Morning micro warm-up: 3 moves to wake up the body before skiing
Do you want to protect your body and start the day well, without it being restrictive? Good news: there are some small simple moves to wake up your muscles before hitting the slopes. We explain how to proceed, by performing each exercise for 30 seconds to one minute.
In summary
Do you want to enjoy the slopes while preparing your body for the effort? A good warm-up before skiing helps to wake up muscles, improve mobility, and limit the risk of injuries. Sport 2000 presents simple exercises to perform in a few minutes before putting on your skis or snowboard. Discover movements to unlock the pelvis, mobilize the shoulders, and strengthen the legs with rotations, arm circles, and squats. Read on to adopt the right reflexes before each day of skiing.
Torso rotation to unlock hips and pelvis
The first simple step is to make circles with the pelvis, in one direction then the other. Here's how to do this warm-up properly:
Stand with your legs slightly apart.
Place your hands on your waist, on each side.
Perform slow torso rotations, turning clockwise, then counter-clockwise.
Another exercise can complement this warm-up:
Also stand upright, legs slightly apart.
Take a ski pole (or a broom handle, for example), place it behind your neck, resting on your shoulders, with one hand on each side of the pole.
Hold the pole and turn your torso to the right then to the left, keeping your feet anchored to the ground.
Arm circles to tone the upper body
The arms and shoulders are more active than one might think when skiing or snowboarding. To warm them up, perform small circles, proceeding as follows:
Stand up, legs hip-width apart.
Extend your arms parallel to the ground, palms facing down.
Make small circles with your arms, in one direction, then the other.
As you progress through the exercise, you can make larger and larger circles to gain amplitude.
Squats to wake up the legs and get the cardio going
Last body part to warm up: the legs. For a relatively complete warm-up, the squat is a very interesting exercise. It works the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and adductors, in other words, the most used muscles in skiing.
For a well-executed squat, follow these instructions:
Start standing, legs hip-width apart or slightly wider.
Place your arms extended in front of you or put them on your waist.
Lower your glutes, no lower than your knees, and slowly come back up.
Make sure your feet remain firmly on the ground, your head is aligned with your spine, and your back stays straight.
To extend the warm-up and get your cardio up, you can speed up the pace, while ensuring you always perform the correct movements. You can also do some jump squats. Be careful to land the jump properly so as not to harm your joints.
