The 3 Most Overrated Exercises For Skiing
Pistol squats
Banded Lateral Walks
Russian Twists
There you go.
I gave you the take home message right away.
If you wanted to stop reading this article you’ve got the option to.
Its a new writing strategy I am trying out calledgive me the goddamn answer right away.
This new strategy comes from a place of empathy.
Possibly the worst are reading online cooking recipes.
Why couldnt the author just provide that at the beginning of their blog post?
Asymmetrical differences are red flags that, if left unresolved, can lead to continual or future ski injuries.
For me, it comes down to the pistol squat being aquality movementbefore it becomesan exercise.
Skiers who have copied this exercise from other athletes fail to take it an additional step further.
And its the priority of this exercise that leads me to my third point.
Lastly, the pistol squat is overweighted within a workout routine.
Its like my stock portfolio-its incredibly reliant on one stock for my future success.
What I really need is a portfolio that includes other exercises that are more heavily weighted.
But thats about it.
Its definitely not going to have a starring role.
The next most overrated exercise for skiers are lateral band walks.
This might be the most commonly performed rehabilitative strengthening exercise that athletes across all sports perform.
First, its commonly performed incorrectly because of the verbal cues given by professionals.
It sounds counterintuitive, but this exercise is meant for the trailing leg and not the lead leg.
Makes a huge difference.
The verbal cue instead should be to push off the trailing leg.
The other common mistake is allowing the trunk to move from side to side like a toy soldier.
The upper body should be like a statue as the legs move beneath it.
Its popularity convinces the public it must be a really good exercise.
Lastly, the exercise needs to be modified to better serve skiers.
And when I say modified I really mean regressed.
But dont get upset about having to go backwards to make it move forwards.
This variation of the lateral band walks should be more fruitful to skiers.
Repeat this sequence 15-30 times on the same leg before moving to the other side.
The third most overrated exercise is Russian twists.
And the core strengthening exercise that I see most commonly performed is the Russian twist.
But Russian twists dont even do the best job of activating those muscles.
dead bugs-with a million variations to make them very challenging).
Usually there is immediate relief in low back pain.
However, floor core exercises still don’t mirror any skiing position.
More priority should be on performing functional core exercises.
Lastly, I prioritize core exercises that are functional, weight bearing, and specific to skiing.
Russian twists check off none of those boxes.
Whats one example of a core exercise that does?
Get ready, because its not a sexy one, and it wont give you six pack abs.
Surprise, it could be double kettlebell Bulgarian split squats.
Checks off all of the boxes.
There are other core strengthening exercises that also check off all the boxes.
