Jake Hutchinson's Original 6-Week Ski Prep Program
Ski season is almost here!
Jake Hutchinson's original "6-Week Ski Prep" workout is a doozie, and we know because every year we try to make our way through the whole thing. Realistically, this workout takes more like 7- to - 8 weeks, so get started now and you'll be in the best shape of your ski career by the time you click into your boots.
(Looking for a training program you can do at home, instead? Click here.)
Photos © Lisa Boshard used with permission
Workout Breakdown
Here is the breakdown of the training to the major muscle groups/primary movements used in skiing:
Legs
Everyone just wants bigger, stronger, more efficient quads, because for most of us, this is where we feel the burn after few fast runs. We assume, incorrectly, that the quads the most important muscles to build for skiing. The reality is, the quads are one part of a very complex set of muscle groups that allow us to do amazing things with our legs. Many knee injuries are a result of our quads overpowering or being out of balance with the other major muscle groups in our legs. Our societal habit of sitting all day leads to lazy glutes, lazy hamstrings and bad posture, which directly contribute to imbalance in the legs and increased stress on the knee joint, primarily the ACL which is so crucial to knee stability and skiing strength. The goal is to build strength in ALL the muscles that support the knee.
Primary Movements: Squats, Romanian Deadlifts (RDL), Lunges, Single Leg Deadlifts (SLDL), Glute Bridges, Hamstring Bridges, Wall-sits, Jumps, and Step-ups
Core
A strong, stable core dictates everything else we do. You can have the strongest legs in the world but if they are attached to a bowl of jello, you will be unable to utilize all of that strength. When we talk about the core, we often think of the abdomen. But the muscles of the back play an equally important role in our core strength. The core provides front to back stability as we move and allows us to bounce and rotate in our daily lives. A strong core improves balance and the ability to counter rotate and hold a quiet upper body.
Primary Movements: Curl-Ups, Mountain Climbers, Planks, Weighted Carries, Single Arm Planks, and Back Extensions
Cardio
If you can’t breathe, everything else grinds to a halt. The more efficiently your body moves oxygen to your muscles, the longer those muscles can perform under stress. A solid cardio helps you stay fresh longer and avoid that end of day bonk when injuries become more likely.
Primary Movements: Run, Bike, Swim, and/or Hike
Upper Body
Most of us don’t think about how much we use our arms and shoulders in skiing, but no one wants to be that guy screaming down the slope with arms wildly flailing around like a flag in a hurricane. Think about good skiing technique and form, where do we generally want our hands? Out front, right? Ready to plant a pole and pointing the direction for the rest of the body. My dad taught me early on that as soon as my hands get lazy, everything else to does the same and before I realize it, I’m in the back seat, trying to recover. So, we won’t neglect the upper body, but will mostly keep it ready to go with supplemental and complementary exercises.
Primary Movements: Push Ups, Dumbbell Strict Press, and Single Arm Bent Rows
Workout Structure
One thing I constantly see in big gyms is people just wandering around looking at all of the machines and wondering where to begin. For this program, each daily training session will break down into the same basic format:
General Warm-Up
This is 10 minutes of moderate physical activity. It can include time on an exercise bike or rower, running or walking, yoga, Pilates and other mobility work (are all appropriate here). The idea is to prime the pump. You should break a sweat but not grow tired. Avoid breathing hard from this effort. Get the blood flowing and focus on the session ahead. This is when I shut off my phone, leave the outside world outside, and get my head into the next 50 to 80 minutes of work.
Specific Warm-up
The specific warm-up can be used to practice technique and build greater work capacity by increasing total work volume. It can also be used when the workout features a technical lift or when the working sets of the day are at a high percentage of a max lift. In this program, the specific warm-up will be used to impose enough work to heat up the specific neurological pathways and musculature required during the working set. It’s generally 5 to 15 minutes.
Workout
This is the meat and potatoes, the primary objective of the day and the part of the session involving the highest intensity and volume. Expect it to last 15 to 20 minutes.
Supplemental Work
This will be one or two blocks of work from 5 to 10 minutes each. This is where we attack imbalance, injury-proof the body, and add extra volume for increased work capacity and greater stamina. The bulk of our core work will occur here each day.
Cooldown
10 minutes of low-impact cardio, foam rolling, stretching and other mobility work. This is where we begin the process of recovery, setting the body up for maximum performance on the next workout.
Photos © Lisa Boshard used with permission
Training Plan
We don’t have a ton of rules with this program and it does offer flexibility around work and life schedules. Each week has three workouts (plus the bonus day for the hard chargers and backcountry enthusiasts) and you can do them in any order you’d like. One caveat: In order to maximize intensity and still get proper recovery, don’t do more than two training days in a row. The body can only take so much stress and more isn’t necessarily always better. There’s such a thing as overdoing it. You will notice some repetition week to week, with increasing intensity each week. This is intentional. Variety is great for those who are easily bored, but muscles don’t get bored. They respond to repetition. If you aren’t familiar with a specific movement, check the video/informational links at the end of the article.
