Tag: stability

Building a Better Skier Part 2: The Spine, When to Move it, and When to Keep it Still

Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski racing during the 2021 Tour de Ski. (Photo: NordicFocus)

This is Part 2 of a series delving into how biomechanics and movement patterns affect skiing technique. If you haven’t already, start with the introduction and Part 1, which introduces the concept of a neutral spine posture.

There are many ways to conceptualize biomechanics, but they all need a starting place. If we think about ski technique, where do we want to start? On the glide leg? With the poles? At the hips? For this series, I have opted to start with the core and work outward. I could have started with the foot and moved upward; however, I see posture as an integral part of any movement. If the posture is compromised to begin with, then that deficit permeates the activity.

As was emphasized in Part 1, posture exists on a bandwidth of acceptability–everyone is a little different. But postures that fall outside of the bandwidth, especially when occurring within a dynamic activity like cross-country skiing, compounds load on the body. In the best case scenario, this increased load is inefficient and bleeds power. Worst case scenario, the additional load can exceed the body’s tolerance and lead to musculoskeletal injury.

And yet the spine does move. Perhaps one of the best examples is the thoracic rotation that occurs with running. The shoulders do not stay pointed straight ahead. As the right leg and left arm swing forward (with the left foot on the ground) the shoulders are going to rotate to the right. This should be a product of rotation in the thoracic spine. If the thoracic spine has limited mobility, the motion will occur elsewhere, most often in the lumbar spine which has less motion available and will likely be less tolerant of this load. A case in point may be this recent study which found that the addition of thoracic mobility exercises decreased the incidence of low back pain in cross country skiers.

If you’re not already, sit with a neutral spine posture. Cross your arms with hands-on opposite shoulders. Rotate your body to the left and to the right. Make a mental note of how these movements felt. Now let your back flex forward in a slumping position. Try the same rotation to the left and right. I suspect they felt different. When the thoracic spine is flexed, its ability to rotate is decreased.

Use it or lose it. Our bodies are use it or lose it machines. If we do not stretch a muscle to its full length, it will tend to shorten. If we do not move a joint to its end range of motion, it will tend to stiffen. As we get older, this becomes even more pronounced. If you are of Masters age, you should probably think of stretching and mobility exercises as more about maintaining what you have versus expecting to gain flexibility. The older we get, the less pliable our bodies become. But there’s a lot to be said for maintenance.

Here are my three favorite thoracic mobility exercises – (aim to do these daily–1 or 2 minutes on the foam roll, 10x to each side with the rotation).

Foam roll thoracic extension: lie on your back with a foam roll perpendicular to your spine. Support your head with your hands. Drop your shoulders towards the floor. Pause here for a few seconds then return to your starting/neutral position. Scoot on the floor so the foam roll moves up your spine. Repeat the extension motion dropping the shoulders towards the floor. Continue this process until you have worked the length of your thoracic spine. Avoid going into the lumbar spine as the fulcrum of the foam roll tends to be too sharp. On the upper end, once the foam roll is under the shoulder blades, it’ll be tough to get much motion. This exercise can also be done with an exercise ball.

Book openings: Begin lying on your side with your knees bent and hands behind your head. Rotate your trunk like you are trying to get the top shoulder down to the floor. Pause here for a second or two and return to the starting position. This should be done on both sides.

Lower Trunk Rotation: Lie on your back with both knees bent. Cross one leg over the other. Let the legs drop towards the floor to the side of the top leg. Pause here for a few seconds and return to the starting position. Do this on both sides.

Stability could be defined as the opposite of mobility. If we are striving to maintain available mobility of the thoracic spine, perhaps it makes sense that we are striving to maintain stability at the lumbar spine. Anatomically, the body is well equipped to stabilize the lumbar spine. We have multiple layers of abdominal and back muscles that create a stable platform for the arms and legs. While the lumbar spine is lacking in rotary motion, it has quite a large range of available motion for bending forward, backward, and to the sides. Depending on the activity, this available motion needs to be either locked out like keeping a rigid trunk with skating V1 or well-controlled while bending over to put on your socks.

