Maintaining fitness during ski season

[luliski]

How do frequent skiers stay fit during ski season? I must be a lazy skier, because I seem to lose fitness during the ski season. In the off-season I swim, run and cycle. I swim 3-4 times per week and run 2 or 3 times per week. I ride my bike whenever I have time.

Last ski season, I tried to ski whenever I wasn't working and could actually get to the mountains. I ski Tahoe area, so some days were a challenge with the big storms. I ended up having a pattern of swimming before driving to Tahoe on my first day off work, not skiing that day; and then skiing two days and driving back home to work. When the days got longer, I would sometimes go for a run after getting home from skiing. I ended up out of shape because I was only swimming twice a week or so. Skiing doesn't seem to count as exercise for me.

This season I plan on skiing even more (please let it snow), but I want to try to maintain my fitness better. I've skied four times so far. On one of those days I went for a run, then drove to Alpine Meadows and skied for a few hours. This seemed to work out fine.

So I'm wondering, for those of you who ski every chance you get: do you also work out on those days, or do you consider skiing your work out?

 

[raytseng]

I'm a tahoe weekend warrior from the bay area , so the ski is the workout. During the week, maybe 1 or 2 lower impact recovery workouts only.
Are you skiing within your comfort zone or working harder terrain that needs more work? If you are really that fit that even the double-black mogul runs are no effort, then add in hike-to type terrain (e.g. Kirkwood backside to fawn ridge now that the ropetows are gone). I'm not the best at acclimatization, so at altitude, this had me huffing and puffing. After getting back home, the extra O2 makes the sealevel workouts much easier. Not sure if you are local or you commute to the mountains from lower altitude.

Finally, watch the diet if fitness involves the extra weight you're carrying. When I'm tihinking I'm on "vacation" it is really easy to eat unhealthily and the diet correlates with fitness output for me.

 

[UGASkiDawg]

Hmm interesting question. If I work out its so I can do an activity I enjoy better. If I can ski all day without getting exhausted then I'm "fit" and don't need to do anything else. Biking is the other activity I "work out" for. When the snow finally comes and then goes away.....so say May....I'll start riding my bike to get in shape for riding my bike.

 

[Seldomski]

I get much more sore after 2 days of one 1 hr gym workout per day than I do after 4 days of skiing 6 hrs a day (lift served resort skiing). I am more likely to skip a gym day than 6 hrs of skiing. So yeah, skiing is pretty low impact for me also. Fortunately (Unfortunately?) I don't get to ski very often, so I don't have the same 'problem' as you.

I think if I had easier access to skiing, I would probably do more stuff like @raytseng to turn the skiing into more of a workout.

 

[raytseng]

i think also, you need to define what fitness means as UGASkiGawg mentions. Overall there's the cardio and some underlying baseline measure of "fitness". But if you ski, that activity will train your body only to make the skiing movements easier, and if you can ski the whole day every day then you're "fit" for that activity.

If this means you're reducing your swims, obviously your swimming ability will go down, but this doesn't mean you're less fit.

 

[Rod9301]

I ski 5 days a week, also in Tahoe.

To maintain fitness:

Aerobic, skin or mountain bike 4 hours a week, pretty high intensity. Outside of ski season, mountain bike 8-10 hours a week.

Strength, 1 set of very heavy weights, 5 reps only ( for me leg press-600-700 lbs). This will minimize soreness. Before ski or mountain bike season, I do 6 weeks of 3 times a week, 3-4 sets of 8 reps, again heavy weights, but add hamstrings.

 

[at_nyc]

How about swimming after the lift close? That would be the easiest time-wise. May have to hunt down a lap pool wherever you're staying in Tahoe.

Like others suggest, HIKE!

Hit the gym and run on the treadmill. It's boring as hell but if fitness means that much to you, you'll put up with it.

Me? I'm with UGASkiDawg, I exercise to be able to do the activity I like. So if I can ski all day without problem, I'm all satisfied with my fitness.

Last, if you REALLY want a cardio workout in snow country? Cross country ski will give you that very nicely! I challenge you to say your fitness declined if you xc ski a few hours each weekend at Tahoe.

 

[Monique]

I find that I ski enough during the season to keep myself fit *for skiing*. But my conditioning goes all to hell when I'm not mountain biking. Then in the spring, when hike-to terrain is available, it's a real struggle. Not that it would ever be easy to carry my skis up a boot pack made by a giant at about 12.8k feet, but still.