If you have specific questions, don’t hesitate to email me at hutch@gymjones.com
Week 1:
Here we go! This week will be focused on single leg movements, learning specific movements and building the cardio base.
|
WEEK 1 |
MON |
WED |
THUR |
BONUS DAY |
|
GENERAL WARM-UP |
10 min. warm-up |
10 min. warm-up |
10 min. warm-up |
|
|
SPECIFIC WARM-UP |
3x10 air squats 3x10 forward lunges 3x10 jump squats 3x10 goblet squats @15-25 lbs |
2x10 push ups 2x10 bent over dumbbell row @2x 15-25 lbs 2x10 jumping jacks |
3x10 forward lunge 3x10 reverse lunge 3x10 air squats |
|
|
WORKOUT |
8 ROUNDS: 30 sec step-ups onto 18” box, alternate with 60 sec rest. During rest: |
4x5 manmakers, 5 ROUNDS: 30 sec rest between each round 4x10 weighted forward lunge 2x20 lbs DB 3x10 RDL 25-40lbs |
1 mile run for time 6 ROUNDS: 30 sec squat hold (strict at 90 degrees), 30 sec rest 3x10 push ups |
90-120 min uphill hike with 20-25 lb pack, brisk pace and minimal rest during effort. Your goal is to maintain 75-80% max heart rate. |
|
SUPPLIMENTAL |
3 ROUNDS: 250M run sprints @80-85% effort, 30 sec rest, 50x strict curl-ups |
5 ROUNDS: 5 ROUNDS: |
3x8 hamstring bridge (each leg) 10 min on fan bike at 60% effort, last 10 sec of each min all out sprint
|
|
|
COOLDOWN |
10-15 min. cool-down |
10-15 min. cool-down |
10-15 min. cool-down |
|
WEEK 2:
|
WEEK 2 |
MON |
WED |
THUR |
BONUS DAY |
|
GENERAL WARM-UP |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
|
|
SPECIFIC WARM-UP |
3x10 air squats 3x10 forward lunges 3x10 jump squats 3x10 goblet squats @15-25 lbs |
2x10 push ups 2x10 jumping jacks 3x5 manmakers @10-25lbs |
3x10 forward lunge 3x10 reverse lunge 3x10 air squats
|
|
|
WORKOUT |
10 ROUNDS: 30 sec wall sit 5x goblet squats @16-24 kg 5x box jumps 20-24" box 1 min rest |
dumbbell strict press: 1-2 min rest between sets one arm bent row: |
LEG BLASTER CIRCUIT round 1 = frog hops round 2 = split jumps round 3 = mountain climbers round 4 - squats with 'hell style' rest (hold squat at 90 for rest duration) |
90-120 min uphill hike with 20-25 lb pack, brisk pace and minimal rest during effort. Your goal is to maintain 75-80% max heart rate |
|
SUPPLIMENTAL |
3x8 hamstring bridge (each leg) 6 MINUTES: |
5 ROUNDS: 5 ROUNDS: |
25x push-ups 25x supermans 25x curl-ups |
|
|
COOLDOWN |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
|
WEEK 3:
|
WEEK 3 |
MON |
WED |
THUR |
BONUS DAY |
|
GENERAL WARM-UP |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
|
|
SPECIFIC WARM-UP |
3x10 air squats 3x10 forward lunges 3x10 jump squats 3x10 goblet squats @15-25 lbs |
2x10 push ups 2x10 bent over dumbbell row @2x 15-25 lbs 2x10 jumping jacks |
3x10 forward lunge 3x10 reverse lunge 3x10 air squats
|
|
|
WORKOUT |
10 ROUNDS: |
4x5 manmakers, 5 ROUNDS: 4x10 weighted forward lunge 2x20 lbs DB 3x10 RDL 25-40lbs |
1 mile run for time 8 ROUNDS: 3x10 push ups
|
90-120 min uphill hike with 20-25 lb pack, brisk pace and minimal rest during effort. Your goal is to maintain 75-80% max heart rate |
|
SUPPLIMENTAL |
4 ROUNDS:
|
5 ROUNDS: 5 ROUNDS: |
3x8 hamstring bridge (each leg) 10 min on fan bike at 60% effort, last 15 sec of each min all out sprint |
|
|
COOLDOWN |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
|
WEEK 4:
|
WEEK 4 |
MON |
WED |
THUR |
BONUS DAY |
|
GENERAL WARM-UP |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
|
|
SPECIFIC WARM-UP |
3x10 air squats 3x10 forward lunges 3x10 jump squats 3x10 goblet squats @15-25 lbs |
2x10 push ups 2x10 jumping jacks 3x5 manmakers @10-25lbs |
3x10 forward lunge 3x10 reverse lunge 3x10 air squats
|
|
|
WORKOUT |
10 ROUNDS:
|
dumbbell strict press: 1-2 min rest between sets one arm bent row: |
LEG BLASTER CIRCUIT round 1 = frog hops round 2 = split jumps round 3 = mountain climbers round 4 - squats with 'hell style' rest (hold squat at 90 for rest duration) |
120-150 min uphill hike with 20-25 lb pack, brisk pace and minimal rest during effort. Your goal is to maintain 75-80% max heart rate |
|
SUPPLIMENTAL |
