Physical Therapy Stretches and Strength Training for a Healthy Ski Season

January 9, 2024 Lea Klein

Physical therapy and mobility exercises can help you strengthen and avoid injury this ski (or snowboard) season.

If you’ve already gotten a day or two under your belt, ask yourself how you felt. Did you experience that all-too-familiar “thigh burn” that makes you wrap up by lunchtime (even though your mind wants to keep going!)? Did you find yourself distracted by those aches and pains that come from “knocking the rust off”?

Now ask yourself what you did to prepare for ski season. If you’re like most folks, you may have hit the gym once or twice for some squats and lunges to get strong for the upcoming season. For most, the intention is there, but the holiday season inevitably derails your plans to truly commit to a preseason routine. So, like most, you probably put your boots on, buckled on your equipment, and set on your way down the mountain “hoping for the best”.

The good news is, even if your pre-season prep was lackluster, it’s never too late to initiate a ski/board specific strength and mobility routine to KEEP you healthy all season long!

Both skiing and riding require heavy amounts of hip and trunk rotation to initiate and complete turns. This becomes even more important on steep, narrow, and/or ungroomed terrain, as you need to make smaller/quicker turns to maintain a safe speed and navigate terrain changes. Skiing and riding also require leg strength and endurance.

Hip and calf strength are needed to properly hold your edge during turns, thigh strength is needed for shock absorption and smoothly transitioning from edge to edge, and trunk/core strength is needed for optimal force transfer between your upper body and lower body.

“A well-rounded program HELPS optimize your performance on the slopes and prevent injury. This requires both mobility and strength components.”

TARA LOVELAND, PT, DPT

Incorporate the following exercises 2-3 times per week to keep you healthy all season long. If any of the following exercises cause pain, please reach out to your physical therapist for tips on how to modify them!

Mobility Exercises

Hip 90/90 Flow

This exercise is great for promoting hip rotation mobility. By alternating between each of the positions shown above, you are working on hip internal rotation and external rotation of both hips. Both motions are required for initiating turns. In addition, improving hip mobility will serve to offload the demand on the knees and prevent knee injury. Bonus!

How to perform:

Sit in the position shown above. Both knees should be bent to 90 degrees (no less!).
First, focus on sitting your “sit bone” of the back leg down toward the floor. Keep your torso as upright as you can and slightly rotate your chest so you are facing your back foot. You should feel a “deep ache” on the outside of your hip.
Sit in this position for 5-10 sec.
Then, rotate your chest to face the shin of the forward leg and lean your chest forward as shown. You should feel a stretch in your glutes.
Sit in this position for 5-10 sec.
Repeat this flow between positions 5-10 times.

Pigeon

This exercise is great for stretching the glutes and improving hip external rotation mobility. This is one that is used in yoga and many other activities. And oldie, but goodie!

How to perform:

Start in a “plank position”. Bend one knee and fold it under you so your foot is generally in line with your opposite hip as shown.
Relax your body weight onto the bent leg until a stretch is felt in the glutes.
You can stay propped up on your hands for a lighter stretch, or relax your chest towards your shin for a deeper stretch.
Hold this position for 60-90 sec each side.

Quad/Hip Flexor Stretch

Since skiing and riding are such quad-dominant sports, it’s important to maintain length and flexibility of the quads and hip flexors. Ensuring these stay flexible will help prevent the onset of things like patellar tendonitis (irritation of the tendon on the front of the knee) and knee pain.

How to perform:

Kneel on one knee with your foot propped up on an elevated surface behind you as shown above. The higher the propped surface, the deeper the stretch, so adjust according to what you can tolerate.
Keep your torso tall and upright.
“Tuck your tail” and think about drawing your pubic bone up towards your belly button and tucking your tailbone under you.
You should feel a deep stretch in the thigh and front of the hip.
Hold this position for 60-90 sec each side.

Strengthening Exercises

Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat

This exercise heavily biases the quads, which helps develop and maintain the necessary quad strength for a long day on the slopes. Elevating the heels creates a pseudo “downhill slope” to more closely mimic the weight distribution and forces experienced while skiing and riding.

