How to Train for Skiing
How to train for skiing
It’s October, and ski season is right around the corner! Even though it’s been a toasty start to fall across the West, every forecaster and meteorologist seems to be betting on a cold and wet La Niña. If you’ve spent more time reading weather reports than preparing your body, don’t worry—it’s not too late! You might already be dreaming of first chair, but remember, your season could be over before it even starts. Luckily, you can significantly stack the odds in your favor of skiing well into the spring—and actually feel good while doing it!
At OAT, we don’t mess around when it comes to getting you ready for the slopes. REI (who has a 5-star reviewed How to Train for Skiing blog) might tell you to do a few lunges and maybe a squat or two with questionable form, and you’re good to go. But let’s be real—that’s like bringing a snowball to an avalanche fight. Skiing is not exactly an ergonomic sport. It puts tremendous stress on your body’s soft tissue structures, and if you want to avoid spending your season in the lodge nursing a blown ACL, you need to get serious about preparation. We’re here to break down the science-backed training methods that actually prepare you for the dynamic, twisting, and yes, occasionally crashing, sport of skiing.
Ski Training Isn’t One-Dimensional. Neither Is Your Body.
Here’s the thing about skiing—you’re not just in the backseat, straight-lining it all day long (unless you’re Donny Pelletier). You’re going side-to-side, rotating, twisting, and making adjustments during every turn.
Skiing is a multi-planar sport, meaning you’re constantly moving in all three planes of motion: sagittal (front-to-back), frontal (side-to-side), and transverse (rotational). That’s why simply riding your bike all summer won’t cut it. You need to train your body for all these movement patterns if you want to ski strong and stay injury-free.
At OAT, our ski training programs break down like this:
- 60% sagittal plane (front-to-back movements like squats, lunges, and hops)
- 20% frontal plane (side-to-side, like lateral lunges, lateral squat jumps, and side shuffles)
- 20% transverse plane (rotational movements like 90-degree jumps, chops, and Russian twists)
Few fitness programs out there integrate this level of diversity into their training. Sure, riding your $5,000 Peloton bike through the Swiss Alps in your living room might get those endorphins flowing, but we’re training for skiing—not just general fitness. There’s a difference.
The 6 Pillars of Skiing
Believe me, we tried to condense this into 3 or even 5 pillars, but skiing demands diversity in your training! So here we are with 6…
Stabilization, Strength Endurance, Power, Plyometrics, Mobility, and Cardio.
To make it from first chair to last, day in and day out, and avoid spending your season in a not-so-stylish après-operative knee brace, you’ll need a balance of all six.
Stabilization: Build a Strong Foundation or Risk Breaking Down
Every good ski training program starts with stabilization. Why? Because if you can’t control your body’s movements, you’re basically a yard sale waiting to happen. Skiing demands balance and coordination, especially in the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex (LPHC)—a.k.a., your core and hips. Zoom out, and this phase is all about establishing the brain-body connection to any of the 35 muscles that attach to your pelvis and spine.
At OAT, stabilization training focuses on slow, controlled movements. When we say slow, we mean SLOOOOWWWW. We recommend a 4/1/2 tempo: four seconds down (eccentric), a one-second hold (isometric), and two seconds up (concentric). Last time you did a seven-second squat? Yeah, we’ll wait…
The exercises in this phase might not seem super sport-specific yet, but trust us, they’re laying the groundwork for more advanced training. A few key moves:
The exercises in this phase might not seem super sport-specific yet, but trust us, they’re laying the groundwork for more advanced training. A few key moves:
- Single-leg holds on an unstable surface (think foam pad or Bosu ball)
- Planks to build core endurance
- Glute bridges to activate your glutes and protect your knees from ACL injuries
Here’s the science: Studies show that weak glutes and poor hip stability are linked to dynamic valgus collapse (fancy words for “your knees cave in”), which can lead to serious injuries like ACL tears. So don’t skip this phase—even if you’re an expert skier. This is where the magic happens.
