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    Ski Fitness with Mountain Beach Fitness Retreats

    by

    Ski holidays are physically challenging. But that’s part of the fun right? Fret not Emma Bodkin from Mountain Beach Fitness Retreats is here to give you some top, ski fitness tips on how to avoid the burn.

    Underlying all things fitness is movement. At the core of this is Proprioception – this is your ability to sense the orientation of the body in your environment. This feedback loop tells your brain what position you are in. Modern life, lack of movement, age and injury can all impair this. Even if you are fighting fit there are ways to fine tune this as it is so so important when skiing, especially in bad visibility. By practising a few drills you can avoid injury in deep powder, ski like a champ in a white out and hit the moguls like a boss. One way is stand with one eye closed and on one leg and do one leg jumps, then try 2 eyes closed, change legs etc mix it up. Try testing your body and brain by moving in an unfamiliar way, jump laterally over an obstacle in a zig zag with little rest. Then try it with one eye closed, or on one leg… you get the picture.

    “…tool for calmness in the mountains.”

    @mountainbeachfitnessretreats

    Don’t neglect the core or the stretch. Work on your lower back, obliques and abs; try plank variations or suspended plank variations in the TRX. Natural movement patterns that make you unstable are the best. Last but not least is recovery; yoga is great as it will increase your range of motion and help balance your mind and body and also teach you an understanding of your breath which can be used as a tool for calmness in the mountains.

    There is no magic pill, no quick fix and no rocket science. You simply have to move more and vary the movement, pay attention to your movement, move mindfully, stretch, recover, listen to your body. Most fundamentally you should mix it up. Build strength in your glutes, quads, lengthen your hamstrings, try and improve powerful explosive movements (think bounding and jumping). Hit the stairs, downhill is just as important. Boost your overall cardio with some HIIT, 2 mins maximum effort then vary your recovery.

    “…ski for longer without fatigue…”

    @mountainbeachfitnessretreats

    The key is to build on your fitness incrementally and make it achievable and fun. This doesn’t have to be long hours in the gym or a boring prescriptive repetitious programme. Try to fit in some squats while the kettle boils, a plank variation while your running the bath and a few laps of the stairs before work. Little changes in your daily routine will minimise your risk of injury, allowing you to ski for longer without fatigue and enhancing your performance and most importantly fun on the slopes.

    A spot of ski touring! @mountainbeachfitnessretreats

    If you require any personal training, aerial yoga or specific recovery classes while you are in Verbier please get in touch with Emma and Lottie
    https://www.mountainbeachfitnessretreats.com/verbier-winter-fitness/

    [email protected]  +447764742475

    They also run holistic fitness retreats globally. Location include Sardinia, Sri Lanka, Verbier, Iceland, Uk, Tuscany and more.

    By Emma Bodkin

    Top 5 Ski Apps for winter 2018/19

    by

    The relationship between skiing and technology is an ever-growing one. Talk of E-goggles, heated clothing and custom foot beds that monitor your movements all sound a bit ‘out there’ for most of us. But there are other ways that we can use tech to compliment our days out on the mountain.

    If you’ve ever been to the app store on your smart phone and typed in ski app, you will have likely been overwhelmed by choice! Weather, maps, webcams, advice, tracking, games -pretty much anything ski related and someone has made an app for it.

    So which ones should you chose to accompany you this season? Here’s our favourite five:

    • On the Snow (Top all rounder)

    This great all round app covers snow reports, weather, webcams, resort profiles and more. You simply tell it which resorts you are interested in and the rest comes easily. It’s free to download and pretty easy to navigate around. The ski areas are rated, priced up and mapped alongside galleries and stats like elevation and open lifts.

    • Ski Tracks (Statistics) 

    For the competitive skier within. Ski tracks has long been a favourite of those wanting to track their own skiing performance. From within your pocket this app will measure your speed and distance travelled around the mountain. It will also let you know how much elevation you have gained and lost and let you map out your day from start to finish. The danger comes when trying to max out one’s highest speed (so please use responsibly!)

    • Adventure Sport network. (Inspiration)

    The ASN app is a hub of inspiration for all outdoor enthusiasts. Like a Youtube for adrenaline junkies you can find endless resources no matter what your sport and no matter what the season. So to fill the time between now and your next adventure and take a scroll through this well polished community app.

    • Bergfex/Ski. (Weather)

    Finding a good weather app can be harder than you think. But it’s a good idea to do some digging. Some snow report apps can be frustrating, letting those little snowflake predictions hang, just out of reach at the end of the week. Then as those days approach the incoming snow gets pushed back again and again. No one likes false promises. But the weather is a tough thing to predict so any snow report has to be taken with a pinch of salt. That said Bergfex has always been a reliable favourite. Their ski specific app comes in a free lite version or the highly rated full app at a small fee which is well worth it.

    • Ski fit. (Fitness)

    It’s a funny sport skiing. How many sports do you do intensively for a week, five hours a day (with a bit of après on the side) and then leave again, untouched for the rest of the year? Seems only fair to prepare with a bit of ski related fitness. The ski fit app introduces the user to a number of stretches and exercises that will not only prepare them for their holiday but help to prevent injury.

    So there you have it, make space on your phone for those and head out onto the hill safe in the knowledge that you are the most up to date! If you fancy seeing how far you can travel with your Ski tracks app or testing your ski fitness on that carefully planned bluebird day why not book with one of our experienced instructors? Check out our booking page here.