Welcome to Phase Three of our ski fitness guide, presented in association with Inghams. It’s been prepared by Dr Steve Ingham, head of physiology at the English Institute of Sport – and it’s designed to follow the ski fitness exercises outlined in Phase One and Phase Two.

This phase features increased resistance during the circuit/strength workout, and introduces some blocks of higher-intensity effort during stamina sessions.

If you’re new to our ski fitness programme, don’t start here. Head for Phase One instead. Don’t hang about, either. Once you hit the slopes you’re going to be spending six or seven hours every day, at altitude, working unfamiliar muscles hard. The lives most of us lead – tapping away on keyboards, and opening and closing car doors – is no preparation for that.

Ski Fitness: Phase Three

Ideally, you should follow phase three for two weeks. (But if you’re in a hurry you can reduce the amount of time you devote to it.)

Include the following elements each week:
Two stamina workouts, including bursts of higher-intensity effort, and followed by stretching
One circuit/strength workout
Two stretching sessions
Two stability sessions

Try the following schedule

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Stability	25 minute run	Circuit workout	Rest	Stability	30 min cycle	Stretching

SKI FITNESS: PHASE THREE WORKOUT

Warming up

Start off gently and perform each exercise for a minute.

1. Jogging on the spot. Gently at first.

2. Hamstring curls. With legs shoulder width apart and arms bent, raise your arms overhead and step onto one leg. Bend the opposite leg, lifting the ankle to your bum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Rotating jumps. With feet together, jump whilst rotating the upper body in the opposite direction to the lower body. Repeat on either side, for one minute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Jog on spot. Jog, touching the floor every 10 steps on alternate sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Squat. For the last 20 seconds pulse in the squat position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stretching

Ease your muscles in to the stretch, then hold for ten seconds.

1. Calf. Stand 1-1.5m away from a wall. With your back straight, feet flat on the floor, toes pointing forwards, lean towards the wall, keeping your legs and back in line with each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Back of thigh (hamstring). Sit on the floor with your legs out in front of you. Reach for your toes.

 

3. Front of thigh (quadriceps) and hip. Standing on one leg, bend the opposite leg back towards your bum. Keep your hips facing forwards and your thighs straight. Repeat on the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Inner thigh. Sit on the floor with your legs positioned out to the sides. Reach forward with your arms towards your toes.

 

5. Back. Lying flat on your back, bend one leg up to your chest. Twist at the hips, rotating the bent leg across your body. Repeat on the other side.

 

6. Back and shoulder. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and raise both arms overhead. With fingers interlaced reach up high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Chest. With one arm behind you, place your hand flat against a wall or door. Rotate your body away from your hand (so you can no longer see it). Repeat on the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Circuit/strength workout

Circuit: perform two circuits of exercises, each one for 40 seconds with a 20 seconds rest in between. Complete as many repetitions as possible in the 30 second timeframe. Use only light weights where indicated. 1-3kg for women, 3-5kg for men.

Strength: for a third circuit, perform each exercise steadily, up for a count of two, down for a count of three. Perform each exercise for 30 seconds then move straight on to the next.

1. Side Shuffle. Skip across to the side, about one metre, and touch the floor. Then, skip back to the centre, and then a further one metre in the opposite direction, and touch the floor with the other hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Shoulder press. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and, keeping a flat back, press the weights above your head. Don’t lean back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Lunges with arm curl. Hold the weights by your sides. Keep your back flat. As you lower yourself, flex your your arms to chest level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Press-ups. On your hands and knees. Keep your upper body level throughout the exercise. Lower your chest so your upper arms are parallel with the floor, and press back up.  If you have not been doing full press-ups now is the time to try. If you’ve been doing full press-ups, go onto your finger tips and put your feet on a chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Single-legged squat. Standing on one leg, hands on hips, lean forward slightly as you lower yourself slowly to a comfortable position. Divide your time equally between legs. Make it harder for yourself by placing your arms behind your back.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Plank. On your elbows and toes, keep your legs and body level. Hold this position continuously. Make it harder by putting your feet and elbows together.

 

7. Upright row. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Lift the weights from in front of your hips up to your chin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Squat Pulse. Lower yourself to a squat with arms clasped in front of you. Perform pulse movements of 10cm (3 ins).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Rotating abdominal crunch. With knees bent, hands on chest, touch your elbow to your opposite knee on alternate sides.

 

You’re now ready to cool down.

 

Cooling Down

This should be a habit by now. Wind down by doing the following:

1. Small star jumps. Raise bent arms to shoulder height, and jump your feet to shoulder width apart for a minute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Repeat the stretching routine. Hold the stretches for just five seconds each.

3. Rock on your heels. Shake your arms lightly at the same time.

 

Stability Training

Repeat the list three times.

1. One-legged stand. Standing on one leg with the other leg bent behind, shift your weight forwards and then backwards. Repeat 10 times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Double-footed rotating lift. Raise yourself up onto both toes. Rotate the left, back to the centre and down to the right. Repeat the movement to the right. Perform 10 repetitions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Single-legged heel raise.Standing on one leg with the other leg bending backwards, slowly raise your heel to tip toes. Lower back down to the floor slowly. Peform 10 repetitions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stamina Options

Choose two from the following menu:
20-25-minute run/walk: again, start at an easy pace for the first five minutes. Then settle into a steady tempo for the remaining 20 minutes.
12-minute run: after a steady run do 7×1 minute step ups with a 30 second recovery period. Use a step 30-40cm high.
30 minutes cycle ride: choose an undulating course, and work hard up the hills.
20 minutes rowing: follow this with five one-minute step-ups.
60 minute fast walk: spice up your walk with 12 30-stride runs every five minutes.

 

 

Ready for the next stage of our ski fitness programme? Then go to Ski Fitness Exercises – Phase Four.