How to perform:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with your heels elevated.
Hold a dumbbell/kettlebell (or any type of weighted object) at your chest.
Slowly lower yourself into a squat, focusing on control and maintaining a relatively upright torso.
Return to standing and repeat.
Perform 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps.
You can adjust difficulty by adjusting the weight you’re holding, adjusting the speed of the squat (slower is more difficult, faster is easier), or even adding a 3 second pause at the bottom of the squat before returning to standing (that one’s spicy!).

Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats

This exercise is great for working on single leg strength. Single leg strength and endurance is important because turns require greater force production by one leg, as the other leg follows through. It is fairly common to have leg strength asymmetries, especially if there is a history of previous lower extremity injury, so working on strengthening your legs independently is crucial for injury prevention.

How to perform:

Place your foot on a chair behind you. If you can, hold weights in each hand for added challenge.
Lower your trunk as if you are going to tap your back knee to the floor (you may or may not reach. If you can’t reach, that’s OK! Just focus on the intention of tapping your knee to the floor).
Keep a mild forward trunk lean. Think about keeping your eyes fixed on your toes of the forward leg throughout the rep.
Return to standing.
Ensure your kneecap stays tracking over your toes. Ie. your knee should not “dive in” or “collapse” towards your midline throughout any portion of the rep.
Perform 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.

Supported Single Leg RDL

We can’t forget about the muscles on the back side of the legs! The previous two exercises focused heavily on quads and glutes, but this Single Leg RDL gets the hamstrings involved! The hamstrings are incredibly important in maintaining a strong posture when accelerating downhill. They also play a crucial role in knee stability and supporting the ACL. An ACL injury is never a good thing, so don’t forget those hammies!

How to Perform:

Start by standing on one leg with the opposite toe lightly touched down behind you like a “kickstand”. 100% of your weight should be on the forward leg. The toe touch is simply for balance, NOT to bear weight through.
Hold a weight in the opposite hand of the leg you’re standing on.
Start with a “soft knee” (ie. unlock your knee, but don’t excessively bend it) and push your hips back as you drop your chest towards the floor. Keep your back straight and think about “sticking your booty out”. Your hips should maintain their height and your knee should remain where it is without traveling forward over your toes.
At the bottom, you should feel some tension in your hamstrings (ie. the backs of your thighs) and your weight should feel biased towards the heel (NOT the ball of your foot).
To return to standing, think about driving your heel into the ground and pushing your belt buckle forward, ending with tall posture.
Your low back should not hurt during this exercise!
Perform 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.

Paloff Press with Resisted Rotation

Trunk strength and stability is also essential for skiing and riding, as it is responsible for force and momentum transfer between your upper body and legs (and vice versa). The quality of your turns while carving is heavily dependent on the strength and control of your trunk, so adding in resisted trunk rotation into a ski program is key!

How to perform:

Anchor a band (or use a cable machine) about chest-height to the side of you.
Begin by holding the band/cable at your chest with your feet shoulder width apart.
Press the band/cable straight out in front of you, making sure the weight doesn’t rotate you towards the anchor point.
Once your arms are fully extended, rotate just your shoulders away from the anchor point. Maintain slow and controlled movement. Your hips/legs should not move while you rotate away from the anchor.
Return your shoulders to a forward-facing position.
Finally, bend your elbows and bring the band/cable back to your chest.
Repeat this series - press out, rotate, return to forward-facing, and return to the start for 3-4 reps of 15-20 reps.
You can make this more/less challenging by adjusting the weight/band strength or narrowing/widening your stance (i.e. wide feet make this easier, narrow feet make this more challenging).

These strength and mobility exercises are crucial in gaining and maintaining the functional strength and flexibility required for skiing and riding. So give them a try and don’t hesitate to reach out to your Physical Therapist if you have any questions or are experiencing discomfort at any point!

Enjoy the season! - Tara Loveland, PT, DPT

MEET KLEIN PHYSICAL THERAPY IN DENVER

Klein Physical Therapy is located at 2401 S Downing St, Denver, CO 80210 in the University Hills neighborhood near Denver University.

Klein Physical Therapy in Denver provides individualized care to help patients prevent and recover from injuries, manage pain, and work on healing a variety of issues including pelvic floor dysfunction. Our experienced physical therapists create customized treatment plans using the latest evidence-based techniques to get you moving again and feeling like yourself.