If we are working under the assumption that neutral spine is the ideal, then it makes sense that our core strengthening or stability work should be done in neutral spine. Traditional sit-ups that involve considerable lumbar flexion are great for building those six-pack abs that look good on Instagram, but the exercise itself only contributes to a greater tendency to over-flex the spine during activity. “Flatten your back into the floor” is a frequent cue with core exercises. While this cue, and the associated posterior pelvic tilt, is effective at recruiting abdominal muscles, it also has the effect of training the body to rely on a flexed position for muscle activation.

Lie down on the floor with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Your lumbar spine will now be in its neutral position. If you slide a hand under your low back, your hand will likely have a bit of wiggle room between the floor and your back. This is the natural lordotic curve, and we want to maintain this during exercise (and activity). It’s easy to feel the increase in pressure on your hand when you tighten your abs and flatten your back. Conversely, if you tilt your pelvis in the other direction, arching your low back, you will have much more wiggle room. This excessive lordosis tends to be less stable since the abdominal muscles are in a lengthened, disadvantaged position for dynamic stability with much of the burden placed on the static stability of the joints.

If you had a hard time controlling movement or differentiating between the flat, neutral, and arched positions, the following exercises can be helpful to train your awareness and coordination.

***

Lumbar spine proprioception

Pelvic tilts: Lie on your back with both knees bent. Start by trying to tilt your pelvis towards you. Think of trying to flatten your low back into the floor or of shortening the distance between your ribcage and pelvis. Now tilt the pelvis in the other direction like arching your back away from the floor. These motions should be isolated at the pelvis and lumbar spine–your legs shouldn’t feel like they are doing any work.

Cat/Cow: This involves the same pelvic tilt motions but without the feedback of the floor. Again, the idea is to isolate the motion at the lumbar spine not by arching the upper back.

A quick Google search for “core exercise videos” brings up over 66 million results. Clearly, we are not lacking in the number of possible exercises. But what about quality? In the treatment of chronic low back pain, there is no best exercise. From the perspectives of performance enhancement and injury prevention, while there is an argument for simply being strong, there is perhaps a better argument for incorporating exercises that help the body meet the specific demands of the activity or sport. If good ski technique demands maintenance of a relatively neutral spine, then exercises should be performed in a neutral spine. If the sport includes load through the upper extremities, like poling with skiing or weighting the handlebars with cycling, then core exercises that include weight-bearing through the arms should be included. Skate skiing places a large rotational force through the core; thus we ought to have exercises that train the body to counter-rotation. Conversely, running and classic diagonal stride involves thoracic rotation so it makes sense to train the body to perform lumbar stability and thoracic rotation simultaneously.

Here are my Top 3, best-bang-for-the-buck-exercises in each category. Remember, the goal is to maintain neutral spine. If you are unable to control the motion, then the exercise represents too much resistance/load and needs to be regressed. These are quality-intensive exercises. A reasonable program would include 2 or 3 sets of 5 to 10 repetitions (depending on fatigue) of each exercise. Doing the routine twice a week should be adequate.

***

Stability exercises: these will challenge your ability to maintain a neutral lumbar spine

Femur arc progression: Begin by lying on your back with knees and hips bent at 90°. Your back will be in its neutral position, which you are striving to maintain (there will be a little wiggle room between your low back and the floor–the amount will vary by the individual but the goal is the same). The basic femur arc is performed by lowering one foot to the floor while keeping the knee bent at 90°. The motion is isolated at the hip. There should be no motion in the low back–it will have a tendency to want to arch away from the floor as the leg goes down. Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side. Continue alternating legs. Progressions include straightening the knee as the leg lowers, lowering both legs together with bent knees, lowering both legs together with straight knees.

Mountain Climbers: These can be done with frisbees on carpet, socks on hardwood or tile, or with a TRX. The goal is to move alternating legs back and forth with no motion in the low back. There will be a tendency to flex as you pull a leg underneath you. This should be controlled by the core but also recognize that if you are trying to pull the leg through too far, you will run out of hip range of motion and be forced to flex the spine.

Roll Out: Start on hands and knees with your hands on frisbees or a laminated placemat on the carpet, a towel on hardwood, TRX, or an old-school ab roller. The roll/slide-out motion will be a combination of shoulders and hips, but the spine stays in its neutral position.