I have a trainer and a rigid frame mountain bike I can put in said trainer, so I'm going to start playing with that. Maybe intervals or just steady cranking at a particular heart rate. I have a good idea (and a record on Garmin's site) of where my heart rate usually is while mountain biking.

 

[Monique]

^^ A real smart thing for me to do would be skinning. Breck only allows it outside of lift hours. That would be tough. But I'm pretty sure A Basin allows uphill skiing during the day.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I ski enough during the season to have that keep me fit. The off season is my downfall and an area where I need improvement.

 

[kimmyt]

I think it probably depends on what you are defining as 'fit'. If you are disappointed in your lack of swimming fitness after a ski season, then you will want to increase the swimming and maybe add some dryland training in. If you are disappointed in general cardio ability then I would look at increasing runs post ski days (I always felt that a run was awesome on my post-ski legs when I was living and skiing in the mountains while marathon training). Or as Monique suggested, add hikes and skins to your ski regimen. Strength is functional and can be defined however you want it to be. If I'm in good climbing shape, that doesn't mean that I am in good running shape or lifting shape or skiing shape. I do find 'general fitness' to be largely tied to cardio, though.

 

[Fuller]

Downhill skiing if done properly is not much of a cardio workout compared to some of the other things I like to do in the off season: road bike, rowing, open water swimming, in-line skating etc. I'm in great shape right now and I want to carry that into my 6 weeks in MT starting Jan 21.

I was thinking along the same lines as the OP in that the pool would be a great side line during ski season to keep my upper body in shape. Last year in Whitefish I swam a few times but I was still kinda weak from my heart issues the summer before. This year I'm 110%, off the meds and ready to roll. The question is do I sacrifice any ski time to fit it in or do I act like I'm 35 and just ski all day and swim in the evening? I'm not ready for that but if the conditions are really crappy some pool time might be the way to go.

 

[Monique]

I think it probably depends on what you are defining as 'fit'. If you are disappointed in your lack of swimming fitness after a ski season, then you will want to increase the swimming and maybe add some dryland training in. If you are disappointed in general cardio ability then I would look at increasing runs post ski days (I always felt that a run was awesome on my post-ski legs when I was living and skiing in the mountains while marathon training). Or as Monique suggested, add hikes and skins to your ski regimen. Strength is functional and can be defined however you want it to be. If I'm in good climbing shape, that doesn't mean that I am in good running shape or lifting shape or skiing shape. I do find 'general fitness' to be largely tied to cardio, though.

I just listened to a Totally Deep episode interviewing the guy who does Summit Endurance Academy -

https://www.cripplecreekbc.com/blog...shell-returns-to-get-you-pumped-up-episode-39

He talked about the heart and lungs as the engine and the muscles as the transmission. He said your engine translates well from sport to sport; of course the sport specific muscles don't.

I don't find that hikes do much for my cardio, really (unless I'm boot packing up to a ski run), but OMG skinning. Hard to fit that in, though, if you're not in a mountain town. I wonder if the Breck cross country track would let me take my skin setup ...

The better I get at skiing, the easier it is on my muscles. It's not like I'm racing. And my HR monitoring watch has proved to me that skiing doesn't do much for my heart rate.

BUT this post was supposed to be about getting in shape for skiing, in particular. I've never found anything that substitutes for actually skiing, but I would advise core strength as the "surprise" workout to help with skiing. Particularly dealing with variable snow or bumps.

 

[luliski]

So to clarify my situation: I work three 12 hour shifts a week. I plan on skiing the other four days. I live at sea level, two hours from Tahoe, but have a ski lease in Tahoe City from January 5-May 5, so I'll be up there for a couple of days twice a week. I really only ski all day if I'm with friends and/or the conditions are really good.
The long hours make it difficult for me to work out on work days, but I really need at least 4 days with at least 30 minutes of sustained exertion (preferably more days and more minutes). So I'm wondering if it's reasonable to work out on ski days. Is that something others do? I have been known to overdo it on the exercise front, that's why I question myself.

Are you skiing within your comfort zone or working harder terrain that needs more work? If you are really that fit that even the double-black mogul runs are no effort

I sometimes push it when skiing, but especially if I'm skiing by myself, I ski mostly within my comfort zone. On double black mogul runs I am limited by skill, so I am likely to stop often and not get an aerobic workout (which is the part of fitness I think I lose during ski season).

Finally, watch the diet if fitness involves the extra weight you're carrying.

That is very good advice. I don't really consider myself on vacation when I'm in Tahoe, but I probably ate out more last season because I was shuttling between two houses.

If I work out its so I can do an activity I enjoy better. If I can ski all day without getting exhausted then I'm "fit" and don't need to do anything else.

