriformis
- 2.5 min (L) Quads/Hamstrings
- 2.5 min (L) Figure 4 for Piriformis
This will help bring blood flow to the muscles and help with any residual soreness from previous days of skiing or other activity. From there I move to prep the hips with a 3 Round Glute Routine
3 Rounds Glute Prep
- 20 x Glute Bridge
- 20 ea x Donkey Kick
- 3 x 15sec on / 5sec off Starfish Side Plank
The glutes can easily be overpowered by your quads and hip flexors skiing so having these muscles prepped a ready for a day of shredding is very important.
Next, I want to focus on getting my core engaged. Having a stable core is crucial for skiing
3 Rounds Core Prep
- 10ea x Dead bug
- 10ea x Birddog
- 8ea x Plank Reach
These stabilization exercises are very simple and will wake up all those small stabilizers in your body. Lastly, I want to feel lose and relaxed before I ski so I finish with another 6 min stretch routine.
6 min Stretch Sequence
- 1 min (R) Sampson
- 1 min (R) Kneeling Hip Flexor with OH Reach
- 1 min (R) Child’s Pose with Side Opener
- 1 min (L) Sampson
- 1 min (L) Kneeling Hip Flexor with OH Reach
- 1 min (L) Child’s Pose with Side Opener
I like to focus a bit on my breathing as I stretch to get as much oxygen into my body as I can especially If it is going to be blower pow.
Try this out the next time you’re planning on going skiing and let me know if it works for you as it works for me! Also, be sure to maintain your strength through the season by visiting my 530pm Sports Maintenance classes on Mondays & Wednesdays in our Jackson location.
Stay safe out there!
Coach Max
