l am going skiing in 2 months (July- l am in the Southern Hemisphere).

I am specifically interested in how fit l 'need' to be, and how to reach this level of fitness- e.g. what kinds of exercises l should do, how often...
l have a gym membership, and going to the gym is something l like to do- but l do not know what l should be doing with my gym time. l do not wanna hurt myself on the slopes!

go on a cross trainer, skipping sit ups press ups and running

Exercises that focus on your lower body half. ie. legs to hips. I've found the recovery after a days skiing is the problem.so ensure you warm down correctly afterwards. Your gym should have a trainer who you can consult. Have fun!

Dude, skiing itself is quite a workout, l would suggest you start skiing now in order to prepare yourself for July, but it depends on where you live and the weather.

The main thing you're going to want to do is build your upper legs and thighs. That is where the burning always starts for me. l have found that doing 10 minutes of wall sits twice a day up until the point of skiing works well. Last time, l did it for about 3 weeks, and although my legs still burned a bit because the powder in Big Sky was amazing this year, for the average mountain, your legs will be ready to tackle just about anything!

Exercise to strengthen your thigh muscles. Ask your gym is trainers to focus on these exercises. Do some regular stamina-building exercises, too, like jogging.

go to a near by gym

Spend time working on core strength and ballance.

You need both upper body and lower body strength. Gym is always good as well as running or biking. Where are you going skiing? R.S.V.P. Thanks

l would reccomed to go on one of those walker things for twenty minutes everyday.



it works

running or jogging also try swiming

l coach a college ski team. Skiing not only requires good LEG strength, but one of the key things most people miss is the CORE of the body. Midsection strength can be the difference between skiing & skiing well. For the legs l can recommend a few simple things to get u going. a.) Old school - ''The Chair''. Place ur back up against the wall & scoot down until there is a 90 degree angle between ur thighs & lower legs. Hold that position for as long as u can. b.) Lunges! Great way to build up strength. c.) Jump up & down in place - making sure to ''pop'' on the way up, but the way down should be a gentle absorbtion of all yout kinetic energy.

Now on to the midsection. a.) Crunches r still one of the best exercises to increase midsection strength. b.) sideups - also great. c.) put on ur ski boots & and left ur knees up to ur chest. Switch legs side-to-side. Side leg lefts with ski boots on also works well.


Remember, what u r doing when skiing is carrying ur center of gravity to a destination. Your center of gravity is located in ur midsection, hence the need to strengthen that area. Everything extends from the midsection.

Best of luck!

Do wieght lifing on your legs. And do lots of crunches because upper body strength is juzt as important as lower body strength because you need to be able to use your upper body to get around bends quickly

A daily circuit that works for me (32 y/o former ski racer) during pre-season is:
1) Run 2 miles
2) stretch 30 mins (focusing on hamstrings, lower back)
3) 3 sets of 30 abdominal crunches
4) 3 sets of 20 leg lifts
5) 2 sets of 25 lunges

''Train Like A Ski Racing Champion'' (see source, below) is a very useful video.

l assume from the question that you have not skiied before so l would suggest the main thing is general fitness, lots of cardio vascular work (jogging, cycling, step-up machines etc.).
You may well be spending time walking up slopes and probably at high altitude so anything to improve your stamina will help.

Once up and running l generally feel it the most in my thighs so strengthen those too.

Have a great time!