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Dry land training for racing/technical skiing?

Sean

I don’t see any holes
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Mar 22, 2017
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With the end of the season upon most areas... what should those of us who race or aspire to and or wish to strive for strong technical skills do for dry land training?

Are there any specific regiments that you use or recommend?
 

Don Duran

Instructor / trainer / coach
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Apr 27, 2017
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KSRS
Sean,
Multiple programs exist and no one program works well for everyone. So finding the most appropriate program depends on you. Most include weight training for power, some aerobic conditioning (slow steady effort), some anaerobic training (fast high intensity sprintwork), some plyometric (explosive leaping), nutritional counseling, and mental focus training.

USSA has a regimen available as do most ski racing academies. Start there...
 

Chris Walker

Ullr Is Lord
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Dec 8, 2015
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Denver
Well I'd say I more "dream of" strong technical skills than aspire to them, but I did discover a while back that the more conditioning I do in the off-season, the more fun I have on the mountain. Other than what's been mentioned already, I do quite a bit of yoga to maintain mobility in the old joints.
 

scott43

So much better than a pro
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I look at Mattias Hargin's website just because it has cool pictures...but he does show a fair amount of pics of his training routine indoors. Seems to be a lot of dynamic exercise and core exercises. Have a browse through.. Oh, he's a pro Swedish slalom skier.

http://mattiashargin.com/
 

markojp

mtn rep for the gear on my feet
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Don't forget flexibility and range of motion work. And just for fun....
 

Mendieta

Master of Snowplow
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Sean, there was a lot of discussion on this topic last summer, here. Some of my take aways from that thread and my own preparation for this season:

  • Skiing uses weird muscles such as abductor and adductor muscles. Working those in the gym looks awkward, but it seemed to have helped me.
  • Biking in the summer seems the most common complement to skiing in the winter. Many people talked about how their skiing improved when they started biking their summers.
Of course, my skiing still sucks, but trimming some weight and focus on legs and core seemed to have put me in a better place for this season.
 
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Josh Matta

Skiing the powder
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Dec 21, 2015
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MTBing....

who cares about mimicking exact movement patterns....there is nothing out there that let you ski like alpine ski, not even grass skis.

go ride single track and spend a ton of time on a pump tracks and you will get better at skiing.



the thing about MTBing, is it fun, but to be good at it, you need to tactically ride like a really good skier.
 

Johnny V.

Half Fast Hobby Racer
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Learn to inline and you can work those all summer ...

Haven't been on my skates in years-maybe it's time to break them out.

the thing about MTBing, is it fun, but to be good at it, you need to tactically ride like a really good skier.

That's why I like it much more than road riding. Besides, you can wear dirtbag clothes and not worry about your stylish spandex outfit! ogwink
 

scott43

So much better than a pro
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That's why I like it much more than road riding. Besides, you can wear dirtbag clothes and not worry about your stylish spandex outfit! ogwink

Or you could just not give a crap! :D I get awesome looks from people when I'm on my road bike with MTB shoes and baggy shorts.. I'm sorry, is this a PRIVATE club!? I didn't know about the dress code... Haha!:)
 

trailtrimmer

Stuck in the Flatlands
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  • Skiing uses weird muscles such as abductor and adductor muscles. Working those in the gym looks awkward, but it seemed to have helped me.
  • Biking in the summer seems the most common complement to skiing in the winter. Many people talked about how their skiing improved when they started biking their summers.

Biking and kettlebell workouts are great, full body, non-targeting, non-boring ways to keep your ski legs strong and your overall fitness great. Coming from a cycling background, I simply don't get tired skiing in the early season like some of the other folks I ski with.

The kettlebell workouts like goblet squats, swings, high pulls, dead lifts, cleans, etc. all build explosive/fast twitch power to compliment the cycling slow twitch. Proper kettlebell technique is developed around the way your body moves naturally and doesn't shock load joints or your back.
 

Mendieta

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Biking and kettlebell workouts are great, full body, non-targeting, non-boring ways to keep your ski legs strong and your overall fitness great. Coming from a cycling background, I simply don't get tired skiing in the early season like some of the other folks I ski with.

The kettlebell workouts like goblet squats, swings, high pulls, dead lifts, cleans, etc. all build explosive/fast twitch power to compliment the cycling slow twitch. Proper kettlebell technique is developed around the way your body moves naturally and doesn't shock load joints or your back.

Yes, I think the theme is that skiing needs flexibility, balance, endurance, basically an agile, active body.So, biking and swimming (smooth) are better than running, or brutal sessions of short series at the gym pushing tons of weight. You want your joins nice and healthy.

A dancer will do a lot better than a body builder.
 

cantunamunch

Meh
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Y

A dancer will do a lot better than a body builder.

I appreciate your point about moving with ease and agility. I just laugh at my attempts to render into practice - having brought 3 dancing SOs to the sport it was chronically a question of working around their damage - like foot nerve surgeries on both feet, like shoulder numbness that eventually led to double neck fusion, like arthritic knees that needed offloader braces (at 28!) Dancer bodies get abused.
 

Swede

Making fresh tracks
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I look at Mattias Hargin's website just because it has cool pictures...but he does show a fair amount of pics of his training routine indoors. Seems to be a lot of dynamic exercise and core exercises. Have a browse through.. Oh, he's a pro Swedish slalom skier.

http://mattiashargin.com/
IMG_1671.JPG

Club friends. This was many years ago when my daughter was about to enter 1st year U12. Jessika and Mattias did their youth years in our club. Been through many summer programs now ... last years have been tough for me to follow :)
But we've gotten tabata-style programs where you do various types if squats and lunges (with weights) and regular stuff like planks, sit ups and push ups 3 days a week. Tabata means we do the exercuses in a row, perhaps 6 different 90 second exersices repeated 5 times with a 30 second rest between each. Mountain biking 2hrs or running 1 hr once a week. Interval running once a week. But it's mainly legs and core strength and interval. I can dig up exact programs if anyone is interested.
 

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