TECHNICAL APPENDIX F: CONDITIONING

Backcountry skiing is a physically demanding sport, and conditioning away from the slopes can help prevent injuries. You don't train for the good days, you train for the cold and long ones. People generally hate to “train”. The outdoor athlete is usually, well, outdoors! Staying in shape comes naturally to the experienced, but not to beginners. When you are stronger you increase your survivability and are safer as a result. You are most injury prone during the first hours or days of a ski tour. Ski touring has its own training effect that is more sport-specific than any exercise you could do in the gym. Conditioning before a trip prepares you for the initial exercise stress of the trip, reducing muscle soreness, increasing ski performance and speeding your adjustment to higher altitudes. Losing excess body weight and doing cardiovascular training improves power and endurance.

Training for backcountry skiing is not like training for cross-country skiing. Strict aerobic training like long-distance running is not enough! Not only do we travel long distances, which requires aerobic training, but we also must carry heavy packs and climb hills, which require anaerobic training. Building an aerobic base with long runs, swimming and biking helps to build a foundation for harder training such as running wind sprints, running stadium stairs and doing swimming one lap sprints.

The North American Skiing Training Center at Truckee, California identified five areas of conditioning important for skiing: Strength, speed/power, balance, flexibility and endurance.

• SPEED/POWER: The stereo type of skiers training is the skier who is jumping back and forth over a box. This is basic Plyometrics or “jump training” developed by eastern bloc-Russian trainers. Plyometric is best described as “explosive-reactive” power training. We can also develop this fast reactive training when we run mountain trails since that also develops reaction speed by jumping up and over obstacles. One legged squats.

• STRENGTH: Nothing develops strength and muscle size like weight lifting. Most alpine ski teams, including the U.S. team, have strength trainers who emphasize overall body training. Exercises that include core body muscles are the best, such as : Squats, Bench Presses, Pull ups, Lunges, Inclined leg presses are the best at building whole body strength. Three sets of 12 should be done three days/week when aerobic training is not being done since that may interfere with weight training strength gains. Another one: lie on your back and squeeze a gym ball between your lower legs. Raise your legs to a 45 degree angle with the floor and lower slowly. Keep your back pressed against the floor. Do three sets of 12.

• ENDURANCE: Running and biking are great for developing over all endurance which in turn will help the body faster adjust to higher altitudes by increasing the efficiency of aerobic pathways. Swimming is also a great conditioner for this purpose. Keep your heart rate at 60% of your age adjust maximum. (220 beats per second - your age = max. heart rate x 60% = training heart rate).

• FLEXIBILITY: The gym ball and medicine ball have become popular for exercisesthat stretch leg and inner leg muscles. Stretching should emphasize the hamstrings, hips and back. Place your foot on your desk and lean over your leg keeping your back straight. Hold this and all stretches for 20 seconds.

• BALANCE: Holding a medicine ball with both hands, pick up your right leg a few inches above the ground while squatting a few inches with your left knee. Repeat with the opposite leg. See how low you can squat comfortably. Strength and balance work together to stabilize your body during ski movements.

TRAINING FOR ALTITUDE

As we ascend in altitude the maximum volume of oxygen (VO2 max) that we can utilize decreases along with our potential for exercise. An altitude of 7,000 to 8,000 feet (2,133 to 2,438 meters) seems to be the threshold altitude at which the body starts to make physiological adaptations. If you live at sea level and cannot train at altitude, your best preparation is to train the metabolic pathways that are most involved in physical work at altitude: train anaerobically. At altitude the body prefers anaerobic pathways for metabolizing energy since there is less available oxygen at altitude. By preconditioning those pathways, they are primed for maximum strength gains once you are at altitude. Wind sprints (50- to 100-yard running sprints or one-lap swimming sprints) and weight training are all variations of anaerobic training. When we train anaerobically, we feel a burning sensation in our muscles. This is caused by the accumulation of lactic acid – a muscle metabolite that results from hard exercise. This is different from the pain of a muscle injury that is accompanied by the total failure of the muscle to continue working. Sport breathing (discussed in more detail in chapter 4) will also maximize efforts at altitude, which is why it is so encouraged throughout this text. To maximize physical performance on a ski tour follow the long-accepted advice: climb and ski high but sleep low, for best recuperation at night. Be sure also to follow a high-carbohydrate diet – a good example is presented in the nutrition chapter.

PERIODIZATION

Ski training can fit into a year long fitness schedule. Periodization is the practice of timing conditioning so that you are at your physical peak at the optimal time. In the past, elite skiers would design their training so that they would be in peak condition just before a major competition. You can adapt this idea to be in the best shape possible when the ski season begins or just before a major ski trip.

Summer is a great time for aerobic training, which forms an aerobic base that prepares the body for harder training. Studies have shown that without an aerobic base, strength and muscle mass gains are reduced and more difficult to achieve. Most skiers like mountain biking, mountaineering, swimming, and backpacking, and these are great training modes year-round. Running up hills and stadium steps (within the parameters of knee health) will help form your aerobic base. In the fall, focus conditioning to include more ski-specific training. This means weight lifting three days/week until December, when you enter a maintenance phase during the ski season. During the season, if skiing on weekends, you may lift two days per week. This continues until April, when you may wish to train for summer sports again such as mountaineering or mountain biking.