A busy person's guide to pre-ski fitness

By Carol M. Ostrom
Seattle Times staff reporter

MICHELLE KUMATA / THE SEATTLE TIMES

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It seems just yesterday you lathered on that fake tan and pumped a little iron to buff up those triceps. You looked hot in that tankini, if you do say so yourself.

But drat! Here comes winter, and now you're singing another tune: Triceps and tan won't take you very far on the slopes — or keep you right side up.

Let's face it, it's hard to look suave holding your briefcase in your teeth while you try to open a door with your crutches.

Winter sports sneak up on us here. Summer takes its sweet time getting started, and sometimes lingers, even into October. Before you know it, there's that first Cascade snowfall.

Chances are, you're not ready. You may be the runner who slacked off when the rain began. The couch potato who has always just grabbed your gear and gone.

More likely, you're the one with that increasingly popular excuse: no time to exercise.

Make every minute count

Information UW Television: www.uwtv.org. Typing "ski" or "winter sports" in the search box takes you to Healthy-U, a health-and-fitness series where you can see Dr. Kim Harmon in "As the seasons change: Making the transition from summer to winter sports," or Dr. Eric Larson, Lori Sabado and John Meriwether, director of the Stevens Pass Ski Patrol, in "How to hit the slopes safely: Preparing is Prevention." Other programs feature knee problems and strengthening, off-trail sports and other fitness issues.

If so, consider Whitney Williams, a 33-year-old business owner who spends much of her time jetting from Seattle to the Other Washington. Her schedule had her in New York, D.C. and China in the days before she climbed Mount Rainier in August.

Last year, Williams' date with the summit was a spur-of-the-moment commitment that left her just one month to get in shape. She used every spare minute.

Alone in an elevator on the way to meet clients, she did squats and lunges in her suit and dress shoes. She pumped her 10-pound briefcase, timing reps so she'd be composed when the doors slid open.

For a quick trip to the post office on her scooter, she'd sling phone books and other heavy objects into a backpack.

Hang on!

	MICHELLE KUMATA / THE SEATTLE TIMES Lunging: Keeping good alignment and balance, position knees over toes and in line with foot. Step forward onto one leg, and bend knees within a comfortable range. Alternate lunging to each leg, moving forward and back.

Playing horsey with her toddler nephew, she had a flash: He's about the same weight as the backpack she was training to carry. Hang on, cowboy, your horsey is going to do some lunges!

Getting fit for skiing, snowboarding or climbing when you have no time to breathe, much less exercise, takes pluck, focus, and most of all, creativity.

"People always say they don't have time," says Rhonda Vowinkel, a personal trainer who owns Fitness360 and is writing a book about exercise while traveling.

Her clients, who include CEOs, CFOs and physicians, travel a lot. "They actually make the excuse that with travel they can't stay in shape," she says. "I thought: I'm going to nip that in the bud."

Exercise to go

Everything you need to exercise is always there, in Vowinkel's view: stairs, walls, chairs, even pop cans in a hotel room mini-bar. You can exercise on a plane, in a stairwell, in a car. In line at the post office, Vowinkel, a former professional figure skater, pulls shoulders back, points toes ahead, stands tall and tightens her tummy muscles — and breathes — until she's served.

Killer thighs

	MICHELLE KUMATA / THE SEATTLE TIMES Wall slide: Stand, hips and shoulders against a wall. Slowly slide toward a sitting position (but not so low your knees hurt) and hold, breathing normally. Time yourself. How long until your legs begin to shake? That's baseline; try to increase each week by five seconds.

When it comes to winter sports, think thigh strength. Balance. "Core" fitness. Flexibility. And of course, aerobic conditioning.

Dr. Eric Larson, medical director for the Stevens Pass Ski Patrol, has two pieces of advice: If there are stairs, climb them. He does, and his office at Group Health's Center for Health Studies, where he is director, is on the 16th floor. "Look for every opportunity," he advises. "If you go gradually, you'll become quite fit."

Larson, 57, is a practicing internist at the University of Washington. He plays squash every morning, rides an exercise bike and skis. But he won't gloat. Some of his 80- and 90-something patients still carve turns on the slopes.

His second tip: Buy a pedometer. Do a couple of baseline readings, and start increasing. Your goal: 10,000 steps per day.

Lori Sabado, a physical therapist at the UW sports medicine clinic, advises sticking walking shoes in your briefcase. Maybe you have to drive to your meeting, but you don't have to park close to the door. "Park a mile away," she advises.

Whether you're just getting started, coming back from an injury or staying in tone, these fitness gurus say, build walking, stretching and strengthening into day-to-day activities.

