Skiing, particularly downhill skiing, is facilitated by strong muscles in the legs. However, there are conditioning exercises you can do that shed calories, boost the metabolism and target muscle groups used in skiing that are often overlooked. For instance, the outer and inner thigh muscles are not used much when biking or hiking. Nonetheless, strengthening and developing these muscles is crucial, because they stabilize and surround the highly important knee joints.
Nautilus style workout machines offer the most comprehensive and effective strength workouts. “Nautilus” is a generic word for any make of exercise machine which isolates specific muscles. Normally, these machines are arranged so that you can move between them to do circuit training for targeted areas of the body.
Indeed, these machines have grown in popularity and you will encounter them if you are a member of your local YMCA, or any other modern fitness/health club. Initially, these machines might appear rather complex or intimidating. However, rest assured that pretty soon, you will become accustomed to moving from one machine to the next for a great strength workout.
Typically, when ski training in summer, you might start your circuit by working the leg muscles. You could do leg presses for the upper quads, leg extensions for the lower quads, leg curls for the hamstrings and calf presses. Then, you could move to a machine which works the outer and inner thigh muscles. Next, you could work the upper body. Do pulling or rowing motions for the upper back, bench presses and/or pulldowns. For the arm muscles, you can do bicep curls and tricep extensions. For the rear deltoids and pecs, you can do flyes. Finally, for the core muscles, lower back and abdominal resistance training is recommended.
On average, you ought to use twelve to fifteen machines in each of your circuits. If you complete your exercise routine efficiently, with ten to twelve repetitions, you will only need about forty-five minutes to sixty minutes for a solid workout. While this might sound somewhat illogical, it is a well known fact that strength training workouts help to maintain your preferred pants size and weight. Somehow, using these circuit machines to stay strong stimulates the metabolism. This allows you to shed calories for a great deal of time, after your workout. Thus, while you are gently pumping iron in the warm summer weather, think about how this will help you in the snow.