10 EXERCISES TO GET YOU FIT FOR THE WINTER

As we all know, after the season is before the season. To get you ready for for the coming winter, we've put together ten fitness exercises for you, true to the motto: Skiing is always on my mind.

Because one thing is for sure: skiing challenges your body. Being fit dosen't just bring you safety, but also strength and endurance to enjoy your ski day to the fullest.

No worries, though, you don’t have to be a fitness pro for these exercises. You can do all of them totally easily right at home. Just one thing we want to highly recommend though: Do a short warmup before you tackle them! That’ll allow you to prevent injury and revs up your circulation, too. So, off you go into the running shorts from Stöckli and start your workout. Have fun!

SQUATS

LUNGES

MOUNTAIN CLIMBER

SIDE PLANK

PLANK

RUSSIAN TWIST

PUSH UPS

SUPERMAN

BIRD DOG

BURPEES

warmup

A warmup is essential before you start the actual workout. Because with a focused warmup you can prevent any injury. So, take five or 10 minutes to get your circulation going and warmup your muscles.

Easy jogging in place, a few jumping jacks, knee bends, and arm circles are a few of the possible exercises that will prepare you for the coming exercises.

Squats

Key elements when skiing are legs, buttocks, and torso. With squats, you strengthen all three at once.

HOW TO DO SQUATS? 
Stand upright and then bend your knees to move into a crouch. Imagine you are trying to sit on a stool. Your thighs should not go beyond being parallel to the floor, i.e. your behind should not move below your knees. In addition, it is important that you keep your weight back and engage your abdominal muscles (pull in your belly button). Try to maintain an upright position with your body, keeping your back straight. Then straighten up again with a straight back. Pay attention to not lock your legs and to keep your knees just a bit relaxed when standing. Repeat. 

If normal squats are too easy, you can also hold weights – even just objects from around your house, such as books, a rock, a 6-pack, or a filled water bottle.

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
Beginner: 3 x 10-15
Advanced: 3 x 30-40

Lunges

A perfect exercise to get fit for skiing. Because with it you condition your thighs, hips and buttocks at the same time and challenge your balance.

HOW TO DO LUNGES?
Step forward with one foot while keeping both feet pointing straight ahead. Your upper body is upright, and you are not leaning forward. Place your hands on your hips. Now bend your knees so your front thigh is parallel to the ground. Your upper body stays upright, chest lifted, abdominal muscles tight (pull in your belly button), and your body weight stays balanced and distributed between both legs. Return to a standing position, but in doing so only move your legs while your upper body stays stable. Imagine that you are a marionette puppet, and somebody is just pulling you straight upward. Repeat.

Would you like to increase the exercise’s difficulty? Here are some options for you.

OPTION 1
When you reach the lowest point, stay there a few seconds before returning to a standing position.

OPTION 2
Weights. If you do not have any at home, there are various alternatives. For example: a large rock or a heavy book.

OPTION 3
Jumping Lunges. Start with one leg to the front, jump up and switch your legs in midair so you land with the opposite leg to the front. Focus on your torso stability and that you land softly to protect knee joints.

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
Beginner: 3 x 10-15 per side
Advanced: 3 x 20-30 per side

Mountain Climber

An ideal exercise to condition your entire body for skiing. Because in doing it you not only work your abdominal muscles, which play an important role skiing, but also shoulders, buttocks and leg muscles, not to mention your endurance.

HOW DO YOU DO MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS?
To start, take a pushup position. Place your hands about shoulder-width apart, place your feet about hip-width apart, with your fingers facing forward. Important is that your shoulders always remain directly over your hands. Also, your back should stay straight, and you should keep your body in a straight line between heels and shoulder blades while maintaining muscle tension in your entire body.

Now pull one knee at a time toward your chest, while the other leg remains stretched behind you. Increase the speed of alternating knees to make the exercise more intense.

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
Beginner: 3 x 20
Advanced: 3 x 40

Side Plank

In doing a side plank you condition your abdominal muscles as well as your buttocks and arms.

HOW DO YOU DO SIDE PLANKS?
Place yourself in a side-lying position and support yourself on your forearm with a bent elbow. Take care that you maintain a straight line with your body and do not tip forward or backward. This demands some muscle tension. Now, lift and lower your hips. Keep muscles tight at all times.

