HighAngles wrote:Hope everyone had a great Summer. I'm entering this season way too heavy and far too out of shape unfortunately. I have a lot of work to get done before camp in November!
This is an interesting topic. My brother has been skiing with me a few times a year over the past ten years or so. He has been to some HSS camps and has skied with Max and Harald at my home mountain in Montana several times. Up until this season he has consitently been 30-50 lbs heavier than his "fighting weight". It was hard to tell if it was his skiing or his conditining but we knew that it was likely a good amount of both. But unfortunately he could only work so hard because his body just would not let him really go at it for any length of time due to his poor shape. Last ski season before it began he got serious about getting in shape. By the time he skied with all of us in March he had lost close 50 lbs and was down to 215 lbs for the first time in years. It was amazing to watch him ski and more importantly watch the speed at which he was able to progress when he worked on his skiing. As well he could ski powder pretty much all day when it showed up and he was always shot in the past after 2-3 powder runs. It was a huge eye opener for him and he has recommitted to staying at this weight or lighter (currently sub 210 and at 6 2" it s a good weight for him).
I think at times people don't always grasp the degree to which conditioning plays a role in skiing. It is huge and even if you are at your "fighting weight" if you are over 40 and don't do some ski specific strength/fast twitch work (think plyos) in the offseason you will not be able to ski your best (this is probably true even if you aren't over 40!). Most people also don't realize how hard Harald, Diana, Max, me and others work in the off-season to stay in shape and then to get in ski shape as the season nears.
HA you have a couple of months and if you hit it hard and cut your food intake you can make some good things happen. For those that aren't in Colorado you have more than 3 months before skis season is upon us. You can make some big advances in fitness in 3 months if you start tomorrow and hit it hard for the duration!!
If you are out of shape this will actually make more difference than anything else that you might do to help your skiing!!