Want to feel fresh at the bottom of your last run of the day?
Winter sports don’t care if you showed up underprepared. They deal it out especially hard on older athletes, whose strength, balance and reaction times have slipped since their youth.
Here’s the good news:
A 60-year-old body reacts to training almost identically to a 30-year-old body. It just requires a longer warm up.
Twelve weeks of mind-numbing, monotonous preseason training is often what separates a winter loaded with ski days from one where you’re icing your knee on the couch.
Here’s how to build it…
What’s coming up:
- Why Preseason Conditioning Matters More After 50
- Leg Strength That Lasts All Day
- Balance Work That Actually Prevents Falls
- Building The Engine For Cold, Thin Air
- Mobility, Recovery And The Boring Stuff
- The 12-Week Preseason Plan
Why Preseason Conditioning Matters More After 50
Getting older doesn’t stop anybody skiing. Poor preparation does.
Muscle loss begins much earlier than you might imagine. At about 1-2% per year as early as your mid-thirties, then accelerates to about 3% per year past age 60. No big deal. Nobody notices because daily life rarely demands much of the legs. Enter six hours hiking a mountain….in cold air…at altitude…on uneven terrain.
That’s where issues arise. Studies by the National Institute on Aging found that 30% of adults over 70 have difficulty walking, climbing stairs, or standing up from a chair. Skiing requires much more effort than sitting down.
But training is only half of the job…
Packed out boots and bindings dialed into a number you picked 15 years ago will silently erase months of diligent conditioning work. That’s where a specialty sports store earns its keep. Making appointments for a boot fitting and binding check before the snow flies is one of the best investments an aging skier can make, and a simple search for Ski store near me(opens in new tab) will bring up the nearest options. Fitters at a good specialty sports store will adjust your release settings to match current weight, ability and age — since binding charts treat skiers over 50 differently, and for good reason.
Fitness and equipment work together. Neglect one and the other doesn’t matter much.
Leg Strength That Lasts All Day
Skiing, snowshoeing and skating are all leg sports. So legs go first.
The goal here isn’t a heavier squat. The goal is legs that can support you for miles and still function properly by run eight.
Focus on these four movements twice a week:
- Split squats — build single-leg strength and expose left/right imbalances
- Step-ups onto a low box — this will train the actual movement you use when stepping off of a lift
- Wall sits — teach your quads to support the weight when you’re feeling a burn. Like a long run.
- Hip hinges — protect the lower back and wake up the glutes
Begin with body weight only. 8-10 reps for two sets is more than enough to start. Increase by either a little weight or a few reps each week. Stop well short of failure.
Older muscles still hypertrophy just fine. Tendons and joints just take longer to adapt. So slow progress will always trump heroic progress.
Disclaimer: If you have heart disease, a joint replacement, or have been inactive for an extended period of time, please consult your physician beforehand. Five minutes of talking can prevent a whole season of kicking yourself.
Balance Work That Actually Prevents Falls
Here’s the part that gets skipped…
Winter injuries for seniors aren’t typically caused by an epic wipeout at full speed. Most winter injuries happen during a slow, foolish low-speed fall. Slipping on ice in a lift line. Falling on a slick lodge floor. Losing your footing while stepping out of the car in the snowy parking lot. According to Harvard Health, one in three adults 65+ falls annually. Those who are stronger and steadier lose their balance less often and suffer less serious injury when they fall.
Balance is something you learn, it’s not something you have. If you don’t use it you lose it, if you practice it you gain it right back.
Try this progression:
- Stand on one leg while brushing teeth, 30 seconds each side
- Repeat it with the eyes closed, standing near a wall
- Add a slow head turn from side to side
- Finish with heel-to-toe walking along a line on the floor
Two minutes a day. Sounds way too simple to do anything. Which is why nobody ever follows through.
Building The Engine For Cold, Thin Air
Thin air, less oxygen and bulky gear all increase the workload on the heart for the same exercise intensity.
Fatigue is your biggest enemy on the mountain. Tired skiers wipe out. Late-day runs are when form breaks down and mistakes cost you.
It’s not glamorous. Three cardio workouts a week beginning eight to twelve weeks out from the first trip:
- Two easy sessions of 30-40 minutes — brisk hill walking, cycling or swimming
- One harder session — 60 seconds hard, 90 seconds easy, repeated eight times
If you’re going someplace high, it’s also important to arrive a day early and take it easy that day.
Mobility, Recovery And The Boring Stuff
Stiff ankles and hips make your lower back compensate.
5-10 minutes of ankle, hip and upper-back mobility work post every workout is sufficient.
Don’t forget fuel and sleep. Protein intake at every meal becomes increasingly important with age, because older bodies need a larger serving size to stimulate muscle growth. And sleep will do more for recovery than any supplement will.
Rest days are part of training as well. Two good workouts and a true rest day is better than four lackadaisical ones.
The 12-Week Preseason Plan
Here’s how the whole thing fits together:
- Weeks 1-4: Body-weight strength twice per week, balance exercises every day, 2 easy cardio sessions
- Weeks 5-8: Continue this but add some light load to the strength work, add a third cardio session per week, introduce intervals
- Weeks 9-11: Heaviest block — gain weight on legs, hold wall sits longer, scheduled boot fitting with a specialty sports store
- Week 12: Cut volume in half, maintain balance drills, show up energized not exhausted
Wait until what time? Six weeks of solid effort will still pay off. Two weeks of freak-out cramming won’t.
Putting It All On Snow
Plan your active winter after 50 for the autumn, not the morning of the first day of your trip.
Fit legs, strong balance, reasonably good motor skills, and properly fitting gear will take you further into the season than any new jacket. The entire program only takes about three hours per week.
To recap quickly:
- Build leg strength twice a week
- Practice balance every single day
- Get three cardio sessions in
- Sort the boots and bindings early
- Show up rested, not wrecked
Begin 12 weeks out. Keep it boring. Keep consistent — and ski this winter, instead of rehabbing.