Whether skiing moguls or boarding off ramps make sure your body’s ready for it.

Fitness Instructor Hope Gamble explains: “I think you need to know where you are the day you go out on the slopes, cuz what happens with a lot of people, they might not train, they hit the slopes, they get right out on the slopes, and before they know it there’s an injury, there’s some form of risk.”

A key exercise Hope Gamble uses when teaching her “hit the slopes” class at Sports Center at Chelsea Piers, New York is the slide. The lateral motion simulating skiing and utilizes many of the same muscles. Much of  this class is spent developing back and abdominal muscles, as having a strong core takes pressure off your lower back and gives you more stability on the slopes. 

Hope says “The biggest problem with skiing is people come back with bad knees, back aches, neck aches, falls,   05:56 you really want to be as flexible as possible on the slopes.  06:01 that’s why I recommend any form of balance training, coordination skills, agility work, cause what you need to know what to do when you fall, is fall correctly, as there is an art to falling”

Ideally you want to start a sports specific cardio and strength training program three to six weeks prior to your first day on the slopes, and always stretch out after your last run of the day. And if you really want to relax Hope as a nice sounding idea. “Afterwards when you get home, I would definitely recommend a bath, maybe a massage.”

Sounds like my favorite part of a day on the slopes. For Fitness Magazine, I’m Bonnie Kaye.