Coaches Corner October 2025

Coming fresh off a Deload week, or should I say a Reload week (haha). I honestly actually like that better. Deload seems kinda blah, like, why even come to the gym?…To work out easy? Whatever…? But Reload?!! That implies that what we are doing is valuable (which it is!), that we are preparing for the battle yet to come. Instead of recovering from a battle already in the past. I like it much better. And the best part is that it was a spelling auto correction that switched Deload to Reload…Computers are so much smarter then I am, it is depressing…

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The big picture for the next six weeks of Ski Fit are outlined as follows: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are our main Ski Fit days. Each day has a theme and purpose, and coalesces with a complete package on a weekly basis of the main elements being trained to get you ready for the slopes come the end of November. 

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Monday is general upper body strength, a wee bit of low intensity plyometrics and aerobic threshold conditioning. This is not to be overlooked or taken for granted. We need to build a base of fitness outside of just the specific demands for the sport. There needs to be attention paid to the things not necessarily being the primary drivers, as well as specific traits inherent to the sport. Even in small doses plyo’s serve a variety of purposes. Rhythm, coordination, impact preparation, expanding inhibition tolerance etc…Skiing is very dynamic, the more we can explore and learn to control and flow through ground impacts at low levels, the more the body will be prepared for buttery downhills coming soon. Quicker reactions, smoother transitions in and out of positions, and more power when needed, with more fiber recruitment. 

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Tuesday is geared toward eccentric leg strength. Think tempo squats, and Quad Supremes (A slight takeoff on the Leg Blaster). This is one of the biggest ticket items that builds capacity specific to the demands of the sport. This day progresses over the course of the program. Weak legs produce weak force, strong legs are capable of producing more force. Get strong, stay strong. Don’t be a passenger on the slopes, be the pilot. 

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Thursday is focused on unilateral leg strength and building lactate tolerance in the legs. We need to build the ability to push into the pain cave and make our legs move when full of metabolic waste products, and make our bodies more efficient at clearing said waste products and reprocessing that which is possible. Oh the burn, the build up of Lactic Acid that is eating our bodies away from the inside out. Just kidding. Our bodies repurpose Lactate (Also mislabeled as Lactic Acid), it is a good thing not a bad thing, so when the burning sets in, and your muscles are screaming for mercy, just think in a way, it is your body learning to become more efficient at repurposing fuel. Stay in the pain cave, chip away at the walls that are your prison, make it a little bigger. Explore the dark corners and make it a little taller, a little wider, a little broader. Expand it, keep it clean, respect it. Make it a home not a cell. 

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Wednesday and Friday are days that are programmed around the main components of our dryland ski training. These days focus on shoring up the things that are missed out on during our Ski Fit days. A little bit of Olympic lifting, posterior chain strength, and upper body pushing and pulling. For conditioning, we are hitting some VO2 max intensity mixed model intervals and also a longer aerobic based conditioning day. 

Coach

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