If you haven't already started, it's time to get your muscles toned for the slopes with a special ski program. Kieser instructor, Janique Snyder, has some tips on how to prepare for carving.
Carving: How to prepare
For downhill skiing, you need strong muscles and resilient ligaments and tendons – and that is even more the case if you want to master carving. With this technique you descend at high speed with the ski on its edge as if you were on rails. This puts extreme pressure on the hip, knee and ankle joints. It generates a maximum force several times higher than with traditional skiing. Generally speaking, the smaller the radius of the curved edge the greater the load.
This combined with high speed quickly puts a massive strain on the muscles and increases the risk of falls and injury. Most accidents occur in the afternoon when the muscles are overworked. With carving, the most common injury is to the ligaments in the knee: the anterior cruciate ligament, the medial collateral ligament and the medial meniscus. Such injuries often require surgery but one thing is for sure: they always take a long time to heal fully.
Because carving increases the maximum peak force, your muscles must be stronger than for traditional skiing, making the right preparation even more important. It’s essential to train not just the leg muscles but every muscle group from the feet, through the core to the head. Downhill skiing is a genuine all-body sport that uses the entire muscle system either for the purpose of acceleration or deceleration.
Don’t forget that control starts off with your feet; strong feet increase the level of control at your disposal and overall strength improves coordination.
Our ski programs allow you to train the main muscles and muscle groups. In addition to the leg machines and the F2 and F3 machines, I recommend training on the C1. The C1 machine works the main muscle group required for pushing on the flats.