***

Anti-rotation exercises — as the title would imply, the resistance will try to twist your spine and your goal is to fight it

Plank with Shoulder Tap: From a straight arm plank with shoulders, hips, and knees in line, tap a hand to the opposite shoulder. There will be a bit of a weight shift that needs to happen to maintain stability, but this should be in the form of a side-to-side movement of the pelvis, not a rotation. This can be made easier by doing from your knees. Make it harder by substituting the shoulder tap with a dumbbell row.

Paloff Press: The Paloff Press is a great lesson in the physics of levers. Stand using both hands to hold a resistance band or handle from the cable column weight machine. Push your hands straight out in front of you. As your arms straighten, the length of the lever increases and the resistance will exert more rotational force. Fight the twist. For more of a challenge, other than just increasing the resistance, stand with your feet together or in a lunge (with the band coming from the opposite side of the front leg).

Lunge with unilateral shoulder extension: Go into a static lunge with a resistance band in the opposite hand of the lead leg. Keeping the elbow straight, pull on the band until your hand is just past your hip. This can also be done with a cable column weight machine.

***

Combination lumbar stability with thoracic rotation: simply put, the lumbar spine stays still while the thoracic spine rotates

Seated Unilateral Row: This is a twist (sorry, bad pun) on a standard one-arm row. Sit on an exercise ball or chair facing the resistance band’s anchor. As you pull on the band, bend your elbow so your hand aims for the side of your ribcage, and rotate your chest and shoulders towards the band. Your butt should stay firmly planted and not rotate.

Lunge Rotation with Band: Stand with the resistance band coming from one side. Go into a lunge with the opposite foot forward (band from the right = left foot forward). Keep your hips pointed forward while your upper body rotates against the resistance.

Seated Rotation (aka Russian Twist): This exercise gets a bad reputation because it’s very easy to do incorrectly, potentially placing a lot of load on the lumbar spine. It is often done in a V-sit position (like the photo but with the feet off of the floor), which is very difficult to maintain without collapsing into lumbar flexion. Add the potential to rotate through the lumbar spine and the combined motions create high loads. But we’re going to keep the lumbar spine neutral and isolate the rotation to the thoracic spine. The key points are attaining and maintaining a neutral spine while sitting with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Think about the rotation coming from the shoulders. Your belly button should stay pointed straight ahead. You can start without weight and progress to a medicine ball, dumbbell, or resistance band coming from the side.

Notably absent in this list are exercises that target the glutes. As the primary stabilizers of the hip joint, the gluteal muscles should not be ignored in any “core” routine. However, for the sake of organizing this series, the glutes will be addressed in Part 3 on single-limb stability. If you want a head start, this Faster Skier article includes some excellent exercises.

July 9, 2021
Wednesday Workout: APU’s Chelsea Holmes Breaks Down Strength Training

Chelsea Holmes performs a single-leg squat with her back foot on a plyo box. (All photos courtesy of Chelsea Holmes)

This week’s workout comes from Chelsea Holmes, who recently joined the Alaska Pacific University (APU) Elite Nordic Team after three seasons with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation in Sun Valley, Idaho. Originally from Girdwood, Alaska, Holmes, 27, returned to her hometown glacier earlier this summer as one of 14 of women with the North American Women’s Training Alliance — a U.S. Ski Team camp held annually in Anchorage and on Eagle Glacier. Below she gives a detailed explanation of what she does to build strength and work on her weaknesses.

***

My Strengths (and many weaknesses)!

Strength training should be an important staple in every endurance athlete’s regimen. It is important to note that the weight, duration, number of repetitions and sets are all individual and should be catered around the individual’s experience, age, and training plan. The quality of technique should be priority, and only when comfortable and confident in an exercise should an individual attempt maximal exercises. Additionally it is recommended to have a partner to spot and assist in these exercises.

My strength sessions often address numerous muscle groups and modes of training and development within a single session. This is due to the irregular and intense nature of cross-country ski training and the time constraints in a week.