Breaking a sweat

"I talk to patients all the time about how to incorporate exercise into their lives," says Dr. Kim Harmon, a team physician for the UW. A mother of four, she knows first-hand how to go about it.

If you haven't exercised regularly, start slowly — one flight of stairs at a time, Sabado advises. Or take a 20-minute walk three days a week, gradually adding hills and speed. "Then consider breaking a little sweat."

Always warm up, Vowinkel cautions. Target warm-ups to the exercise you'll be doing: If you're going to run, walk first. Go easy for the first 10 minutes, and concentrate on your core body.

Ideally, Harmon says, you should allow six weeks to get in shape for skiing or snowboarding. Last year, Crystal and Mount Baker opened Nov. 20.

Now that you're paying attention, what should you be doing to get in shape?

Balance: You can use a balance board or an exercise ball. Or, says Sabado, just practice putting yourself off balance and "sticking" to the spot when your foot lands. "You're teaching your muscles how to work, how to balance themselves." Then, when your ski starts to slide, "your muscles know what to do to engage and maintain control of your leg."

Harmon suggests one-legged squats for balance. Or standing on one foot with your eyes closed. Too easy? Stand on a cushion.

Core: The biggest part of your body — your "core," as trainers now refer to the middle section — works hard during most sports.

A weak core "leads to all kinds of problems through the legs and arms," says Sabado, who starts in the middle and works out when coaching someone into shape.

Larson would like to see you do sit-ups while watching TV. Abdominals stabilize everything in the middle, so work those puppies!

Thighs: Thighs do a lot of work when you're skiing or snowboarding. Strengthening them also helps your knees, a weak spot for most women athletes. Squats (don't go too far down and, if you're a woman, mimic the pose you'd adopt using an especially unsavory outhouse), lunges, working out on a stair-climber, walking hills — all help you get "thighs of steel."

Harmon likes wall sits: Stand, back against a wall, slide to chair-sitting position (but not so low your knees hurt) and hold. Time yourself. How long until your legs shake? That's baseline; increase each week by five seconds, she suggests.

Harmon also likes plyometric exercise, which, in simplest terms, involves jumping. Jumping rope, hopping, lunges and jump squats all qualify. But "you gotta be careful, because they're injury-producing, too," Harmon cautions.

Put a piece of rope on the ground and jump across it, Harmon suggests. When you get more confident, jump over something bigger. Experts say plyometric exercises force muscles to contract rapidly from a full stretch position, their weakest point. By conditioning this way, muscles can better respond to the stresses of the slopes. Start on a surface that won't damage your feet when you land, and start slowly so you don't twist an ankle.

"As one gets older, muscle strength in the lower extremities is especially important, and particularly for a sport like skiing, snowboarding or cross country skiing, muscle strength and balance is just about everything," Larson notes in a ski-safety presentation by the UW's "Healthy-U," a fitness-video series (see information box).

Knees: Strong thighs will help, but if you have knee trouble, get help finding knee-specific exercises. Studies found that women on knee-conditioning programs have far fewer knee injuries, Sabado notes. Healthy-U has a knee program that, if nothing else, will convince you how complicated your knees are and how much you want to keep them strong. Swimming, biking, rowing, and specific stretches and strengthening thigh and calf muscles will help.

Stretch: Achilles, hamstrings, gastrocs, adductors — you know what's tight, and you don't care what it's called. (If you change your mind, check out the "muscle-body map" at www.exrx.net/Exercise.html.) It's important with stretches to do them right, or you'll stretch the wrong stuff. Sabado shows proper alignment in a Healthy-U ski video.

Think of little breaks in the flow of life — like being stuck in traffic — as chances for a stretch, Sabado urges. In the car, you can do neck range-of-motion exercises, shoulder shrugs and rolls. On the ferry, try leg stretches and arm exercises with surgical tubing.

If you're alone in a room, face a wall, put your hands on it and start walking backwards to stretch hamstrings. Or put your foot up on whatever there is and bend — with back straight. Lunges, with the back heel down, will stretch the backs of your legs.

"As you get older, stretching is really, really important. If you don't stretch, you really do increase your chances of getting an injury," says Larson. Twisted backs are a more common ski injury than you'd think, he says.

Know your limits: All these fitness gurus know this is harder to do than say. After all, how do you know you can't ski double black diamonds until you try? Ideally, says Larson, a program of conditioning will give you some hints about your limits.

Getting in shape for what you're going to do makes it much more likely you'll have fun — not injuries. Williams, who made it to the summit of Mount Rainier both times, was glad she'd taken training seriously.

"It was a wonderful experience," she said. "I felt great!"

Carol M. Ostrom: 206-464-2249 or costrom@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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