I can ski all day, but I don't think I'm working very hard. I understand losing swimming speed because there is so much technique involved in swimming. I would like to maintain some aerobic fitness (for me as measured by running distance and pace, and probably weight) during ski season so I don't have to start from scratch at the end of ski season.

i think also, you need to define what fitness means as UGASkiGawg mentions.

I think for my purposes, I would measure fitness in terms of running performance.

Aerobic, skin or mountain bike 4 hours a week, pretty high intensity.

I thought about earning my turns, and think i would enjoy that, but I haven't skinned since i was a kid so don't have experience or gear at all. Do you sometime mountain bike on same day you ski?

Thanks for your thoughts, people.

 

[Tom K.]

The better the ski season, the more fitness I lose, but...

I ski so much that I get very efficient, so it all works out.

Last season -- one of the best ever in the PNW -- I lost a LOT of fitness, but was skiing without any perceivable effort by late January, since I probably had 30 days by then.

This season, I'm super-fit, still in summer jeans on the lowest belt notch, and my skiing is probably very poor.

 

[Rod9301]

So to clarify my situation: I work three 12 hour shifts a week. I plan on skiing the other four days. I live at sea level, two hours from Tahoe, but have a ski lease in Tahoe City from January 5-May 5, so I'll be up there for a couple of days twice a week. I really only ski all day if I'm with friends and/or the conditions are really good.
The long hours make it difficult for me to work out on work days, but I really need at least 4 days with at least 30 minutes of sustained exertion (preferably more days and more minutes). So I'm wondering if it's reasonable to work out on ski days. Is that something others do? I have been known to overdo it on the exercise front, that's why I question myself.

I sometimes push it when skiing, but especially if I'm skiing by myself, I ski mostly within my comfort zone. On double black mogul runs I am limited by skill, so I am likely to stop often and not get an aerobic workout (which is the part of fitness I think I lose during ski season).


That is very good advice. I don't really consider myself on vacation when I'm in Tahoe, but I probably ate out more last season because I was shuttling between two houses.


I can ski all day, but I don't think I'm working very hard. I understand losing swimming speed because there is so much technique involved in swimming. I would like to maintain some aerobic fitness (for me as measured by running distance and pace, and probably weight) during ski season so I don't have to start from scratch at the end of ski season.


I think for my purposes, I would measure fitness in terms of running performance.


I thought about earning my turns, and think i would enjoy that, but I haven't skinned since i was a kid so don't have experience or gear at all. Do you sometime mountain bike on same day you ski?

Thanks for your thoughts, people.

Yes, of I ski groomers, like now, in the morning, I go for a mountain bike ride in the afternoon.

 

[luliski]

BUT this post was supposed to be about getting in shape for skiing, in particular. I've never found anything that substitutes for actually skiing, but I would advise core strength as the "surprise" workout to help with skiing. Particularly dealing with variable snow or bumps.

It was supposed to be about staying fit during ski season, and I agree, nothing gets you as fit for skiing as actually skiing. Also agree about the core strength. The older I get, the more I have to pay attention to this.
Someone mentioned cross country skiing, which is something I considered doing last season. Our ski lease is close to Tahoe XC. I may try it this year, if there's enough snow at lake level. I just need to either get or rent gear for the season.
I also thought about finding a place to swim after skiing. There is a pool and a masters program in Truckee, but I had trouble finding their schedule and didn't pursue it. It is also surprisingly difficult to swim after skiing. I would actually rather run.
It sounds like I'm not the only one that skis and then works out or vice versa; that makes me feel better.

 

[Monique]

My trainer sure thinks I can do conditioning work on a ski day.

 

[jack97]

Here's my two cents, it depends on how and what you ski. If you lap trails and don't take breaks, you will burn calories and get your heart pumping. If you ski bumps, glades or crud and will lap them all day then that's another level. IMO, fitness is relative and unique to what one wants to do.

I work out off season so that I can ski all day, for fitness, I do HIIT indoor bicycle and leg blasters. For me, during early season when most trails are groomed, then I might do a light workout the same day because I don't 'feel' anything the next day. During mid season, I will usually do a light work out the day after a workout just to flush out any muscle acid build up. BTW, I was skiing at -10 below with little wind, stay out all day with an exception of a bio break, I can feel it the next day..... just feel a little run down. Your body burns more calories just to stay warm on days like that.

 

[ADKmel]

Gravity rules.. once legs are in shape let the hill and gravity work for you.. Yoga to stay limber, sleep and eat right..