Hayley Jasper shares her tips with the reader’s of Women’s Health
19th Jan 2015 by Francesca Menato
Want to make like Kimye and hit the slopes in style? Check out these expert tips so you can turn heads – not ankles – while skiing..
For most of us, switching eight hours a day sat in front of a computer for back to back skiing can put quite a strain on the body. We spoke to Six Physios’ snow sports expert Hayley Jasper about the best exercises to prepare with and how to avoid injuries.
Hitting the slopes (metaphorically) cold is a bad idea. Hayley explained, ‘Skiing is one of the only sports that the average person will only do for one week a year and will ski for eight hours per day on average which is 56 hours in a single week! This means pre-ski conditioning and fitness is essential to prevent injury and maximise performance.’ Makes a lot of sense.
So, thinking about the areas of the body that come under the most pressure during these mountainside activities – glutes, hips, quads, knees and core – we’ve got her top 5 exercises to stay injury free.
1/ Squat holding a medicine ball and lift over your head on the extension with straight arms (high reps)
2/ External hip rotation pulses with a ball against a wall in single leg squat (high reps for endurance)
3/ Single leg lowers from a step or bosu ball with long holds
4/ Figure 4 stretch lying supine and prone
5/ Upturned Bosu ball single leg squats and step down
Preparing your body is essential to avoid injuries, but with the most commonailments affecting the knee ligaments and fractures and sprains to the wrists, it is important to also remember your own limitations.
Maintaining control is the easiest way to ensure you don’t put undue stress on any part of your body.
So, make like Kimye and hit the slopes, just be ready… and enjoy a well earned drink at the apres ski!