Chelsea Holmes working on quickness with some ladder drills (Courtesy photo)

My current routine includes:

– Focus: Maximal-strength exercises where the load is high and the repetitions are low.

– Quickness (often incorporated into my warmup): I like to spend some time during the workout doing either drills on a speed ladder (shown above) or jump rope. When jump roping, focus on speed and the power coming from your calves. Try 30 on both legs before moving to 15 per single leg.

Single-leg squats with back leg on floor, back toes pointing down

What: Single-Leg Squats

Position: In a standard-squat rack, put a reasonable weight on the squat bar. Lift the weight and once set and balanced, place one foot back behind you on a low stand with your foot perpendicular to the floor (useful tools: plyo boxes, stools), or, as shown at right, just place your back leg on the floor with your toe facing down. While keeping your front knee inline over your toe (no twisting or caving medially) perform a squat motion. Switch sides!

The front leg should be the source of power, felt in the quadriceps, hamstring and gluteus. The back leg is there only for stability and balance. This should be felt in the quadriceps, hamstring, and gluteus. If you feel the need to use your back leg when powering up, go down in weight. Do not bend forward at the waist, or try to lift with your back. Your core acts as a stabilizer here.

Why: I have been using single-leg exercise because in the past I have noticed a personal tendency to favor a leg and compensate. I also use the single-leg squat as it should stimulate the intrinsic muscles as there is a balance component to the exercise. Maximal exercises develop the time to peak force, efficiency and maximal power.

Note: After comfort and proficiency have been developed, try to superset this exercise. I will sometimes perform a set of 6-8 jumps (high jumps onto a plyo box, tuck jumps or skate jumps) directly after each set.

Chelsea Holmes demonstrates a standard pull-up.

What: Pull-Ups

Position: A standard pull-up (shown above). The important cues to note in this exercise are full range of motion, a wide enough hand position that you are engaging your latissimus fully and minimal swing. I most often use an overhand grip.

Dumbbell press on a Swiss ball, as demonstrated by Chelsea Holmes

What: Dumbbell Press on Swiss Ball

This is a simple a bench press (shown above), only using dumbbells and instead of laying on a bench you are supported by laying with your upper back centered on a Swiss ball and feet planted in a stable position. From a sitting position on the Swiss ball, roll yourself forward on the ball so that the ball is centered underneath your upper back with your feet planted firmly and your core held in a plank position (of course, chest face up here!), perform a standard press.

Why: There is so much focus on posterior exercises in skiing that it is important to ensure a balanced body. I like the addition of a swiss ball because it adds a component of balance and core.

Skate jumps with Chelsea Holmes

What: Skate Jumps (above) — a lateral jump focused on developing quickness, power and stability. Do this exercise in front of a mirror to help focus on technique.

Position: While standing on a single leg sink into the leg before exploding up and over lateral to the opposing leg. Through the landing on the opposite leg, try to control the forces and stay balanced. Through the landing phase, you should end up in the starting position for the next jump. The jump should come from the forefoot. Use your upper body mimic a powerful skating motion.

What: Balance

1. Single-leg squats on a Bosu ball or instability disk. (If using an instability disk, you might have to place the disk on a small box to allow for the range of motion through the squat.)

In front of a mirror, stand one footed on a Bosu ball with the platform down. Place the foot, toe slightly turned out, with the ball of the foot being placed on top and in the center of the dome or disk. Balancing on that foot, slowly perform a squat to a comfortable and stable depth. A broom handle held across the shoulders parallel to the floor can be a useful tool to ensure no twisting or leaning. The focus is balance, so really focus on minimal teetering and extraneous movement. When first beginning these, simply spend a few sessions doing half squats or just practice standing on one leg.

These are not only great for balance but also the many stabilizer muscles that are extremely important but easy to forget about. This exercise is great to practice breathing and total focus — it’s easy to get distracted in a busy gym! I prefer to do these in the second half of my workout when my body and mind begin to tire — mind over matter!

It’s easy to get distracted in a busy gym! I prefer to do [single-leg squats] in the second half of my workout when my body and mind begin to tire — mind over matter!

