Vibe-Winter-2425 - Flipbook - Page 20
PREPPING FOR
THE UPHILL
Building Strength, Reducing Pain
By Hilary McCloy, PT, DPT
Andrew Drummond photos
ackcountry skiers love to talk about
how they have “earned their turns,”
which means that they have skinned
up the mountain on their own power. There
is a heightened appreciation of each turn as
you ski down, which is part of the appeal.
But the hard part is that you are essentially
hiking up a mountain before skiing down,
so your body can get pretty tired before
you get to enjoy the sweet turns.
Skinning uphill on skis is very similar to
hiking with poles. You are sliding your boot
and ski forward up the hill on the snow,
then shifting your weight onto the uphill
foot; your hip and knee straightens and your
body follows. Your hands and arms are moving like they would when we walk; if your
left leg is swinging forward then your right
arm is moving forward reciprocally. The use
of poles will help push the body up the hill if
you are using your arms intentionally.
On any given day, a skier skinning
may have different goals for their uphill
effort—possibly a relaxed skin or a harder
effort to increase pace on the uphill. Either
objective requires the same movement
pattern as we hike up the mountain on our
skis with the body working against gravity.
As a physical therapist and avid backcountry skier, I often hear people commenting on aches and pains from skinning uphill at work and on the hill. A few
common areas of pain are the front of the
hip and upper thigh, knee, and lower back,
and sometimes feet cramp up or become
painful. A few specific exercises are great
for strengthening muscles that you want to
be strong when you are skinning to reduce
the chance of pain. And you should get a
performance benefit as well.
B
20
CALVES/FEET: The Thriller
The soleus muscle that shares the Achilles
tendon does a lot of work when you are
skinning downhill and as you climb.
How to Perform:
Stand barefoot, bend your knees and then
lift your heels off the ground while keeping
the knees bent. Holding weights in your
hands will add more challenge.
Suggested reps: 3 x 15
CORE/HIP FLEXORS:
Marching Hip Flexors
The front of the hip is where two big muscles
work hard to bend your hip forward, the psoas
and rectus femoris (quad). When we are skinning,
we have boots, bindings, skis, and skins attached
to our feet, so it can be quite a bit of weight to
move forward and uphill. These two muscles can
often get quickly overworked, resulting in intense
pain in the front of the hip. By strengthening the
muscles and teaching the body to brace the core
at the same time, then we can offload the work
into the hip flexor muscles.
How to Perform:
Lie on your back, place the looped band
around your feet. Then lift your legs up into
the air so that your thighs are perpendicular
to the ground and lower legs parallel to the
ground. Brace your core, breathe, and then
press one leg forward to a straight position
while the leg stays in place. The key for the
core is to not let the pelvis move forward/
back arch because you are engaging the
core to resist this. Then alternate the leg
movement in a slow, controlled movement.
Suggested reps: 3 x 12 marches alternating
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