Ski Fitness: Intro

This fantastic fitness guide is bought to you by British Ski Champion Graham Bell and Chiroski

Graham Bell's Fitness Tips
One look at Alain Baxter in Superstars would convince anyone just how fit World Class skiers are compared to other international athletes. But what of the recreational skier, do you really need to be that fit to slide down a mountain for a few days?

It is easy to forget just how physical a whole days skiing can be, even with a lengthy lunch stop an average day on the slopes will deliver between 4 and 6 hours of sustained physical activity. Of course the ski lifts give you a chance to recover, but the higher the altitude the longer that will take. And you do need to recover, because skiing hard works you at an intensity that can only be sustained for a couple of minutes before the legs start to burn with the build up of lactic acid.

The recent revolution in ski design has allowed the recreational skier the chance to ski more like the racers. It is easy now to roll your skis on to their edges and feel them carve into the turn. In doing so much greater centrifugal forces are generated, which are then transferred up through the body creating even more work for those weary legs.

If you really want to ski longer, harder and safer next winter, you will need to create a programme that includes:

• Endurance
• Strength Ski Specific circuits
• Balance/Coordination
• Flexibility

Ideally you should plan your training programme over at least 6 weeks leading to your ski trip, at worst decide what you are going to concentrate on before you turn up at the gym.