Dry land training for racing/technical skiing?

[Mendieta]

I don't think weightlifting to an extreme level is necessary, but I think a good benchmark is if you can do multiple squat sets with the equivalent of your bodyweight on the bar. That's not going to make you massive, but it's a good level of strength. Doing squats will also improve your RoM. Every pro racer I see is basically a beast, they do a lot of plyo/agility stuff, but you can bet they do a lot of heavy lifts as well.

It is perhaps interesting to note that racers need to blast for a couple minutes, they are more like a 100m sprinter on land. We (most of us) need endurance, to have fun for a full day. More like a marathon runner.

But yes, squats with moderate, and I would say, low weight but many repetitions is an amazing exercise: core strength, length strength, you name it. Very complete. I do it with dumbells.

Definitely not "dry land" training But last summer I did a lot of stand up paddle boarding which was an excellent core builder.!

Funny that you said that! A few weeks ago, a "ski bum" (tending tables at the Stein Eriksen Lodge) suggested the same to me, for the same reasons! Wow. I was really surprised. I thought it was a lazy way to move around the lake. Good to know, and lucky you guys who live close to both mountains and lakes!

I go to a friggin' gym

 

[Jamt]

When it comes to weightlifting in the gym I think it is important to do a lot of one legged and side stuff.
It just makes sense that in a sport where you load 3 times your body weight on one foot you need to have strong cross-stabilizers.
If you are stronger in the global mobilizers than stabilizers (like the obliques), the latter will be working overtime when you start skiing.

Missed that, Is he a pro ski racer who doesn't lift?

I think he was a professional keyboard athlete who doesn't lift.

 

[jimtransition]

It is perhaps interesting to note that racers need to blast for a couple minutes, they are more like a 100m sprinter on land. We (most of us) need endurance, to have fun for a full day. More like a marathon runner.

But yes, squats with moderate, and I would say, low weight but many repetitions is an amazing exercise: core strength, length strength, you name it. Very complete. I do it with dumbells.



Funny that you said that! A few weeks ago, a "ski bum" (tending tables at the Stein Eriksen Lodge) suggested the same to me, for the same reasons! Wow. I was really surprised. I thought it was a lazy way to move around the lake. Good to know, and lucky you guys who live close to both mountains and lakes!

I go to a friggin' gym

Racers also ski a lot of runs when they are training, at an incredible intensity, it's not like they just do one run then go home.

Try squatting heavier and see how it goes, what downsides could you see?

 

[Mendieta]

Racers also ski a lot of runs when they are training, at an incredible intensity, it's not like they just do one run then go home.

Try squatting heavier and see how it goes, what downsides could you see?

The downside of a lot of weight is that you can get hurt more easily. The more weight, the more likelihood of injury. When I was 20 I was squatting with a ton of weight, and my knee hurt a bit. Nothing terrible, but it was never the same.

I think more reps with less weight is better for general conditioning.

Racers: the same goes for sprint racing on land. They do practice for a couple hours, but it's shorter bursts. And you see their body builds: a marathon runner is skinny and fit and the 100m runner is massive (and fit, too).

Anyways, any fitness will do me good It was more of a side point. You can't go massively wrong either way, for rec skiing

 

[jimtransition]

I don't ever ski for more than a few minutes without getting on a lift either Whatever works for you though

 

[ScotsSkier]

Mendieta, it is a bit more complex than comparing racing to a 100m sprint. Typical race run is in the 50-70 second range and you are basically expending maximum energy all the way through - particularly so in slalom! - this is significantly more demanding on strength and stamina than a 100m sprint @ 10 seconds..

 

[cantunamunch]

Don't forget to age adjust interval intensity.

 

[Swede]

400 metres with 3G.

 

[markojp]

Missed that, Is he a pro ski racer who doesn't lift?

A 'character/master troll' for the ages. On the same topic, he was able to lead many deep into the weeds of multi-sided argument for many many pages. Hopefully he'll never make an appearance here, but if he did, your post would have been all he needed to start the show.

 

[Jamt]

The downside of a lot of weight is that you can get hurt more easily. The more weight, the more likelihood of injury.

I see it the other way around. If I do a lot of heavy lifting during the off season the risk of injury is much smaller when the ski season starts.

I don't do squats by piling tons of weights on the top of my spine, but I know a lot of other people do.
If injury is a concern there are lots of other variants, like e.g. split squats, goblet squats, front squats, zercher squats, one legged squats, hack squats etc.

 

[Mendieta]

I see it the other way around. If I do a lot of heavy lifting during the off season the risk of injury is much smaller when the ski season starts.

I don't do squats by piling tons of weights on the top of my spine, but I know a lot of other people do.
If injury is a concern there are lots of other variants, like e.g. split squats, goblet squats, front squats, zercher squats, one legged squats, hack squats etc.

Then we completely agree I also think any physical conditioning will make it less likely to get injured when skiing. And that's typical suggestion to skiers from their PT's as they recover from an injury.

My rule of thumb for physical conditioning is to work with a weight that I can handle for 8 to 12 reps. In the past, I used to work out a lot, and sometimes do 15 reps, sometimes 2 with a lot of weight. The latter have always stressed my muscles and joints to a place that I don't need anymore. Also, I was young

Anyways, I don't want to discourage people from working out with weights, I think it's a wonderful way to stay fit.