For many of us the season has come to an end. Some athletes will transition into dry-land training very early in April while others might hang onto skiing for quite some time. Regardless, our strength goals in April are to recover and rebuild.
Recover: This can come at different times for different athletes. Some skiers finish the race season and feel very fatigued. If this is the case I recommend resting right away. This might be tough if there is beautiful spring skiing out your door but it will be for the best in the long run. Take a week without any training OR strength training. This is very important. A lot of skiers might be burnt out on ski training this time of year but motivated to hit the gym really hard. We recommend resisting this urge. Although strength stimulus is different than ski racing stimulus, it is still stress on your body at a time when your body might really need some recovery. For athletes feeling pretty solid after a season of racing feel free to begin this April strength routine. Start LIGHT, your muscles will thank you later.
Rebuild:
It's not uncommon for athletes to lose general strength throughout a long skis season. Rebuilding strength correctly takes a comprehensive approach and must include strengthening tendons and under-used muscles that are not specific to skiing. Our April plan is designed to help balance out the body so we can make larger general strength gains once the training season starts. Start light. It's better to have two or three very light strength sessions per week than one very tough one.
| Aerobic Warm up | Jog or spin 15 min | |
| General Lifts (circuit if you want) | Week 49 | Week 50 | Week 51 | week 52 |
| BD overhead press | 2 x 10 each arm light | 2 x 10 each arm light | 3 x 10 each arm med | 3 x 10 each arm med |
| Swiss ball leg curls | 2 x 10 | 2 x 15 | 2 x 15 single leg | 3 x 10 single leg |
| DB walking Lunge | light 2 x 10 each leg | light 3 x 15 each leg | med 3 x 15 each leg | med 3 x 15 each leg |
| Push Ups | 2 x 6-10 | 2 x 8 | 3 x 10+ | 3 x 10+ |
| add below depending on fatigue | | | | |
| KB front squat | | 2 x 10 med | 2 x 10 med | 3 x 10 med |
| single arm KB bench | | 2 x 10 med | 2 x 15 med | 2 x 15 med |
