Skiing

You wouldn''t think an activity that involved so much sliding and gliding could make muscles feel so stiff and ragged, but it can, especially if the activity in question is skiing. If you''ve spent any time on a cross-country or downhill ski trail, you know the kind of misery we''re talking about—a bone-deep ache that not even the cool beauty of a snow-covered landscape nor the warm promise of an Irish coffee back at the lodge can erase.

"Most people feel the biggest burn on top of their thighs, in their quad muscles," says Robert King, an instructor at the Vail Ski School. King also designed and conducts a ski conditioning program at the Vail Athletic Club in Colorado. "But many skiers—even experts—don''t often realize how hard skiing can be on other muscles, especially the hamstrings, the lower back and the abdominals."

Staying on Balance

It''s precisely these areas of the body that yield many skiing-related injuries, agrees Lisa Feinberg Densmore, a former member of the U.S. Ski Team and producer of Body Prep: The Ultimate Ski Fitness Video. Take the hamstrings on the back of the thighs. If you don''t exercise them as much as you work other leg muscles, you can create a strength imbalance that leads to muscle pulls in the back of the leg. That same imbalance can also cause a weak link in the muscular structure that surrounds and protects your knee.

"People who ski need to think in 360 degrees, all the way around the leg. When they don''t, they increase their chance of ending up with a knee problem," says Densmore.

Moreover, because of the ever-changing demands of the skiing terrain, the sport can also be hard on the lower back and the abdominals, which bear the impact of skiing over jumps and moguls and also help you steer on the slope. "The stronger and more flexible those muscles are, the less chance you''ll have of an injury. You''ll also be a better, faster, more agile skier," says Densmore.

So you need to work on strength and flexibility to be a better skier, says Densmore, but it has to be the right kind of strength and flexibility. It has to be the kind that will allow your various joints and muscles to get you down to the bottom of the hill with a minimum of injury and a maximum of icy-cold, windchilled, adrenalin-tinged pleasure. To stay upright and injury-free, here''s what our experts advise.

Work on lateral movement. As a pre-season trainer, be sure to do plenty of sports and activities that emphasize side-to-side movement, suggests King.

"This really builds up legs and hips and helps train your body to move laterally," says King, who includes slide aerobics in his ski-training programs. If aerobics classes aren''t your thing, Densmore suggests taking up sports like tennis or soccer, which also demand lots of sideways movement.

Strap on skates. To get your ski legs back under you in a hurry, get yourself a pair of in-line skates for the off-season. "It''s one of the best activities going for skiers. It works the muscles you use when you carve a turn on skis, and it helps you keep proper balance for skiing," says Densmore.

Stretch, stretch, stretch. And when you''re done doing that, stretch some more. "I don''t mean a post-workout, five-minute stretch. I mean a whole flexibility routine where you''re doing at least 20 minutes of stretching several times a week," says Densmore. "Skiing causes you to put your body in a lot of unnatural angles. If you want to be really good at it, you have to be flexible." Focus especially on your hips, thighs and groin as well as your lower back.

Conquering the Hill

Pre-season training is all well and good, but there''s no substitute for perfecting your technique out on the trail, says King.

When you''re on the slope, your main objectives are clear: You want to stay upright, you want to have control and, of course, you want to look good. "Proper form is the key," concurs Densmore. "Not only will it make you look graceful on skis but it will also keep you from falling, skidding out of control or pulling a muscle." Perfect some basics of ski form and you''ll minimize your odds of becoming a human snowplow. Work on these essentials.

Stand up straight. For novice and intermediate downhill skiers, keeping their balance is a primary goal—and a primary challenge, says Densmore. This leaves a lot of skiers in a hunched-over, wide-stance position.

"Basically, you look like a gorilla on skis. And a lot of skiers start out that way because they feel comfortable and safe in that low position—that''s where their balance is," observes Densmore. But if you don''t take steps to correct this position, you''ll actually be hurting your form in the long run.

"It''s hard on the back, hard on the legs, and you don''t look very good besides," she says. So make a conscious effort to stand up, keeping your skis shoulder-width apart. "The more you remember to stand upright in a relaxed position, the more natural it will feel. You''ll be more graceful and fluid, too," adds Densmore.

