Being in shape for the ski sport
It is advisable to do some moderate exercises and thus you will soon realize that you will become more flexible, which will help you reduce the risk of causing injuries. Being fit will also make you robust and you will not get easily tired. In fact, there are three basic elements in ski fitness which can really help you being in shape before skiing: strength training, flexibility and cardiovascular (aerobic) endurance.

Strength Training
While having a long skiing day, it is very important to maintain a solid athletic position. For this purpose, having strong muscles will develop your skiing ability and allow you not to be tense and in the same time to be in control. Making fast movements is necessary in case of uneven terrains when you will have to adjust and react fast in a certain difficult situation. It is true that skiing techniques are a must but your good athletic capabilities are also needed, including physical skills. While skiing, you can get upon some unpredictable obstacles, requiring a lot of motion and mainly your exact body control will allow you to overcome the problems and continue sliding down the slope. Without strength training, you risk having sore muscles on the next day and feeling very tired. If you have to think about the proper sport activity to train your legs (the primary body part that is under tension while skiing), you can choose between some activities that will develop your leg muscles, such as hiking. Since your quadriceps do most of the work on the downhill, focus on them while exercising.

Flexibility
To be flexible means that your muscle-connective tissues are able to extend if needed, without compressing the joints excessively. This is the most important factor regarding physical conditioning which aids you to prevent injuries. In each sport activity, stretching of the muscle groups for around 20-30 seconds is included, before and after workouts. The flexibility training will have to focus its exercises on your back, upper part of the legs, hips and shoulders. You must also pay additional attention to your ligaments around your joints and tendons these areas should be flexible and in the same time strong to avoid injuries.

Cardiovascular (aerobic) endurance
You need to have enough endurance because this will keep you active in skiing for a considerably long time. For this reason you need to train your heart to stand some continuous and tough physical activities. You should do some cardio workouts several times a week, 30-45 minutes each session. Thus you will develop endurance through sport activities like swimming, aerobics, skating and bicycle riding. An excellent exercise is rollerblading or doing roller skis, since you would use the same muscles and move the same way as you would in skiing. In general, you can develop skiing stamina by any activity which can make you generate about 120 heartbeats per minute for a number of minutes at a single exercise. Exercises should combine both strengthening your upper and lower core. As an idea you can use stretch bands and a physio ball in order to get and keep you in shape in three dimensions. Skiing requires stability, balance and power, so agility is needed in all three planes of movement in order to protect the entire back against torsion, load and shear. The three-dimensional training includes numerous joints and groups of muscles and will give you more dynamic strength by improving stability of the hips, trunk, and shoulder girdle.

Benefits of 3-D ball and band training:
1.Improves your posture.
2.Improves your athletic performance.
3.Improves your muscle strength and endurance.
4.Improves stability in a hip extended position
5.Improves joint and muscle position sense (that is kinesthetic awareness)
6.Improves dynamic balance
7.Improves movement efficiency.


Specific ski training
This type of training includes workouts on specific body muscles which are of most importance in skiing. Of course, the best would be to have a full body workout, but especially for the purpose of skiing, there are muscles that need to be focused on before the winter comes. For this purpose you have to include in the exercises your leg muscles such as quadriceps, hamstrings, shins and calf muscles. Having some knee exercises is also important since knee injuries are very common among skiers. Here are some types of exercises for strengthening your legs and knees.

Leg exercises
These include exercises for outer and inner thighs, for quadriceps, for hamstrings, calf muscles and for shins. Knee exercises: squats, leg extensions, lunges and leg curls. It is always the best to undergo a full body fitness programme and if so, do not forget to consult a fitness trainer. For your good entire body preparation it would be good to eat a well- balanced diet while training your body muscles. If you manage to follow the advices and get into shape before the ski season comes, you will enjoy fully skiing and get the utmost pleasure on the slopes.