5 TIPS TO STAY SKI READY THIS OFF SEASON
Whether you have a trip planned to the sunny south this off-season, or you’re back at it with us in May, here are jMac’s 5 tips to stay in shape and ready to hit the water! Show 2024 what you’re made of by preparing better than ever.
Maintaining Body Load: Water skiing exerts a significant amount of load on our bodies. When we neglect the gym during the off-season, we miss out on this crucial pressure. To stay strong and prepared, incorporate exercises like Front Squats, Deadlifts, Farmer Carries, and Cleans into your routine. These exercises ensure that weight is pushing or pulling down on your body, forcing it to support the load effectively.
Core Strength and Stability: Your torso, spanning from hips to shoulders, plays a pivotal role in maintaining your skiing posture. Engage the muscles around your core to provide structural support. While the previously mentioned exercises engage the core, you can also focus specifically on it with variations of Planks (face down, face up, side), Hollow rocks, and dynamic movements that challenge core stability.
Hip Strength, Stability, and Mobility: Hip strength is vital for skiers. Incorporate single-leg exercises into your warm-up or workout to improve stability. Additionally, invest time in rolling and stretching to maintain functional hip mobility. Try rolling on a softball to target tough spots in each glute, the Couch stretch for hip extension, hip Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs), figure 4 stretches on a wall, and straddle stretches on a wall to keep your hips feeling great year-round.
Shoulder Stability and Range of Motion (ROM): Like the hips, shoulders endure significant stress during water skiing and in the gym. Build shoulder stability through exercises like planks, pushups, and handstands, which require balancing weight through your arms. Prioritize range of motion in your warm-up routine with exercises like prone shoulder CARs, scapula pulls, scapula pushups, cuban presses, and prone ATYs to keep your shoulders mobile and resilient.
Consider FlowPoint Method (FPM): For maximum off-season benefits, consider following the FlowPoint Method (FPM), a program developed by Marcus Brown, a former Pro Slalom skier, and Jenny LaBaw, a Crossfit trainer and former Crossfit athlete. FPM offers off-season and full-year programs that are easy to stay consistent with and have consistently prepared skiers for their upcoming seasons. Don't miss the opportunity to try it out and enhance your off-season training to excel on the water.
*Check outJenny’s YouTube Page to find video’s of everything mentioned above
