Men's Journal

Adding aerobic work doesn’t mean skipping plyometrics altogether. Gym work will give you a total pre-ski workout.

Photographs by Jonathan Sprague

Vertical Medicine-Ball Toss

Hold a 15-pound medicine ball in your hands, feet shoulder-width apart. Squat down and explode up, throwing the ball above you in as close to a vertical line as possible. Eight reps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Split Squat Jumps

Hold a 10-pound dumbbell (use more weight as it gets easier) in each hand. Step forward with one leg, as if doing a lunge, then leap straight up and switch legs so that you land with your other foot forward. Five reps each leg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Physio Ball Hamstring Curls

Lying on your back, feet up on a physio ball, curl the ball toward your butt. Ten reps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead Lifts

Back straight, head up, grab a 45-pound bar with 45-pound weights on both sides, and push your hips out to lift. Eight reps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lateral GS Jumps

Stretch a rubber cord or jump rope about knee high between two chairs. Jump over the cord and touch your outer hand to the ground as you land. Ten reps each side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hurdle Jumps

Using two hurdles (you can lay a broom across some chairs), one just above knee height and one at about midcalf, jump over the high hurdle, then the low one, and then backward over the low one, so that you finish between the two. Four sets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To return to the original article, Rethinking Ski Prep, click here.

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This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of Men’s Journal