Know your pole position. For cross-country skiers, poles are part of the human engine that propels you forward, and you need only to keep them at your sides, planting and sliding, pulling, then pushing yourself ever forward.

For many downhillers, though, the theory of ski-pole positioning is less obvious. "Some beginners just think you only use poles to get up after a fall or to push yourself over to the lift," says Densmore. For Alpine skiers, though, poles are more than a form of damage control or minor locomotion—they''re powerful navigational tools, helping you to steer and make high-speed turns.

"Using them effectively is all a matter of positioning and subtle movement," points out Densmore. "A lot of skiers wave them around or use too much upper-arm movement, and that will throw them off balance." Here are a few pole pointers Densmore recommends you remember the next time it''s your turn.

1. Keep your arms slightly bent and hold your hands and poles comfortably in front of you. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your elbows about eight inches from your sides.

2. Plant the pole on the side you want to turn toward. A pole plant is no more than a flick of the wrist. Bend your wrist up and touch the pole just in front of your boot.

3. Ever so slightly, lift the ski on the side you want to turn toward as you plant the pole. This will make it easier to start a new turn.

4. As soon as you start the turn, unplant your pole so it won''t rotate your upper body and cause your skies to slide.

Don''t fight falls. Okay, sooner or later it''s going to happen. The mogul you''re taking decides to take you instead. Or some little kid suddenly veers into your path, and you must heroically divert into the ravine. As you head for the great white beyond, try to relax your body. One of the greatest causes of skiing injuries occurs not because we fall, but because of what we do to prevent falling, says Densmore.

If you''re skiing and you feel yourself falling, just let yourself go. If you are in an uncontrollable fall and you can''t stop your slide downhill, protect your head and try to get your feet downslope of your body, suggests Densmore. That way you will hit obstacles feet first. And if you''re falling forward, cover your face and head and turn so you roll on your shoulders.

Training for the Trails

Sooner or later, if you want to conquer those black diamonds slopes or finish that circuitous cross-country trail with energy to spare, you''re going to have to lift some weights to get that body in proper ski form. Here''s your ski workout. Yes, it''s heavily weighted toward legwork, but don''t take that as a license to go easy on your upper body. "Shoulders, arms, back, abs—especially your abs—are all part of the equation. Don''t leave them out," says King.

Shoulder Exercises

Your shoulders aren''t just a handy place to drape your skis as you head back to the lodge. "You need them for planting and pushing off with your poles," says Densmore. Shoulder shrugs and upright rows will give you the power you need for on-trail maneuvering.

Quadriceps and Hamstring Exercises

As a matter of course, you should be doing exercises that strengthen not only the quads but also the hamstrings. In his specialized workout plan for skiers, Ken Sprague, coach and strength trainer, owner and operator of the original Gold''s Gym and author of Sports Strength, recommends lunges and squats as well as leg presses.

Abductor and Adductor Exercises

Because of the lateral motion involved in skiing, Densmore says you''ll want strong muscles on the inside and outside of your upper legs. Do outside and inside leg lifts either lying down or standing and using a weight machine with a pulley and a leg cuff.

Calf Exercises

Cross-country skiers, in particular, will want to build calf strength, since the calves take a lot of punishment during the forward sliding motion of that brand of skiing. Standing heel raises will build those muscles, Densmore says, plus they''ll help stabilize your ankle, which makes it a good exercise for all skiers.

Lateral Box Jumps

This is a variation on the old box jump, where you jumped on or over a box to build leg strength and explosive power. The lateral jump still builds leg power, but it also helps build ski-specific balance and coordination, says Densmore. Stand on the right side of a foot-high box, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, hands held forward as though you were holding imaginary ski poles.

Now put all your weight on your right foot and jump to the left side and over the box. Position yourself so you land with your weight on your left foot. Pause a moment with your weight on your left foot, then leap back over the box to land on your right foot again. Do 20 jumps.

Tuck Jumps

This classic jumping exercise helps skiers build both leg and abdominal muscle and power, Densmore says. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart in a half squat, knees slightly bent, hands gripping imaginary ski poles.

Now jump straight up. While you''re in the air, raise both knees up and try to touch them to your chest. Don''t swing your arms for momentum. Return to the starting position and repeat. Do 10 to 20 jumps.