Functional Fit: Exercises for Skiing

{Jess and me - Big Sky 2012}

By LL

As Jess and I (and our husbands) prepare for our annual ski trip, I have begun to worry about how crippled I will be after my first day out in the powder of Big Sky. Normally, my husband and I would have spent a few days at a local "hill" to give our muscles a chance to be conditioned. Unfortunately, with us not living near good ski hills and having a mild winter where the one ski hill in the state hasn't been open more than a few days, I realized that I needed to resort to another form of conditioning. That is when I stumbled across these exercises to help tone the lower body for skiing.

Fitness Magazine's Winter Workout provides 10 exercises to tone abs and lower body. They are easy to do and quick to add to your current cardio routine.

We all know that even with the most extensive fitness routine (running 10+ miles/day; taking 60 min spin classes 4 times/week, etc.), getting out and doing something completely different can be a killer. At least these exercises help to specifically target the muscles that we use in winter sports. And these come with a certification...at least my husband's. He was an alpine ski racer up through college and says that they used many similar exercises in their dry practices.