Strength Endurance: Because Skiing Isn’t Just One Run
You know that burning sensation in your quads halfway down the mountain? That’s where strength endurance comes in. Skiing is basically an endurance sport in disguise—you need your muscles to fire continuously for long periods without giving out.
In this phase, we diversify exercise selection across all planes of motion to challenge your proprioception and balance while building muscular endurance. Here, you’ll move to a 2/0/2 tempo—a piston-like motion that more closely resembles how you ski (hopefully without stopping halfway down).
Remember, we’re not focused on lifting heavy. It’s about building muscular endurance. Proper knee alignment—keeping your knee tracking over your 2nd and 3rd toe—ensures better performance and fewer injuries.
Power: Because Fast Reaction Time on the Slopes Is Everything
Now that your foundation is set, it’s time to build power. Skiing is all about reacting quickly—whether it’s dodging a tree, launching off a jump, or adjusting to changing snow conditions. Power training focuses on generating force fast, which is essential for skiing. And no, you don’t need to be sending double backies for this to be useful. Even getting off that rickety chair at Mt. Ashland requires some power.
Our favorite power moves:
- Squat jumps to build explosiveness
- Rotational jumps for quick turns
- Single-leg bounds for unilateral power
But here’s the thing—power is useless without stabilization and endurance. Studies show that power training enhances neuromuscular efficiency, helping skiers react faster with more control.
Plyometrics: Jump Training, But Make It Smart
Skiing isn’t low-impact, and if your body isn’t ready to handle the abuse, your joints will be paying for it. Plyometric training (a.k.a. jump training) preps your muscles, tendons, and ligaments to absorb impact and stay light on your feet. Emphasis here is on soft landings. If your landings are loud, you’re doing it wrong. The quieter, the softer, the safer.
We start simple:
- Two-legged hops, focusing on soft landings
- Single-leg stabilization hops to improve unilateral strength
- Side-to-side hops to mimic skiing’s quick lateral movements
Once you’ve mastered the basics, we move to lateral and multiplanar hops:
- Two-legged lateral hops
- Single-leg lateral hops
- Single-leg rotational bounds
The key here is mastering landings. Soft, controlled landings prevent knee collapse and drastically reduce the risk of injury.
Mobility: Because Being Flexible Isn’t Just for Yogis
Here’s the part most people skip, and it’s why you’re stiff and sore after a long day on the slopes. Mobility training improves flexibility, reduces injury risk, and taps into untapped power. If your joints don’t have full range of motion, you’re not skiing at full capacity.
OAT integrates mobility into every phase of training:
- Foam rolling to break up scar tissue and improve blood flow
- Dynamic stretching to prime your muscles before workouts
- Static stretching to aid recovery
Even spending 10-15 minutes on mobility after skiing will have your body (and your future self) thanking you.
Cardio Training: Because Even Your Heart Needs to Keep Up
Skiing might not look like a cardio sport, but let’s not kid ourselves—those long runs at high altitude are brutal. That’s where cardiovascular training comes in.
We recommend a mix of:
- High-intensity intervals to simulate intense ski runs
- Short, sustained efforts (30-60 minutes) in zones 3-4
- Steady-state cardio like hiking or biking (zone 2)
Cardio isn’t just for skiing; it’s crucial for your overall health and longevity. Plus, if you want to ski all day long, you need to be able to stand on your feet all day long.
Last chair...
Ski training isn’t just about squats and bike rides. It’s a multi-faceted process that requires a mix of stabilization, strength endurance, power, plyometrics, mobility, and cardio. At OAT, we’ve developed a training system that mirrors the exact demands of skiing so you can get the most out of your time on the mountain—without risking injury.
Want to take your ski training to the next level? Check out our ski-specific training programs, including our signature Powder Prep Program. Because let’s be honest, you don’t want to be the one sitting out while everyone else is shredding the slopes.
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