Chances are that if you are a regular telemarktips.com
reader then you probably already try to keep fit throughout the
year with a variety of activities, this is just that kind of
community. Though this may be true, with the season just 6 to
8 weeks away for many of us, now is a good time to start working
some tele-specific exercises into the routine. These are some
of our favorites:
The Split Jump
This a variation on the lunge and it is a
terrific exercise to add lower-body power to your cardio work.
Great for conditioning as well as balance, these split jumps
will tear you up at first so start slow, maybe 4 to 6 jumps and
work up to a full set of 10 in both positions.
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1. Begin
by standing in a deep, extended tele postition, right leg forward
and bent 90 degrees, your rear ankle should be relaxed and your
forefoot contacting the floor, just like a true tele stance except
that your rear foot is further back. Keep your torso upright,
and your arms straight out to the sides.
2. Spring off
both legs and jump as high as you can. Try to push up hard off
the back foot too, and land sinking back into a tele position.
Try switching leads in the air to simulate the tele transition
move. |
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Wall Slides
Wall slides are another quad burning favorite,
they are very simple and low-to-no impact.
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1. Stand with
your back to the wall and slide down the wall until you find
yourself in a sitting position.
2. Start by
holding this position for 15 seconds, increasing the time as
you progress. Slide smoothly back up, rest for a minute or so
and repeat. Try doing these in sets of 5, but again start slow,
you will feel this one the next day, just like the first day
of telemark turns. |
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Single Leg Raises
This is a calf exercise that we have found
helps a lot with both tele turns (especially strengthening the
rear leg) and hiking in the backcountry. It also helps improve
balance and may even workout the muscles in the foot itself,
like those important-for-edging toes. See if you agree.
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Balance on one foot and lift your heel
about two inches off the floor in a smooth motion, pause briefly
and lower. Repeat 10 times and switch legs. Do 3 sets per leg
and keep you hands out from your side, as in the split jump,
to help keep your balance.
An alternative is to do the heel raises on
a curb, a 2x4, or a low wall like Laurie is doing them here.
This prevents any kind of cheating and intensifies the exercise
a bit.
Again, be careful with these single leg raises
or you can really do a number on your calves. |
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Reverse Chair Push-ups
I like to pay special attention to my tri-cepts
when getting ready for the season. I often find myself in rolling
terrain on my home BC mountain and with very little grip wax
on (so as not to interfere with the downhills), I rely a lot
on polling to get over the hump to the next pitch. Early season
the tri-cepts can get real sore from this if I don't prepare.
Reverse chair push-ups are great for this.
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1. Take
a regular kitchen chair and with your back to the seat, place
the palms of your hands on the seat, fingers forward. Bend your
legs 90 degrees with your lower body in a sitting position.
2. Lower yourself
smoothly and slowly down and push back up, like a push-up in
reverse. You will feel the isolated tri-cept muscles getting
a good work-out! Try 3 sets of ten to start. |
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Reverse Arm Curls
Another excellent tri-cept exercise are reverse
arm curls. You can do these with a curl bar but we like to do
them one arm at a time with smaller dumbell weights for better
isolation.
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1. Hold
the dumbell in a vertical position behind your ear and with your
arm bent 90 degrees.
2. Lift slowly,
almost fully extending your arm (do not go all the way to a locked
elbow position), lower and repeat. Again, try starting out with
3 sets of 10 and use weight consistent with your arm strength.
I love this one for working on those poling
muscles, it really does the trick! |
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About Exercise For Tele-skiing
These exercises are meant to be added to a
balanced pre-season routine. To avoid injury and improve your
skiing through better conditioning, it is important to build
up all of the leg muscles in a well rounded way. Increasing muscle
strength and mass in one area while neglecting the counter-balancing
muscles can lead to serious problems. This is the theory behind
"cross-training", combining different kinds of exercise
such as hiking, biking, running, swimming and power walking,
to achieve this balance.
Check out this thread from last spring on
leg
exercise that is in the Telemark Talk Forum Archive . Many
folks contributed valuable information in this regard and Paul
Parker's post makes the above point very well.
Also, a word of caution: if you feel any unusual
pain when doing these routines, especially the split jump and
the wall slides (some people say these hurt their knees), listen
to your body and do not do them.
Ideally your workouts should be enjoyable.
If going to the gym has become a drag, try some outdoor activities
and work in some simple exercises like the ones above. Good luck,
and get ready, the season is at hand!
