UKC

Hello,

As we aren't usually blessed with snow 4 months a year, does anybody have any tips for endurance and strength training for Ski Touring at home/in the gym.

I've heard squats are a good start.

In reply to Luk e:

Walking up every set of stairs you can find continously!

Or walking uphill on the running machine without holding on to the front.

In reply to Luk e:

A cool tip for skiing (more for the down than the up) is to put your skis down on the carpet, strap into your ski boots, and "sit" until your knees are at 90 degrees. Hold that for a bit and go back up. Do the same to 45 degrees. You can probably do repetitions or whatever. I've also tried lying down backwards and standing back up, since that's something I long to be able to do on the actual ski slope. Its bloody hard sitting still, I can't imagine it going well while sliding...

Squats are fun I suppose. Lunges might be more useful for skiing? Also lots of hopping up onto chairs in contrived patterns (pliometrics?)

Also of course lots of walking with big bags.

You might be able to tell, I'm not very scientific in my training. but last year when I was stuck in an office and there was no snow on the ground over in California I did a lot of research to stop myself going totally crazy.

In reply to Luk e:

God never meant for anyone to do squats. A 2-3 month dose of regular real life hill walking and/or running is as much as you need if you can get to the outside world, but whatever gym equipment simulates it if you can't. Long days on the snow with much more time climbing than descending, all in variable conditions with no escape options to the safety of pistes and warmth of cafes, needs endurance/CV fitness, extra gloves and techniques/practice for safety and efficiency. Better to put your boots and skis on in your living room and practice kick turns than doing exercises to tighten buttocks. And next time it's blowing a gale, go outside and practice fitting skis to your pack and deploying/wrapping wet skins. All in my humble opinion of course :-P

In reply to Luk e:

Try getting this app - really easy to follow - but quite challenging!
https://befitapps.com/

In reply to Luk e:
cycling up lots of long hills, ideally road cycling

In reply to Luk e:

https://www.wildsnow.com/5473/fitness-skiing/

Some ideas on link above enjoy.

In reply to moffatross:

Thank you for the suggestions so far.

Something I should have mentioned is that I have no access to my skis as I am on a ship for the next 6 months in a very warm part of the world.

So no hill walking and no practising taking off off skins

In reply to Luk e:

Probably just get on an exercise bike and build up the thighs!

In reply to kevin stephens:

+1 for roadie

In reply to Luk e:

If your on a ship then it's round and round and round the deck, that's about all you can do. We did this on our way to the Falkland islands and it did work for us but we were quite fit to start with. Afraid it's not very ski focused and very boring.

In reply to OwenM:

Ex-matelow?

In reply to Luk e:

No ex-army.

In reply to Luk e:
DO NOT sit back in your skis! That's how you damage kneecaps and cartilage.

Road cycling is the perfect excercise for ski touring; it uses almost the same muscles in almost the same way, it builds fantastic cardio-vascular fitness and stamina and it's enjoyable. What more could you want?

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Much as I like road biking, running strengthens muscles, bone and cartilage better than cycling, uses more muscle groups and delivers CV fitness quicker per unit of time spent doing it. More importantly, it's also probably more difficult for Chris Perry to ride around the ship on a road bike than to run around it.

In reply to Luk e:

In line skates if the deck is smooth enough. Improves balance and skating ability for those flat sections. If you do it often enough you'll get fit enough to skate uphill - small inclines and breathing through bottom mandatory

In reply to Luk e:

This article might be of interest to you.

http://www.skinet.com/skiing/articles/get-ski-fit-now

In reply to Luk e:

See https://befitapps.com/testimonials/
I'm using this programme for the second year running and it's excellent,

In reply to Andy Perkins:

that's what I said!

In reply to Luk e:

Lots of good ideas here:

http://www.skimolife.com/journal/category/skimo-training