Getting fit for skiing - again

bandit wrote:AllyG, I have introduced Dave Mac to the Bulgarian Split Squat, which is one of my staple exercises. Easy to do, harder to do correctly!
Plenty of video clips on the web if you want to try them.

good that! try using a Swiss ball instead of the bench

bandit wrote:AllyG, I have introduced Dave Mac to the Bulgarian Split Squat, which is one of my staple exercises. Easy to do, harder to do correctly!
Plenty of video clips on the web if you want to try them.

Bandit, I checked this out, and it was an exercise that my physio, and sports scientist both specifically barred from my program. My prog is geared mainly to quads, and hence the single leg squats ~ but they don't need to be deep squats for skiers. Deep squats are great for weight lifters.

These two ladies worked out a ski strength prog for me, to allow me to manage my dodgy knee, but allow me to continue to bring significant speed pressure into play.

getjim wrote:You ran 54 miles?? I'm not running I'm cycling. In training for a 100 mile sportive on Dartmoor next year. :shock:

Aye, I ran a number of 50 mile fell races, for which the training meant doing routine 35/40 mile Sunday runs. After a few years of this, I switched to mainstream cross-country and track athletics. Later, changed to running marathons, starting with the second London marathon.

Even now, I can still walk to the car, several times a day. )

Dave Mac, oh well, never mind. I do these, because they are not a deep squat, It's about the angles :D I have one dodgy knee and can't do deep squats.
My gym's staff had never seen them before and didn't really "get" what they were about.

I agree the Bulgarian is not a full squat. The knee angle is close to 90 deg, and I go for a bit less than that. However, I do put some dynamics into the routine, roughly similar to the rhythm I might use when skiing short swings.

I was advised not to use weights, and given that the whole of my delicate 90kgms is going on a single leg bend, they are probably right!

And what does "Oh well never mind" mean?

We may have differing degrees of dodgyness! For a long time, due to successions of sports injuries, I have been unable to fully straighten or bend either leg.

Dave Mac, oh well never mind, it was worth making the suggestion as a variant for your regular routine :D

I had my dodgy knee opened up in the early 90's and the verdict was that it should have been attached to an OAP. I've now had an formal diagnosis of Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis. I do have full range of movement, but need the Patella braced, and was ordered to avoid keep knee bends.
Pretty ordinary age related stuff.

bandit wrote:Dave Mac, oh well never mind, it was worth making the suggestion as a variant for your regular routine :D

I had my dodgy knee opened up in the early 90's and the verdict was that it should have been attached to an OAP. I've now had an formal diagnosis of Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis. I do have full range of movement, but need the Patella braced, and was ordered to avoid keep knee bends.
Pretty ordinary age related stuff.

And I think all those old war wounds are what keep up us older skiers to a certain level, I am very selective to what I do when I ski, I am more than capable in skiing a piste full moguls but I don't because it will take too much out of my knees. So I have become very selective although with a nine year old in tow I have had my arm twisted to visited the snow park, so the morel for me is be sensible now and hopefully I'll still be skiing in my seventies.

I agree Ian, getting older means an increasing number of these sort of things. Luckily for me, my worst two injuries have been to my arms, not my legs (one arm on the dry ski slope and the other moving a large flower pot) and my legs are not affected. I broke my big toe last year on the moguls but it seems to be fine now.

It sounds as though Tony_H has one of these war wounds now in his knee.
Tony - are you going to wear a knee brace ski-ing, or do you reckon you can fix it with physio etc.?

I was watching the film 'Going for the Gold' last night, about Bill Johnson getting the first alpine sports Gold Medal for the U.S. in downhill racing in 1984. The ski-ing bits are really great to watch, and they've very cleverly stitched in real footage of the Olympics (or at least I reckon it's real).

I looked him up afterwards and Wikipedia says he never did very well again because he injured his kneee and his back, but he had another go at a medal and nearly killed himself and is now permanently brain damaged. Thinking about this made me realize that a slightly dodgy arm is not really that bad.

Ally