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
Beginner: 2 x 5-10 per side
Advanced: 2 x 20-25 per side
Optional: Lift the upper leg when you lower your hips and rejoin your legs when you lift your hips.

Plank

The perfect whole-body workout. Because keeping muscles tight statically conditions and trains your entire body.

HOW DO YOU DO PLANKS?
Lie on the floor on your stomach. Place your hands in front of you, palms down, with your elbows bent and under your shoulders. Now raise your body off the ground by supporting your weight on your forearms and toes. Keep your hips and shoulders level. Keep your muscles tightened, with your abs and buttocks always taut. Avoid raising your buttocks higher and keep your neck straight and aligned with your spine – in other words do not look forward but down. The palms of your hands can either be face upward, or you can make a fist. 

DURATION
Hold this position only as long as you can keep your body and muscles taut and aligned, and not fall into a sway back. Beginner: 3 x 20 secs.
Advanced: 3 x 60 secs.

Russian Twist

An exercise for your abdominal muscles. With this, your transverse abdominal muscles are primarily being trained since with a Russian Twist you are doing a twisting movement. Back, shoulders and arms will also at times get a workout too.

HOW DO YOU DO A RUSSIAN TWIST?
Start in a sitting position, then bend your legs a little and lean back slightly. Now lift your feet from the floor – in this position, only your buttocks are now touching the ground. Clasp your hands together in front of you, and rotate from one side to the other, slightly touching the floor each time with your hands.

If this is too easy, you can also hold a weight. That can be a filled water bottle, a heavy book, or some other heavier object that you can hold well in your hands.

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
Beginner: 3 x 10-15
Advanced: 3 x 30-40

Push Ups

Extremely effective and well-suited to train your chest, shoulder, arm and torso muscles.

HOW DO YOU DO PUSH UPS?
Place the palms of your hands on the floor a bit wider than shoulder-width. They should be placed at the same height as your chest. Stretch your legs behind you and place your toes on the ground. Key here is that your body remains in a straight line. That means your hips should not hang down and your buttocks should not push upward very far. In addition, pay attention that your head and neck are extended in a straight line with your spine. To be sure to protect your joints, be extremely careful that you never lock out your elbows. Instead, ensure they always have a slight bend at the top. Only go to a depth that your upper body is positioned between your elbows.

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
10 pushups per day – try every other workout to add one more pushup to your total.

Superman

An ideal exercise for back muscles.

HOW DO YOU DO A SUPERMAN?
Lie down on your stomach. Lift your chest and legs off the ground. Your arms are beside you and slightly bent at the elbows. Hold this position a few seconds and then lower your legs and chest back to the floor. Repeat. If you would like to make this exercise more intense, then stretch your arms out in front of you – like Superman!

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
Beginner: 3 x 10-15
Advanced: 3 x 25-30

 

Bird dogs

The Bird Dog exercise works your abdominal and back muscles.

HOW DO YOU DO A BIRD DOG?
Get onto the floor on all fours. Ensure your hands on directly under your shoulders. Lift and stretch out one arm and the opposite leg from the floor. Arm and leg should be extended and following the same line as your torso. Avoid falling into a sway back or twisting your hips. Your upper body should be parallel to the floor, not be twisting, and your head and neck should be in the same line as your spine. Look down at the floor and avoid lifting your head. Lower your arm and leg and change sides. If you would like to make the exercise more intense, hold up your arm and leg a few more seconds.

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
Beginner: 3 x 10 per side
Advanced: 3 x 20-25 per side

Burpees

The perfect whole-body exercise and extremely efficient. Improves not only your muscles but also your cardiovascular strength.

HOW DO YOU DO BURPEES?
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Now, lean over and place your hands on the ground, while also pushing your feet out behind you. You should now be in a starting position for pushups. Push yourself back upwards again, finishing by jumping upward. Your arms are stretched up and your legs extended. Repeat the exercise without a pause between each. In doing these, pay attention that you maintain muscle tension throughout your body at all times. This will keep you from sagging downward in the pushup.

NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
Beginner: 3 x 10
Advanced: 3 x 25-30