Most people know that leg strength, core strength, and balance are important things to to get dialed in for ski season.

Many don’t know about the importance of rotational training for their hips and knees. 

Let’s talk about rotational strength training.

Strength gains are specific to a couple of factors. I want to talk about one that is often overlooked, Direction of Force. Tissue strengthens in line with the movement. Squats, Deadlifts, lunges, etc… These all strengthen in line with the movement of the knee and hip. Downhill snow sports require rotation in the knees and hips. Our prep needs to keep this in mind.

What’s my point?

In order to keep your hips healthy while skiing and snowboarding, we have to train them rotationally. When you are ripping downhill you rotate your hips and knees to control your ski/board. If you don’t have good rotational strength and control of the hips, you end up using your low back to drive movement. Having your back do hip things can lead to a shitty back.

When looking at your knees, the most likely injury to a knee is a rotational injury. Tissue strengthens in line with the movement. Squats, deadlifts, lunges do not beef up the knee for rotational forces. That’s why it is so important to add rotational training to your knees. It gives you a much better chance of a healthy, injury-free season.

Finally let’s talk about core training and your spine. It is important to have a strong core. We all know that. Most core training programs train the spine in a fixed position. Planks, hollow holds, band presses, etc… This is great but it doesn’t give you better control of the spine as it moves. When you ski, your spine has to move. Part of your core training needs to focus on how to move the spine one vertebra at a time. The more control you have over each piece of your spine, the better you will feel.

Below are a few movements that you can add to your ski prep program!

• Loaded Tibial Rotation - Hit this exercise at least 2x per week.

  Week 1-3. Perform 3 sets of 15 reps with a band or cable machine (Moderate Load)

  Week 4-5. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps with a band or cable machine (Heavier Load)

  Week 6-9. Perform 4 sets of 6 reps with a band or cable machine (Heaviest Load)

• Banded Hip Axial Rotation - Internal AND Banded Hip Axial Rotation - External - Hit each of these exercises 2x per week.

  Week 1-3. Perform 3 sets of 15 reps with a band or cable machine (Moderate Load)

  Week 4-5. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps with a band or cable machine (Heavier Load)

  Week 6-9. Perform 4 sets of 6 reps with a band or cable machine (Heaviest Load)

• Spine Articulating Hip Bridge And Segmental Cat/Cow
  Add both of these movements to your warm up. Perform 10 repetitions of each, every time you workout.

  Make sure you are only moving 1 vertebrae at a time. If you are bad at it, that’s OK. Keep trying, it will get better over the next couple of weeks.

These 5 exercises can be added to any existing program you are rocking without adding too much time.

Give it a go and holler at me with any questions!

Best,

Ben Van Treese

P.S. If you want a program that has these concepts baked in check out our 100 Year Athlete program. You can join us live in Park City, or virtually anywhere in the world.