If you are a rather experienced skier and are thinking about hitting the slopes again soon or if you are just a beginner and think you are ready to give skiing a shot, then you should definitely begin preparing yourself for the activity as soon as possible. No matter how experienced you are in the sport, you should try to get a good amount of preparation in while you can before you actually go skiing on the slopes. There are many different ways to get ready for skiing which can greatly help you to improve your overall strength and flexibility. There are a few exercises that skiing instructors often recommend. Lisa wheeler, who is a New York based fitness instructor, believes that getting in shape is never limited by time when it comes to improving your skiing ability as long as you do not overdo it too much. helicopter skiing  

"Do some basic strength training for the legs, core and arms," said Wheeler, fitness program director for Daily Burn, an online workout site. "But if you haven't done anything, dial it back a little."

Wheeler recommends lunges to strengthen the quadriceps, the long muscles in the front of the thigh.

"Lunges are quad-dominant and skiing is very quad dominant because your knees are bent and you're going downhill," she said. "And lunges also work the hamstrings and glutes," she explained, referring to the large muscles that form the buttocks.

Apparently, wheeler believes that a beginner can mostly concentrate on activities such as matrix lunges instead of jumping or hopping lunges. These types of lunges involve stepping to and also pushing off different directions all across your range of motion.

"For the last-minute person I recommend taking it easy," she said.

Wheeler said people think of skiing as going in one direction, downhill, and neglect to prepare their hips and core for the considerable demands of the activity.

"If you analyze skiing there's a lot of rotation and lateral movement of the hips," she said. "I would do some core exercises, such as planks, and rotational movements with the medicine ball," she said. "Because going down the slopes your body is turning, your hips are turning."

Jessica Matthews of the American Council on Exercises suggests exercises that mimic the activity of skiing, which along with cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength, demands a measure of speed and agility.

"I'm a huge fan of cone drills," she said. "I just picked up a set for the house."

Sold in sporting goods stores, cones are smaller and lighter than traffic cones. Matthews, an exercise physiologist, thinks they are ideal for setting up a circuit to train for the movements of weaving down a mountain.

"You can work on developing lower body strength, lateral movements, do cone jumps and practice proper landing," she said. helicopter skiing canada

Squats and lunges build lower body strength but for those challenged by a full squat, Matthews suggests the wall sit, which is essentially placing the back against the wall with knees bent.

Ideally, she said, you want to begin a pre-ski routine at least six weeks prior to hitting the slopes.

"That's a good time from physiological standpoint," she said.

Another crucial element to skiing is the ability to react quickly.

"Downhill is not straight downhill," said Matthews. "You have to dodge people. You've got to be able to make quick changes, you might have to counter a fall, so it's important to make sure your hips, legs, shoulders, spine are all ready to go." Wheeler said.