2017-2018 season prep thread.

[Tugboater]

I know I'm not even close to the oldest on here but I'm not a kid either. With that in mind I'm prepping earlier for the season in the Northeast to be sure I'm ready. Last year I only got out 4 days in 1 week and it was a disappointing season for me (got hit twice!). So to better prepared I'm starting the recommended routine in the Bodyweight fitness subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine and leg blasters https://www.backcountry.com/explore/train-eccentric-leg-strength-for-alpine-skiing?branch_used=true on top of my normal cardio stuff. 

 So what are you doing/planning on doing to prepare for the upcoming season?

Edited August 14, 2017 by Tugboater

[Corey]

I'm doing more every year - wish I had recognized the importance of this stuff when I was 15, not 40.  I was naive as to how much of a couch-potato I was.  

Continuing powerlifting-type workouts, based on Wendler 531 program.  Squats, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, etc.  Added in one specific accessory that my body told me was sorely lacking last year: the 'full contact twist'.  It works out obliques that I seem to use when carving, but the rest of my program seems to ignore.  

I lift for 30-45 minutes, 4 mornings a week, and foam-roll/stretch for the other 3 mornings.  I never would have guessed I'd squat 1.5x and deadlift 1.8x my body weight after about 1.5 years of lifting!  I'm excited for the winter.  

[TLN]

Full contact twist is interesting. Gotta add this one to my routine.

I'm probably on the younger end of this forum. Squats, deadlift, press and usual weightlifting stuff. Added running, which was replaced by road bike (more fun, abs/back are used too). I don't want to go too deep into weightlifting, as with 6"4 I'll be over 100 kilos/220lbs quite easily. Overall I'm trying to have 4-5 days of training, but it's hard to keep it that way during summer.

[breeseomatic]

Just do Wendler 5-3-1. It's all you need for any strength based fitness. Cardio is over rated if you don't plan on uphilling. 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2017 by breeseomatic

[Nick]

Well,it's really important topic!

After driving 8 months semi truck every year I need really good conditioning for few winter months. I start preparing myself from first day of august with running 2,3 times week for few miles. I got few things in my truck(exercise mat,ball ,resist.bend and jumping rope) and doing push ups,different exercise with things above and legs(squats,lungs,jumps,squats on one leg),abs...

    When I get back to Europe around Christmas I start with gym and some weights and getting ready for season. Let's say that I can ride 200-300  hundred km  of slopes in day or two on my free ride in fast tempo.

   I start riding hard boots last year and can do all day without issues,I feel more safe and strong with good pre season.

[Corey]

12 hours ago, TLN said:

Full contact twist is interesting. Gotta add this one to my routine.

I don't want to go too deep into weightlifting, as with 6"4 I'll be over 100 kilos/220lbs quite easily. 

For the twist - start lighter than you think. After doing 20 of those I had trouble moving the next day. Ego check happened pretty hard and I dropped to just a bare bar for a while. I'm up to 10 lbs on a 45-lb bar for four sets of five reps each side. 

Weight gain is all about how you eat. I'm trying to maintain a similar weight (~170 lbs), so I'm not feasting. You can lose or gain weight depending on what you do with your fork. 

[Corey]

11 hours ago, breeseomatic said:

Just do Wendler 5-3-1. It's all you need for any strength based fitness. Cardio is over rated if you don't plan on uphilling. 

Don't start with the Wendler program though! Too little frequency for a new lifter. I liked Stronglifts 5x5 a lot, and the free phone app guides you through each step. 

My wife did Stronglifts - it was impressive how fast she went from "I can't lift the bar" to squatting 100 lbs. 

[Neil Gendzwill]

22 hours ago, breeseomatic said:

Just do Wendler 5-3-1. It's all you need for any strength based fitness. Cardio is over rated if you don't plan on uphilling. 

Judging by the number of carvers that stop to rest every few turns, I'd say cardio is not over rated.

[breeseomatic]

Strong Lifts looks interesting, but the fast progression is something I would be worried about to an untrained individual.  Also, with 5-3-1, if you do just the bare minumum, the volume of lifts are very low.  Incorporating the Boring But Big accessory lifts at the end of the main lifts will give the volume of lifts for sure, but it's also very boring.  