3x8 hamstring bridge (each leg) 6 MINUTES: |
7 ROUNDS: 5 ROUNDS: |
25x push-ups 30x supermans 30x curl-ups
|
|
|
COOLDOWN |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
|
WEEK 5:
|
WEEK 5 |
MON |
WED |
THUR |
BONUS DAY |
|
GENERAL WARM-UP |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
|
|
SPECIFIC WARM-UP |
3x10 air squats 3x10 forward lunges 3x10 jump squats 3x10 goblet squats @15-25 lbs |
2x10 push ups 2x10 bent over dumbbell row @2x 15-25 lbs 2x10 jumping jacks |
3x10 forward lunge 3x10 reverse lunge 3x10 air squats
|
|
|
WORKOUT |
10 ROUNDS: NOTE: use pack with 20-25 lbs or appropriate weight vest, during step ups and squats
|
5x5 manmakers, 6 ROUNDS: 4x10 weighted forward lunge 2x25 lbs DB 3x10 RDL 25-40lbs |
1 mile run for time 10 ROUNDS: 3x10 push ups
|
150-180 min uphill hike with 20-25 lb pack, brisk pace and minimal rest during effort. Your goal is to maintain 75-80% max heart rate |
|
SUPPLIMENTAL |
5 ROUNDS: 250M run sprints @80-85% effort 30 sec rest 75x strict curl-ups |
5 ROUNDS: 6 ROUNDS: |
3x8 hamstring bridge (each leg) 15 min on fan bike at 60% effort, last 15 sec of each min all out sprint |
|
|
COOLDOWN |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
|
WEEK 6:
|
WEEK 6 |
MON |
WED |
THUR |
BONUS DAY |
|
GENERAL WARM-UP |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
10 min warm-up |
|
|
SPECIFIC WARM-UP |
3x10 air squats 3x10 forward lunges 3x10 jump squats 3x10 goblet squats @15-25 lbs |
2x10 push ups 2x10 jumping jacks 3x5 manmakers @10-25lbs |
3x10 forward lunge 3x10 reverse lunge 3x10 air squats
|
|
|
WORKOUT |
10 ROUNDS: 3 ROUNDS: |
dumbbell strict press: 1-2 min rest between sets one arm bent row: |
LEG BLASTER CIRCUIT round 1 = frog hops round 2 = split jumps round 3 = mountain climbers round 4 = burpees round 5 = squats with 'Hell Style' rest (hold squat at 90 for rest duration)
|
180+ min uphill hike with 20-25 lb pack, brisk pace and minimal rest during effort. Your goal is to maintain 75-80% max heart rat |
|
SUPPLIMENTAL |
3x8 hamstring bridge (each leg) 6 MINUTES: |
8 ROUNDS: 5 ROUNDS: |
35x push-ups 40x supermans 50x curl-ups
|
|
|
COOLDOWN |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
10-15 min cooldown |
|
Recovery Days
At Gym Jones, we don’t really believe in days off or rest days. We prefer to call them recovery days. We want our clients to take an active role in their fitness even on days they aren’t in the gym. So, I encourage folks to go for a walk, spend 20 minutes on the foam roller, do yoga, meditate, or get a massage. Do as much as you can afford in time and money to be ready for 100% performance on your training days. So now what? Hopefully the snow is deep, your legs and body are strong and ready for weekend after weekend of uninterrupted powder days. Once you have built the work capacity, you’ll have no problem repeating weeks 5 and 6 throughout the ski season. For more specialized in-season programming or a more intense program for high-end athletes, questions about movements, or this program, feel free to email me for options.
Have a great winter!
Exercise Links: Goblet Squats Single Arm Planks Dumbbell Rows Air Squats Lunges Jump Squats Step Ups Curl-Ups Manmakers Hip Bridge Hamstring Bridge Wall Sit Dumbbell Strict Press Frog Hops Split Jumps Mountain Climbers Superman Extensions Burpees
Ready for more? Check out all of our fitness articles here.
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Article by Jake Hutchinson
Jake has spent more than 25 years working as an avalanche professional. He is currently a lead instructor for the American Avalanche Institute, an avalanche dog handler and trainer and an avalanche safety consultant to the resort and rescue communities. Off the snow, Hutchinson is a Certified Instructor and former Head of Instructor and Seminar Development for Gym Jones in Salt Lake City. He is currently involved in private personal training with an emphasis on high level functional fitness for mountain and military athletes.
