Polish off your ski and snowboard fitness

19th December 2014, by Abi Butcher

The last exercise in our series will help you for both skiing and snowboarding

The last exercise in our series with James Vickers and Rob Madden, elite ski and snowboard physios with the Centre for Human Health and Performance (CHHP) in London, is all about the trunk.

“This is a great exercise for your trunk muscles and a nice one for both skiers and snowboarders,” says keen snowboarder Rob Madden.

“This exercise will build up your abdominal and lower back muscle strength for rotation. This will be both useful for the strength needed for quick turns but also help those of you who like to jump and spin in the air!”

Medicine ball woodchoppers can be added in nicely with your other exercises — for example it pairs well with a compound exercise like the dead lift. 

“You now have all of the exercises in this series and to finish things off here is an example of how you may choose to build a workout,” says Rob. “As James mentioned, now is not the time to try something new so stick with your favourite / preferred form of cardiovascular fitness.”

Snowboard physio Rob Madden demonstrates medicine ball woodchoppers

Warm up: The main section of the session should be around 20mins to keep the quality. Make sure you include a warm-up and cool-down. For example 4-6mins warm up, then 60secs on, 60secs off x 4-6, 2-4mins recovery, 30secs on, 30secs off x 4-6, 4-6mins cool down.

Exercise 1 - Sideways crab walks - 15 metres x 6 with short rest period x 2/3 sets
Exercise 2 - Cobra back exercise - 20/25 reps x 3 sets
Split set 30 secs rest with
Exercise 3 - Ski Hack squat - 4 sets (or as many as you can manage!) each leg x 2/3 sets
Exercise 4 - Medicine woodchoppers - 20 reps x 3 sets
Super set (no rest between the 2) with
Exercise 5 - Wall squat series 10 reps in 3 different positions x 3 sets

Rob adds: “This is just an example and there are lots of ways you can mix up your workouts. It gives you an idea of how you can typically split something up and vary your workouts throughout the week.”

Rob Madden and James Vickers are now based at the Centre for Health and Human Performance (CHHP), 76 Harley Street, London. They have a depth of experience in elite skiing and snowboarding, and altitude and expedition medicine. For more information, visit chhp.com

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