Importance of hips when you want to dance on the slopes

After doing ski conditioning for a while and exploring ideas online and with my personal trainer, a few exercises stand out as part of almost any routine.  Most people know that lunges and squats are useful.  One objective is to work on the glutes, which turns out to be how to have stronger hips.  Bridge exercises are a good way to strengthen hamstrings, which are important for supporting knees.  For core strength, a plank with good form is a fundamental exercise.

For this set of seven ski conditioning exercises related to hip strength, resistance bands are used to increase the difficulty.

September 2017 Denver Post - includes 4 min video of seven exercises

Preseason ski conditioning work out

If someone tells you that strong quads are the basis for good skiing, show them what an orthopedic surgeon at the well known Steadman Clinic in Vail, CO has to say.

“We’re finding more and more that we think strengthening of the hip muscles is as important as anything,” said Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopedic surgeon at the Steadman Clinic in Vail who has worked with hundreds of U.S. Ski Team athletes. “I watch people in the gym getting ready for the ski season — all they’re working on is their quads. That’s obviously important, too, but we really have found that the control over your leg that prevents knee injuries is coming from the hip. So more and more, we’re really trying to encourage our patients to work on strengthening the hips.”