It is a lot more complicated than Wendler 5-3-, so I don't have a favorable opinion, but the volume of lifts seem to be decent, which I like.  But I feel that deadlifts are so important that they should be 5x5 too. 

I'm going to give Stonglifts 5x5 as RX'd a try from the bare minumum until I fail on the prescribed progression.  

I'll keep everyone posted on the results in a separate thread.

[slopestar]

I switched from Colorado Native Lager to Coors Light. Getting a lot more reps in now.  12oz curls can be brutal

[breeseomatic]

1 minute ago, Neil Gendzwill said:

Judging by the number of carvers that stop to rest every few turns, I'd say cardio is not over rated.

I believe it's weakness in the legs, not the lungs that makes hard carvers stop.  Sure there is some component of cardio fitness to snowboarding, but I believe that any sort of base cardiovascular conditioning should serve as a fine platform for downhill snowboarding.  Carvers sitting on the sideline need to squat more, and do more plyometric/isometric exercises.  In fact everyone needs to squat more.  

That's why I stop when I bring a 9m slalom board to Snowmass and try to carve top to bottom.  My legs are BURNING and I have no more strength in my legs to hold me up.  Cardio training will do very little to change this.  Squatting and deadlifting for strength will help a lot more.

 

 

[Neil Gendzwill]

Some of column A and some of column B.  During hard carving, your legs are putting heavy demands on your heart. 

[charliechocolate]

On 14/08/2017 at 3:38 PM, breeseomatic said:

Just do Wendler 5-3-1. It's all you need for any strength based fitness. Cardio is over rated if you don't plan on uphilling. 

 

7 hours ago, breeseomatic said:

That's why I stop when I bring a 9m slalom board to Snowmass and try to carve top to bottom.  My legs are BURNING and I have no more strength in my legs to hold me up.  Cardio training will do very little to change this.  Squatting and deadlifting for strength will help a lot more.

Maybe you could try incorporating days where your sets fall in the higher rep range for a bit more endurance. https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/9785

/broscience

[SunSurfer]

I have to disagree with Joe about the need for cardio, especially if you are a sea-level dweller who is coming to ride at Aspen or similar altitude resorts. The oxygen level on Aspen's mountains is only about 2/3 that at sea level so you'd better have your oxygen transport systems in shape if you want to ride hard.

https://www.higherpeak.com/altitudechart.html

That said, I live at sea level, I turned 58 just after ATC 2017 and was turning in repeated 10,000+ vertical metre (33,000+ feet) days during the week before and the week of ATC without problems, and I don't stop for the rest day. My cardio and quads exercise includes hill climb repeats on my road bike as well as long rides year round. I haven't made weights part of my fitness routine, I enjoy being outside in the New Zealand  sunshine and scenery too much! As I get older stretches and core strengthening are a growing part of my routine in order to keep my stiff back functioning enough to be able to reach the cable release for my Intec heels!

Edited August 16, 2017 by SunSurfer
typo correction

[Keenan]

22 hours ago, slopestar said:

I switched from Colorado Native Lager to Coors Light. Getting a lot more reps in now.  12oz curls can be brutal

I try to spend as much time in walk in coolers as possible.  I just pay for what I drink on my way out.

[Corey]

I stop to wait for friends.  Yeah, that's it!  ;) 

Honestly, I think doing anything is better than doing nothing.  Too many people that nerd out over minutia rather than just starting a program, and I was one of those for a long time. Go for a walk, play with your dog, climb rocks, ride your bike, pick up weights, throw stuff, churn butter, whatever motivates you.  It all helps.  

Joe, the advantage I see of Stronglifts for new lifters is decent volume at low weights, so you get used to the motions.  He's very thorough about describing what you should be doing for each movement too, which helps immensely if you don't have someone to guide you.  I started having back pain squatting 80 lbs due to bad technique.  I studied the Stronglifts guide, dropped back to 45 lbs, focused on stretching/rolling, watched every video I could find, and video'ed myself to compare.  I then blasted past 80 lbs with no issues once I learned to really focus on bracing my core.  

