Should you train to go on a ski holiday?

5 top reasons as to why people should train for their Ski holidays.

As a fitness professional and owner of BaseFit in Shoreditch, I understand the importance of preparing the body if you are to undertake a fitness challenge like skiing whilst on holiday. Skiing is a sport, sport require's fitness to perform yet many will go on holiday each year without preparing themselves to ski.

I’ve detailed my top 5 reasons to train specifically for your sport prior to going on a ski holiday below.

1. Muscle training. It seems an obvious one but if you do not prepare your muscles for the energetic requirements of Skiing prior to going you are most likely to suffer from DOMS, sometimes badly which could affect days you had planned to spend on the slopes. DOMS stand for ‘Delayed onset muscle soreness’. This occurs when your muscles are not used to the exercise it’s participating in and generally becomes sore anything from 24-48 hours after the exercise has taken place. In some cases, making it too sore to move. Training helps those muscles get use to the movement required of them thus reducing risk of DOMS on holiday.

2. Flexibility. Flexibility is another key area to focus on prior to skiing. If you suffer from tight hams, hip flexors or even calf’s you are going to find skiing a challenge. Flexibility defines the range of movement your body can move and operate through safely. If inflexible most people would run the risks of at best becoming increasingly immobile throughout your holiday, or at worst suffering major injury through torn muscles or tendons not to mention broken bones if your inflexibility hinders your ability to ski safely.

3. Practice the movement patterns. Skiing uses both lateral and sagittal movement planes. Generally, most people are conditioned only in the sagittal plane (forward plane) meaning that your body is used to conducting movement in a forward or backward motion. When you start to challenge joints to move laterally (to the sides) without the proper conditioning the body will struggle and thus put you at a higher risk of injury. You would want to condition muscles and joints to be both supple and supporting when Skiing. HIIT training and Calisthenics are really good for this.

4. Core strength. When you ski your body needs a strong core (mid-section) to control rotation and direction change. Skiing applies an immense stress onto your back and core when carving up the slopes. Your core takes prime control of rotation for direction control, supporting your back for posture and the lifting of your legs as you carve through the snow. A good strong core can be the difference of ability and skill to perform when skiing and performing tricks.

5. Cardiorespiratory system. Your body is going to burn through a lot of energy whilst skiing, along with high altitudes and thinner oxygen you’ll want to increase your cardio threshold and lung capacity prior to going skiing. The main energy is created from Oxygen supplied by your lungs. If you are unable to meet the supply, you’ll become breathless and could suffer further complications. It’s important to regularly train your Cardio system to improve lung function, lung capacity and heart strength.

We run a sports specific Ski and Snowboard skool to train all of the above in preparation for your winter holidays. Every Thursday at 6:30pm for 1 hr. Details and a free 7 day trial can be found at www.base-fit.uk

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