Olympics 2010: Ski Like Bode - Six Training Exercises

Yesterday American skier Bode Miller won gold in the super combined, giving him three Olympic medals in Vancouver and five in his career. Not bad for the New Hampshire native and new dad. (Read more in the New York Times.)

We dug up some skiing training tips from a few years back, so you, too, can get into the best shape of your life. These are taken from our November 2005 (read the full article), when Miller was working with coach John McBride. "Bode likes to do old-school, Rocky-type training, like pushing wheelbarrows full of friends up steep hills," said McBride for the article. "And he's able to apply the strength and athleticism from these skills to skiing more effectively than most." They might be a little dated, but they made him, at least in part, the Olympian he is today.

1. Balance: Slacklining
Find two trees 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) apart and tightly string a one-inch-wide (2.54 centimeter) piece of webbing two feet (.5 meters) off the ground between them. Keep your eyes focused on one spot in front of you and slowly walk the length of the rope. Use ski poles for balance at first, but as your skills improve, move the webbing higher, nix the poles, and do a single-leg squat on each step. "Slack-lining is great for learning how to move dynamically and for challenging your balance," says McBride.
 

2. Agility and Anticipation: Rock-Hopping
Got a shallow stream nearby? Lace up your sturdy trail runners and hop up the creek bed touching only the exposed rocks. "There is probably nothing better than rock-hopping to train agility, anticipation, and explosive power," says McBride. Take heed: Wet tread can be
slick, so be surefooted and bring a chamois along to dry off your kicks.
 

3. Power: Single-Leg Squat
Using two ski poles for balance, stand on one foot, lower yourself down until your thigh is parallel to the ground, and then raise yourself slowly. "This drill is about being able to control the movement; gaining individual leg strength is critical," says McBride. Start with three sets of ten reps per leg. As your hamstrings strengthen, drop the poles and do 15
reps per leg.
 
4. Endurance: The Wheelbarrow Push
Load up your wheelbarrow with 50 pounds (22 kilograms) of stones and

push it up the steepest hill in the neighborhood. No, we're not kidding. "Instead of lifting weight that is static, this teaches your body to control a dynamic load like you do in skiing," says McBride. When the stones become too easy, load up a friend. Start off two times a week with two sets of four three-minute sprints. Rest two minutes between sprints and five minutes between sets.
 

5. Isometric Power: TV Sits
"The wall sit makes you resist the force of your own body weight, which simulates what happens in certain parts of the turn while skiing," explains McBride. With your back against the wall, lower yourself down until your legs form a 90-degree angle. Try four sets of one-, two-, and three-minute intervals twice a week. Increase the duration of intervals as you gain strength.
 

6. Eccentric Loading: Walk Downhill
Fill a backpack with 20 to 30 pounds (9 to 13 kilograms) and walk or jog downhill to simulate skiing's eccentric loading (i.e., lengthening quadricep muscles as you lower into a squatlike position). "This is the closest specific exercise you can do to skiing," says McBride. "You're moving both forward and laterally with increased force." Start with 30 minutes of downhill hiking once a week.

Text by Lindsay Yaw. Illustrations by Jason Lee. Taken from the November 2005 issue.

 

Comments

[David Ng]

Great post!
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/destinations-guide.html
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/vietnam-tours.html
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/hanoi-tours.html
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/saigon-tours.html
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/indochina-tours.html
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/laos-tours.html
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/cambodia-tours.html
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/myanmar-tours.html
http://www.worldmatetravel.com/vietnam-charity-tours.html

[aerobik vezbe]

I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog, I will keep visiting this blog very often...

[Coach Outlet]

If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever.It’s not easy to change friendship into love. But it's even harder to turn love into friendship.

[Herve Leger Sale]

I am the author of my life. Unfortunately, I'm writing in pen and I can't erase my mistakes.if you believe in yourself and with a tiny pinch of magic,all your dreams can come true .

[Kroatien]

I'm really enjoyed reading this great article and whole website, thanks a lot for this informations!

[gledanje u solju simboli]

I'm so excited with this post. I really appreciate sharing this great post. Keep up your excellent work.

[uvic]

nice blog, an article accompanied by pictures made ​​me a better understanding of the meaning of your goals.
I think the suggestion number 5 (Isometric Power: TV sits), it was easy everybody does it, but it's very hard to get used to the daily activities, sometimes we forget to meakukan it.

[Commercial Cleaning]

All are effective motion controlling exercise they also increases stamina.

[Chiropractic]

I am agree with the writer on this article. I am also use do-follow blogs and saying for all that do-follow blogs with perfect and with topic comments also.thanks sharing.

[TR Jeans Outlet]

They might be a little dated, but they made him, at least in part, the Olympian he is today.

[Tie down straps]

Which one is of high piority?

[ARADO RMT]

Good site and is also very interesting and this should also be gone through for all the knowledgeable stuff.

[Chiropractor]

Hi,
Thanks great advice given here..Really very interesting blog. Thanks for posting this blog…..keep it up.

[Promotional clothing]

I’m just going to paste it so that you may take a look. In short the requirement is for the Admin to be able to retrieve values from the DB by name and perform whatever logic they wish in order to return a decimal result.

[tera rmt]

Like so many other things, the information surrounding parabens is mixed. Could it eventually kill you by way of cancer? Possibly. But it seems like that may be the case of almost everything we eat, drink, use or breath in these days. In other words, exercise caution. While converting to paraben-free products may not be high on your list of priorities, replacing some of the items in your daily beauty routine may not be such a terrible idea.

[tera rmt]

The ability to mimic estrogen may also mean parabens cause birth defects in infants, more commonly males.

[セブンソウルズ RMT]

The ability to mimic estrogen may also mean parabens cause birth defects in infants, more commonly males.

[セブンソウルズ RMT]

normal hormone function and can mimic the effects of estrogen. This exposure to external sources of estrogens is what increases the risk of breast cancer. Though cosmetic companies argue that parabens used externally in products are not absorbed by the body, one study found the chemicals in breast cancer tissue of 19 out of 20 women studied.

[セブンソウルズ RMT]

oil-soluble and considered non-toxic and non-irritating when used at .05 of one percent, but could irritate the skin if greater than five per cent is used in formulation.

[セブンソウルズ RMT]

Parabens act similarly to estrogen and can pose health risks if ingested in large quanitities So what are some of the common ones and what are they used for?

[7souls rmt]

So I have been looking at IronPython – and I like it! I’m not going to go into details of what this code does, I’m just going to paste it so that you may take a look. In short the requirement is for the Admin to be able to retrieve values from the DB by name and perform whatever logic they wish in order to return a decimal result.

You need to reference the following DLLs.

[7souls rmt]

Lindsey Stindt is one of the big reasons that neither Lyons nor Akron may come in as the 2A girls favorite next spring. Photo by Alan Versaw.

[7souls rmt]

Kirk Webb leads Monarch's boys to a regional title and into the state meet. Photo by Jeff McCoy.

[7souls rmt]

Canon City's Andrea Tuck won both the triple jump and the 100 hurdles at Saturday's Pueblo Centennial

[7souls rmt]

7souls RMT Seven souls RMT セブンソウルズ RMT