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1
Imaginary chair
Wall sit
Skiing holds you in a flexed stance for whole runs, and a wall sit trains exactly that: the thighs working hard without the knee moving. Start with holds of about 20 seconds and add a few seconds each week until you can hold for a full minute. Keep your knees in line with your toes rather than letting them cave inward. Change the depth from session to session rather than always holding the same angle, and stay higher, short of a right angle at the knee, if your knees complain.
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Squat (exercise)
Goblet squat with a slow lowering
Much of the work in a ski turn happens while the thigh muscles lengthen under load, braking you as you sink into the turn. Holding a dumbbell at your chest and taking three or four seconds to lower into each squat trains that braking strength directly, which a normal up-and-down squat rushes past. Keep your knees in line with your toes, stand up at normal speed and end the set when the lowering starts to speed up. It is the backbone of the plan, so it belongs in every strength session from the first week.
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Squat (exercise)
Bulgarian split squat
With the back foot resting on a bench and the front leg doing the work, this squat makes each leg carry the load on its own, which is far closer to skiing and riding than the two-footed barbell squat pictured. It also exposes a weaker side quickly, and you will feel the hip of the front leg working to keep the knee from drifting inward. Four sets of eight a leg is a typical pre-season dose; hold dumbbells once bodyweight sets feel easy.
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Lunge (exercise)
Lateral lunge
Step wide to one side, sit back into that hip with the other leg straight, then push back to center. A big, fast carved turn uses the same sideways movement, and the lunge trains the muscles that soak up bumps and impacts on the hill, which is why it earns a place that a forward lunge alone would not. Keep the heel of the bent leg down and the knee pointing where the toes point, and add a dumbbell once you can sink low without your chest collapsing.
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Deadlift
Single-leg Romanian deadlift
Balancing on one leg, hinge forward from the hip with the free leg reaching back until your body is close to level, then stand tall again. The drawing shows the two-legged barbell version of the same hinge, a useful way to learn the movement first. It strengthens the hamstrings and glutes that help keep the knee in a safe position, and it trains rotational control too, because the hips have to stay square rather than twist open. That combination makes it one of the most useful knee-friendly exercises a skier can do. Start with a fingertip on a wall if you wobble; four sets of eight a side is a sensible target by the middle of the plan.
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Nordic hamstring curl
Kneel with your ankles held by a partner or anchored under something heavy, then lower your body toward the floor as slowly as you can, catching yourself with your hands. The hamstrings, the muscles at the back of the thigh shown in the anatomy drawing, brake the whole way down, and that lowering strength matters for skiers: the hamstrings help resist the forward shear on the shin bone that loads the ACL, though whether weak hamstrings actually predict a tear is still unproven. It is very hard at first and leaves the backs of the legs sore, so start with three to five slow reps and add a few each week.
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Single-leg glute bridge
Lie on your back with one foot planted and the other leg lifted, then drive through the heel to raise your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulder to knee. The glutes help guide and direct your skis, and getting them to share the work with the hamstrings takes strain off the knees that the thighs would otherwise carry alone. Working one side at a time stops the stronger leg covering for the weaker. Pause for a second at the top of each rep and lower slowly.
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BOSU
Single-leg balance on a BOSU
Stand on one foot on the dome for up to a minute, knee slightly bent as if in a ski stance. The wobbling surface forces the ankle, knee and hip to make the constant small corrections that uneven snow demands, and balance pays off in technique and stamina alike, since a skier or rider who is slightly off balance strains the legs fighting to stay upright. Once it gets easy, close your eyes, catch a tossed ball or add small hops. Three one-minute holds a leg fit at the end of almost any session.
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Plank (exercise)
Side plank
Balance on one forearm and the side of one foot with the body in a straight line, and hold. Your trunk carries much of your posture and balance on the snow, and the side plank works the sides of the trunk and the outer hip together, the muscles that keep you stacked over your edges instead of folding at the waist. Build toward three holds of a minute a side; once that is steady, add slow clamshells with the top knee to bring the glutes in.
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Dead bug
Lie on your back with arms reaching up and knees bent over the hips, then slowly lower the opposite arm and leg toward the floor while pressing your lower back flat. It teaches the trunk to stay still while the limbs move independently, which is what controlling a turn asks of it: legs working underneath, upper body quiet. The photo shows a simpler legs-only drill from a similar position, with the arms resting on the floor; add the arm reach once your back stays flat. It is gentle on the back, so it suits the first week of the plan and makes a good warm-up for the harder strength work later.
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Russian twist
Russian twist with a medicine ball
Sit with knees bent, lean back to about 45 degrees and turn the ball slowly from side to side. Rotational strength helps snowboarders turn the upper body with control, and skiers need it too, to rotate, turn and react quickly. Keep the movement slow and driven by the trunk rather than swinging the arms, and leave your feet on the floor until the twist is smooth before lifting them as pictured.
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Calf raises
Rise slowly onto the balls of your feet and lower back down with control. The calves and ankles matter more than their size suggests: they power the quick turns of skiing, and snowboarders rely on their feet and ankles to stay upright on the board. Do them on a step so the heels can drop below the edge for a fuller range, and progress to one leg at a time. Three sets of ten to fifteen slow reps fit neatly between the bigger exercises.
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Plyometrics
Squat jumps
Drop into a squat, jump as high as you can and land softly back into the squat, absorbing the landing rather than stiffening. Jumping builds explosive leg strength, the quick power that moguls, slalom-style turns and off-piste snow demand, where the joints must absorb and flex under control. Add them from about the third week, once the strength work feels solid, and keep sets short so every jump is crisp; when your landings are quiet, progress to jumping onto a low box, as pictured.
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Plyometrics
Skater hops
Leap sideways from one foot to the other, landing on the outside leg and swinging the trailing leg behind it like a speed skater. It is the closest gym move to the side-to-side rhythm of linked turns, training the lateral power to push into each edge and the control to stick a one-legged landing. Two-footed jumps back and forth over a line are an easier first step, and they too mimic moving sideways across a slope. Build toward three sets of fifteen bounds each way. The picture shows a box jump from the same plyometric family; skater hops need no box at all.
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High-intensity interval training
Bike or run intervals
A day on the mountain is a string of hard efforts broken up by rests on the lift, so steady jogging alone undersells what the legs need. Hard bursts on a bike or on foot, separated by easy recovery, copy that stop-and-go pattern and improve how your body copes with the lactic-acid burn of a long run. Let your heart rate drop by at least a fifth before the next effort, and treat two sessions a week alongside the strength work as the minimum. Cycling is the kinder choice for knees that are already busy with squats and jumps.
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