Dryland Training/Fitness Exercises for Alpine Racing

[jhcolman]

Hi All:

My son would like to do some "dryland" training/fitness exercise for alpine snowboarding, at home.

Any suggestions as what muscle groups to exercise, simple exercises to complete, activities or sports to pursue, etc.?

Any fun ideas? 13/14 year olds get bored/lose their focus easily.

At 13/14, he probably shouldn't be doing weights (we understand that that is not advisable for that age group). However, there are probably some basic exercises or exercise tools that he can do/use.

Anything written anywhere on this topic? Videos?

Thanks

Julian

[Gecko]

Hindu Squats are good for the legs, time on a balance board (Rolo makes one that is side to side and end for end) and my favorite skateboard ramps & pools...the balance and muscles used are the same.

[Neil Gendzwill]

wall sits, box jumps

[RobRidesSquaw]

Hey,

I went over this all last year with my coaches and a physical therapist. I am 15 so around the same age as your son. Every third day I plymometric lunges, squats, and jacks. these are incredibly hard and do not require any weights or any special equipment. They increase your muscles ability to explode out of turns and tucks. Also, I do wall sits every day, usually while watching tv or something to keep my mind of the sit. Calf raises while brushing teeth, about a 100, then a 100 later on it the day as well. Also doing crunches everynight before you go to sleep is good. Also, try to do a hamstring excercise in their to balance out legs. These are all very good but my favorite dry-land activites funwise are mountain biking and longboarding. biking builds quads and calfs and endurance, while longboarding simulates (or close to) the feel of a snowboard working some of the same muscles.

Good luck

-Rob

[Gecko]

I hate wall sits...that said they are good for exercising while doing something mindless like playing XBOX...I also use a balance board when playing XBOX...as Rob said bodyweight exercises are quite good though maintaining the motivation to do them regularly is a problem even at my age which is why I end up practicing yoga more than doing combat conditioning BTW any of y'all who question yoga have you ever been to a Yoga class??? The eye candy alone is motivation

[Allee]

I started back on the ball squate this morning and my legs are telling me all about it. Get a Swiss ball in a squat cage, with bars on the side at about armpit height so you can get up on the ball, and a bar across the front for you to grab if it takes off on you. Stand on the ball with feet about shoulder width apart and squat, it works every muscle in your legs and lower back while you get your balance. You can add a weight on a dip belt if you need to, or when you get really good hold a barbell plate across your chest.

I saw a pic of Melanie Turgeon, the Canadian skier, on a Swiss ball, hanging on to a rope while somebody sawed and pulled and tried to pull her off. Solid as a rock. Amazing.

He can do weights, but light, and always supervised. At that age, his growth plates haven't fused yet and it's a lot easier for him to sustain a permanent injury. Rob's plyometric stuff sounds great, mix in some weights for a change of pace and keep it fun.

[Guest Todd Stewart]

Last month I started doing the stair master twice a week, it looks like its working pretty good. This is I feel the burn in the same muscles as snowboarding. Hopefully this will get me in shape for a solid season this year.

[Guest johann]

stairstepper:

watch out on the stairstepper. Its notorious for giving people sciatica(sp?) issues.

Plenty of other things that build better and are less prone to causing mean injuries.

[Guest]

Gecko-

I practice Yoga 2 or 3 times a week. And while yes, the eye candy is appealing, the benefits your body recieves is unbelievable. My core strength is better than it ever has been. My flexability is unnatural. And not only that, it's the best workout I've ever had. Ever. And I don't say that lightly.

I go to Bikram's Yoga, where they keep the room 106 degrees fareinheit. It's an insane workout, and you sweat so fricking much. Bikram is especially good for those with bad knees or backs. Many of the asanas (postures) are done while balancing on a straight leg, so it really helps strengthen the knee joint and surounding muscles, tendons and ligaments. In the later part of the series, you do a ton of work on the muscles surrounding your spine, strengthening and lengthening them.

I would highly recommend anyone see if they have a Bikram's studio in their area and go to it. Make sure and bring a towel, a mat if you have one, and plenty of water, as you dehydrate quite quickly.

[Gecko]

I know Jim, yoga is loads of fun and good exercise. Personally I'm a fan of Asthanga (I think I spelled that right). The Yoga studio that practiced at in Honolulu was right next to University of Hawaii...talk about eyecandy. The link I posted to Matt Furey's combat conditioning was something that my Judo Sensei turned me on to when I was living in Hawaii...Furey blows a lot of smoke but the exercises in that book are all based on yoga and indian wrestling. It's a good program regardless of the source...basicly yoga and callesthetics for martial arts.

[jhcolman]

Hi All

Thanks for taking the time to post suggestions.

Cheers

Julian

[Guest Randy S.]

Here's an interesting compilation of articles that have appeared in Outside Magazine on conditioning for Skiing and Snowboarding. Some good stuff:

http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/ski-snowboard-fitness-advice-archive.html

[mnovak]

I've been using one of elliptical trainers (kind of half treadmill, half stairmaster) for awhile and found a way to really get the quads burning. As you're "running" on it bend down and try to keep running in a lower position, and then try running while going up and down, bending with your knees and hips. Kind of like moving squats without the risk of injury that comes with barbell squats. Pain baby, pain!