Certified Ski & Snowboarding Instructor
This article is based on an expert interview with Kent Bry, conducted by wikiHow Staff Editors. Kent Bry is a certified ski and snowboarding instructor and the director of Adventure Ski & Snowboard, a school based in the San Diego, California metro area. With over 50 years of skiing and snowboarding performance and instruction experience, Kent is certified by the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA). Adventure Ski & Snowboard is a member of the PSIA and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI). Kent holds a BS in Recreational Therapy from San Diego State University and is also a California-registered recreational therapist.
Training for skiing during the off-season ensures you’re ready to go when it’s time to hit the slopes again. Things like running and lifting weights will help you stay in good shape overall, but if you really want to train for skiing specifically, you’ve got to do exercises that target your skiing muscles. Don’t worry—in this video, ski and snowboarding instructor Kent Bry shares some of his favorite exercises for keeping your skiing muscles in shape all year long.
Key Takeaways
- Work out your quadriceps, or the leg muscles above your knees, to strengthen them for skiing.
- You should also strengthen your core, which will make you a stronger skier.
- Aerobics, plyometrics, and Pilates are all great ways to stay in shape for skiing.
Video Transcript
There are certain exercises that are key to your skiing muscles. And the skiing muscles are on the top of the leg above the knee. It’s called the quadricep muscle. So you really want to do something that strengthens the quads. A lot of exercise like you do daily— running, jogging, lifting weights—it's good to stay fit, but it's not specifically targeting the skiing muscle. So I would recommend doing a one-legged standing exercise that I have on my website, adventureski.com, and consider doing core exercises. Because if your core is strong, you'll be in much better overall shape and you'll be a much better skier if your core is strong. So I would highly recommend some aerobics, some plyometrics, some Pilates—all those things would be a great way for staying in shape. And even just bicycle riding and rollerblading in the offseason is a good way to prepare and stay in shape for the season.
