Welcome to Ski-Fitness.Net! A site for the latest information on getting and staying in shape for skiing.

2004-05 Season SkiReady Conditioning at my new Studio in Summit County, Colorado - Mountain Sport Pilates & Fitness

Yes, I'm making the big move to the mountains, and opening up a studio in beautiful Frisco, Colorado, directly on the way to Breckenridge and only minutes away from Copper and Keystone, and not far from Arapahoe Baisin. We'll be open for business in September 2004 and will have more information in July and August about sign-ups for various programs.

The EpicSki Academy is returning for a third year in 2005. After a fabulous inaugural session in January 2003 at Brighton Ski Resort, the 2004 season's Academy was at Snowbird. Once again I was the Fitness Presenter on the the Academy Faculty for conditioning and daily warmups. See my SkiReady workshops page at SkiReady.Info for all the details on some of my workouts.

PSIA members who get The Professional Skier can read my article Cut to the Core in the September 2003 issue for more on my approach. National Ski Patrol members will also find it in their official journal.

The Ski Shop is Open! Ski Conditioning Equipment, books, and videos, and soon ski-related outdoor equipment and apparel too, is at SkiFitness.Biz

For those of you in the Greater Boston area, SkiReady (sm) concepts and a functional sports conditional perspective are being incorporated into my various classes at FitCorp, Wellspace in Cambridge, and other locations. Keep checking here at Ski-Fitness.Net, or just enter SkiReady.Info into your browser to go direct to the site for workouts and schedules.

Note that I no longer recommend Healthworks Fitness for Women in Boston, and I am no longer affiliated with them. Please contact me if you'd like recommendations for fitness centers in the Boston area, or for my latest class locations, workshops, and trainings. Through June 2004 I still have classes available at various facilities in Greater Boston, after that come visit me in Colorado starting in September 2004.

And for more information about Pilates, which can be one important part of your training, visit my site Pilates.Info - this site has links to both my own Pilates pages, and to many other sites about Pilates training and history.

Please read my feature article on Functional Sports Conditioning: Bridging the Gap Between Fitness and Athleticism with many examples and applications for skiing.

To those of you for whom skiing is a way of life, the concept of year round conditioning is essential. Yes, many recreational skiers will do training exercises pre season. But the subtle balance and stability skills need to be practiced year round, until they become intrinsic to one's being.

Fortunately, if you belong to a fitness center that employs instructors who keep up with industry trends, you will have many opportunities to explore the ins and outs, or should I say side to side of stability training.

Functional training and core stability are the buzz words in the fitness industry today. Look around the gym. See those big colorful balls. How about those white, cylinder shaped gadgets. And don't forget that crazy looking board that wobbles side to side! Looks scary, you say? Aw , come on! You're skiing black diamonds and you are afraid of a few little gym toys? Seriously speaking, a good deal of your ski-specific training can be done with these somewhat unusual pieces of equipment. And the good news is that if you don't have a gym membership, or prefer to exercise at home, these "toys" are inexpensive, and do not take up much room.

Throughout the year, I will be sharing some of my programming ideas for ski conditioning. If you have a great exercise that you would like to tell us about, click on the "contact me" link (at the bottom of any of my pages), and let's do some brainstorming.

At this point, it is necessary for me to elaborate on my philosophy of sports conditioning. But before I begin, I need to stress that I am talking about sport-specific training, not the fitness regimen that you engage in for the sake of health and appearance. And in no way am I suggesting that you abandon that routine!

Consider the thoughts of Vern Gambetta, a major player in the Functional Training Movement. When you devise your program, think of training movements, as opposed to simply training muscles. The brain recognizes movement patterns. It does not recognize individual muscles. Muscles work in synchronicity to form integrated patterns of movement.

So in choosing exercises for your ski conditioning program, look for things that feel like skiing. Not only will they help you ski better, but in the off season, they will bring a smile of anticipation to your face!

If you visit http://www.bodytrends.com, they have one of the most extensive lines of fitness equipment on the internet. Perform a search for the Balance Products Comparison Chart. You will be able to compare prices and suitability to your fitness level.

A favorite of many ski pros who post on EpicSki.com is the Vew-Do board. One of the top instructors in New England, Todd Murchison, is a big Vew-Do board fan. You will also notice that there are various types of balance boards, some of which can be adjusted according to your balance and stability skills. Another interesting product is the ProFitter. It was designed by Louis Stack, former member of the Canadian Ski Team, as a lateral training device. Please visit BodyTrends and do a search for ProFitter to see their selection of available models.

My own personal favorites are the Stability Ball and the Foam Rollers. Since these products are the most in line with my expertise. I will be offering various programming examples for their usage. You can get your own through BodyTrends or other links at my LisaFitness Shop page.

An article published in the June 2000 issue of Physical Therapy cited an experiment done at the University of Waterloo, that used electrodes to test the effectiveness of various abdominal exercises. This was done by measuring each subjects voluntary muscular contraction (MVC). Isometric contractions were done on:

• A flat table with knees bent
• A wobble Board
• A seventy centimeter Gym Ball with feet on a bench at the same height as the ball
• On the same ball with feet on the floor

Modern skiing requires a good deal of the use of the obliques as stabilizers, as opposed to the counter rotation of the torso involved in older methods. Training to use the obliques as stabilizers is then a highly functional method of ski conditioning.

If you are putting together your own ski conditioning program, it is important to understand some of the biomechanics involved in the sport. The best overview of skiing in its entirety can be found in Bob Barnes’ Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing. And for an understanding of some of skiing’s subtleties and nuances, check out Denise McCluggage’s The Centered Skier.

Lately, there has been a good deal of talk in the skiing industry about the concept of the “Kinetic Chain”. Simply put, this means that ski turns made on modern, shaped ski equipment are initiated from the feet and ankles, as opposed to the knees, hips or torso. Consider this: Very few people have feet or ankles that are devoid of muscular balance, alignment and stability problems. These problems can cause injuries in other areas of the body, such as the knees or the lower back. If you have ever sprained an ankle, the proprioception in that area will be altered, which can affect your ability to put your skis on edge.

Quite often, when people are put in a “balance challenged” position, they have a tendency to “clench” their toes. This will narrow their base of support, and decrease their ability to stabilize. Check this out the next time you are performing lunges, one-legged balance exercises, or what we call subway or trolley surfing. If your toes are curled under, you will have some balance issues.