5 adives for preparing your ski season

The secret of good physical preparation? Its regularity! But there’s another secret that we sometimes find hard to hide: the immense laziness that rears its ugly head as soon as the temperatures drop (or the afterworks multiply…).

Alex’s advice? Make your workout a reflex, like brushing your teeth in the morning. To do this, choose 4 to 7 varied exercises (squats, sheathing, lumbar and hamstring work, chair against a wall, etc.) that you’ll do every day at the same time, quietly at home. This way, you’ll avoid giving your body too big a shock when you put your shoes back on…

Running, cycling, circuit training : there are plenty of sports you can do indoors or outdoors as soon as the sun comes out. The choice is yours!

Stretching and yoga help to maintain your flexibility on a daily basis, and thus prevent injuries. Not to be overlooked, even (and especially!) if you’re as stiff as a board.

When you arrive at the resort, you’re often tired: the drive may have been long, the night shortened by the excitement of leaving on vacation (or the stress of the Tetris in the boot!), and altitude always has its effect.

So, yes, it’s tempting to hit the slopes at top speed… but you’ve got time! Regulate your effort over the duration of your stay: start by taking your bearings slowly on the first day, pick up the pace when you feel your body is well warmed up… and reduce the effort when you start to feel the fatigue of the week. The cocktail of skiing + partying + raclette is exhausting!

Before the ski season

Richard, a coach at Le Lagon, recommends that his instructor friends take advantage of autumn to work on strengthening their muscles: thighs (to cope with intense winter working days), hamstrings (to protect the famous cruciate ligaments) and general fitness (running, cycling…).

During the ski season

The days are already very physical, so the emphasis is more on recovery (cycling, swimming, stretching, yoga… but also sauna and hammam, as the heat relaxes the muscles), as well as sheathing and upper body to balance the effort, which is focused on the legs from morning to evening.

You are a beginner

The hardest thing, especially in snowboarding, is often getting up after a fall. And yet, falling is an integral part of learning!

Strengthening your thighs, deep muscles and lower back before your first class should make life easier. Now it’s your turn to do squats and sit-ups!

You’re an “eternal initiate”, but you want to progress

Today, you’re already having fun on the slopes… but you can feel that you’re still missing THE little click before you’re perfectly at ease: gaining speed, making banked turns, leaning forward, and so on.

A stronger physique will give you more control and confidence, and enable you to overcome your psychological barriers.

Off-piste skiing makes you dream

You love the feel of spatulas in fresh snow! But you have the intuition that two or three turns at the edge of the piste and a beautiful track in a completely virgin area are not the same thing…

You’re right! In addition to the necessary equipment (avalanche transceiver, shovel, probe, etc.), you need to be in sufficiently good physical condition to be able to complete a whole slope without stopping in the middle, otherwise you could endanger yourself. It’s up to you!