Hi this is Jamie from Body Works Physio with the conclusion of the ski video series that we’ve been doing. Today I want to talk a little bit about dynamic warm-up before getting out on the mountain.
So with warm-ups there are a couple of wide spread principles that you want to pay attention to.
Most warm-ups should be somewhat representative of the activity that you are about to do. So obviously, the warm-up for skiing is going to be a little bit different that it would be for soccer or swimming. Just try to keep it in mind and tailor it toward the activity that you’re about to do.
The second part of it is, when we say dynamic warm-up, what we want to do is get moving. So the days of doing long static stretches before you go out and do an activity are pretty much gone. Basically what you’re trying to do is prepare yourself for the activity that you’re about to do. Obviously skiing is a bit more difficult than doing a warm-up for a soccer game or a basketball game, because the things you can do in ski boots and snow gear are a bit limited. I’ll give you a couple of simple exercises that you can use as part of your dynamic warm-up and we’ll go from there.
Squats
Skiing involves a lot of up and down action – basically doing squats over and over again. This means the squat is a really good place to start for skiing. So with the squat, basically what you’re going to do is – Taylor talked on it in earlier videos – set your feet about hip width apart, same way that you would be in a ski stance – then going to go down into a squat and back up. You’re going to do increased repetitions, try to do 15-20 repetitions for that exercise.
Walking Lunge
The next one you can do with ski gear on is a walking lunge. That’s going to help to activate the hamstrings and the glutes a bit more before you get out there.
So basically all you’re going to do is make sure your hips stay level, shoulders stay level. You’re going to take a step forward and go down until your knee just touches and come back up. Then step forward with the opposite foot.
Thoracic Rotation
The other one that is quite important for skiing is, it involves a lot of thoracic rotation. So basically what you’re going to do is take your ski poles and put them over the shoulder. Then you’re just going to rotate gently from side to side and go back and forth about 20 times.
So with these types of exercises, all you want to think about is reproducing the same sorts of movements that you going to have in your activity, and use those before you get out there. And the last thing is do a warm-up run. Don’t be a hero and get into the hardest thing you can do right away. Take some time and get used to being on your skis again and that’s a good way to prevent injury.
So if you have any questions or concerns give us a call at Body Works 604-983-6616 otherwise we’ll see you out there! Make sure to watch our other ski exercise videos here!