Stronglifts killed my desire once the weights got high (well, high for me).  I was getting sick often, demotivated, demoralized.  Failing workouts, dropping back and working back up, only to fail again over and over.  Just brutal - it made me feel very old.  That's when I switched to 531.  

[breeseomatic]

8 hours ago, corey_dyck said:

I stop to wait for friends.  Yeah, that's it!  ;) 

Honestly, I think doing anything is better than doing nothing.  Too many people that nerd out over minutia rather than just starting a program, and I was one of those for a long time. Go for a walk, play with your dog, climb rocks, ride your bike, pick up weights, throw stuff, churn butter, whatever motivates you.  It all helps.  

Joe, the advantage I see of Stronglifts for new lifters is decent volume at low weights, so you get used to the motions.  He's very thorough about describing what you should be doing for each movement too, which helps immensely if you don't have someone to guide you.  I started having back pain squatting 80 lbs due to bad technique.  I studied the Stronglifts guide, dropped back to 45 lbs, focused on stretching/rolling, watched every video I could find, and video'ed myself to compare.  I then blasted past 80 lbs with no issues once I learned to really focus on bracing my core.  

Stronglifts killed my desire once the weights got high (well, high for me).  I was getting sick often, demotivated, demoralized.  Failing workouts, dropping back and working back up, only to fail again over and over.  Just brutal - it made me feel very old.  That's when I switched to 531.  

I read a little more on this, and it seems that starting with the bare minimum weight is the way to go.  And like you said, focus on proper technique.  The progression is FAST.  And I can see that it is sustainable for a few months, but after that, you just can't add that much weight that quickly.  I'll have to read up on what is recommended when you start failing to complete the lifts as RX'd.  It's very interesting and I like that the volume is more than the core of 5-3-1, because I'm really really guilty of just doing the core lifts and then vegging on the couch.

So, thanks for introducing me to Stronglifts 5x5.  I'm clearing space in my garage; the mountain bike stuff has expanded quite a bit, but it's getting put in its proper place and the lifting area is almost ready. 

[SunSurfer]

Riding fitness is one part of the equation. Drinking and eating enough while you ride is important as well. Even piling in the calories and fluids I usually lose weight when I've come to SES/ATC. 

[Corey]

Alan, I lost 10 lbs last year at ATC! That surprised me! Clean eating and lots of cardio... 

Joe, another option for intermediate lifters that looks interesting: http://kizentraining.com

The Infinite Off-Season program is free to download. Omar Isuf has a couple videos about this program on YouTube. I'm debating trying that to bring some volume in, but am not sure how to integrate other accessories. Still researching at this point. 

[alpinegirl]

I will once again plug utilizing eccentric lifting with any program. Research has shown that even just dedicating one training session a month to focusing on this component of movements yields tremendous benefits. 

And if lifting painfully slowly doesn't float your boat, many plyo programs tap into this aspect of movement as well.

Come on winter!

[SunSurfer]

12 hours ago, corey_dyck said:

Alan, I lost 10 lbs last year at ATC! That surprised me! Clean eating and lots of cardio... 

That's the way to sell it to the other half! "Honey, if I go to Aspen to ride with the ATC crew I'll come back sleek and trim." ;-) 

[ursle]

I've always spent hours on a road bike, I prefer hills, and being out of the saddle, endurance.

Love to roller skate, outdoors, backwards all 8 wheels down, working every tendon, figure 8's, pandora tuned to Biggie...agility

Summer and winter, hours on a horse(16.3 hand foxtrotter, endurance for the horse), excellent for the pelvis;)

 

[Tanglefoot]

I am pulling out all the stops this year.

Slackline for balance and coordination, cycling for cardio and weight training for strength. I have also got myself a "Carver" longboard with C7 trucks. This thing is fantastic for pumping and carving tight turns, and you can build up speed from standstill purely by pumping. Very different to any other board I have tried - I have been out on it all evening, pumping like a madman.

And a new custom build from Bruce is already in the house - this is essential for motivation... 

[Dan]

I have been towing my dog to work in a bike trailer most days - it's only 4 miles each way, but dog+trailer is a 100-lb load. I'm hoping I'll go into this season with stronger legs (and maybe better cardio) as a result. 

[SunSurfer]

Or you could try this

 

Not sure I'd recommend it though!