Train Now, Shred Later
Why your best ski season starts NOW.
The Snow is coming. You Can Feel it.
While you're sitting there thinking about the first chair and deep powder, your legs are thinking about something else. They're thinking about the fact that you haven't loaded them eccentrically in nine months. They're thinking about how different a high-speed carve is from your morning run.
You already shred. Valid. But strength is fundamental to maximizing skiing performance in a way that's different from sports like distance running - skiing requires trained core strength and specific muscular development just to execute the fundamentals.
The “Science” is simple
(a.k.a Common Sense )
Research shows that maximal strength training improves skiing performance, work economy, and strength levels. Translation. You move more efficiently. You recover faster between runs. You stay strong when everyone else is gassed.
Skiers who followed structured preseason strength programs were 50% less likely to experience knee injuries compared to those who didn't train. Not to mention most skiing injuries are preventable with proper conditioning and muscle strengthening
Think about what skiing demands: long runs where your quads are screaming. High-speed turns that load one leg at a time. Landings that compress your entire body regardless of the pitch of the slope. Alpine skiing challenges virtually all physical capacities: Maximal strength, strength, endurance, stability, power, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, balance, coordination, motor control, and mobility.
The Pros Know
Bode Miller, the oldest Alpine skier in history to win an Olympic medal, credits his training regimen with battling back through injuries and maintaining elite performance at 39. Lindsey Vonn's trainer emphasizes that strength training is critical for injury prevention. Skiers bust their knees more than any other body part.
The US ski team athletes build their routines around explosive strength training. Like weighted single-leg box squats, overhead med ball throws, and lateral box jumps that develop the power needed for skiing dynamic movements
The pattern is clear, elite skiers don't just ski, they lift, they build power, they strengthen stabilizing muscles that keep knees intact and bodies responding when the train gets wild.
What This Means for You
Start training now. Not next week. Not when the forecast shows snow
Focus on:
Unilateral leg strength
Posterior chain development
Core Stability
Explosive Power
Miller Trans and 45-second high-intensity intervals to mimic the duration of skiing between stops on the mountain. Ski and snowboard club Vail’s Director of strength and conditioning emphasizes his mobility work for ankles, knees, hips, and thoracic spines to ensure proper body alignment.
Your legs will remember what you did in October.
Every squat becomes a landing you stick. Every single leg press becomes a turn you hold when your body wants to give up. Every core rotation becomes the difference between control and catching an edge at speed.
The season doesn't start when the lifts spin. It starts now. In the gym. In motion.