Chelsea Holmes finishes up some tough sets while working her core with a hanging twist. “Basically you pull up so that your elbows are at a 90 degree angle and the hold yourself there while bringing your legs up vertically (so that you are somewhat folded in half),” she explained in an email. “Then while holding your core strong you move your legs in a window-wiper motion… Only go so far to one side as you can feel your core then back the other side (so that your toes draw a full rainbow, back and forth, that’s one). I am not as strong, so I try to do 4-5 total.”

What: Core

1. Pikes — Either a TRX or a Swiss ball can be used in this situation.

Position: Place yourself in a plank position with your feet either in the TRX stirrup (toes down) or if using a Swiss ball, place the top of your foot on the ball. Your hands should be planted beneath your shoulders, palms against the ground and arms straight, similar to a push up position.

Exercise: Bring your body into a pike position with as little arm and knee bend possible, return to plank, now bring your knees underneath your body, driving the opposing knee to opposing elbow. The knees should bend together and twist so that you feel a rotational core component. To get the most out of this exercise, don’t rush it! Perform it in a controlled manner and with purpose.

Why: I really like this exercise because it is full body, and no matter how many times I do it, it is always a challenge. It has an isometric, concentric and eccentric component. Bang for your buck!

2. Garhammers (video demo)

Position: Hang from a pull-up bar with straight legs. Start by bringing you knees up so that your quadriceps are parallel to the ground, this is where the exercise starts and finishes for each repetition. Then drive your knees upwards by rotating your pelvis forward and focusing on your core making that movement.

Please note, there is not a tremendous range of motion with this exercise. If you feel you are ready for a more advanced version of this exercise, after driving your knees up, straighten your lower legs and lower your legs slowly back to parallel.

3. Alternating Push-Ups

I truly despise pushups so I think I gravitated to this style because it is much harder for me than standard push-ups and as such I cannot do as many. This is not a cop out, these are tough.

Position: From a standard pushup position, move your right hand back along your body so it is planted below the bottom of your rib cage (it is placed next to your body, not away from it), while leaving your left hand up slightly away from the shoulder. When you lower yourself into a pushup your upper right arm should track back parallel against your body so that it targets not only the front deltoid but your triceps as well. Your left arm will track as it usually does in a standard push-up. Start with 5 per side before switching. If you feel your core begin to sag, move to your knees- I always end my sets worn out and doing the last push ups from my knees.

August 20, 2014
Wednesday Workout: SUP to Improve Balance, Core Strength

SUP yoga takes balance, stretching and strengthening to another level. When else can you work out with baby ducks? (Photo: Patty’s Water Sports Boutique, Lake George, N.Y.)

When it’s too hot to run, rollerski, hike, bike or even jog, seek water. Stand-up paddling (SUP) is one of the latest-and-greatest exercise activities to hit the water in recent years, and while it might look simple enough, there’s plenty to keep you busy if you want to do it right.

Why worry about technique? Because if you’re going to do it — and if you plan on paddling for long stretches at a time — you might as well do it efficiently. Muscling your way through it or paddling too leisurely with either injure or bore you, but finding the “sweet spot” in between will leave you feeling it in your abdominal area, as well as your upper and lower body.

A beginner stand-up paddling session led by Patty Pensel (second from r) of Patty’s Water Sports on Lake George, N.Y.

Without reading on, you’ve already learned one of the keys to success in paddle boarding: finding the sweet spot. That’s the place on your board where you’ll find the most stability: each foot on either side of the handle (the handhold that helps you carry the board out of water).

Too far in front or back (tip and tail) of the board will leave you wobbly, although more advanced paddlers can take a surf stance near the tail to further develop leg strength and balance.

After you get your balance, it’s a matter of keeping it. Concentration is important, especially in windy, wavy, or variable conditions, but so is relaxing. Keep your head and chest up, lead with your arms, and stay loose with a slightly bent stance — checking that your feet are evenly spaced from the sides and center of the board, about shoulder-width apart.

If all this is easy, focus on your stroke: Catch, Pull, Relax (CPR). The first part of the stroke, the catch, should begin with the paddle entering the water 2 to 3 feet in front of your feet, angled part of the blade facing away, according to “Stand Up Paddling” by Rob Casey. Submerge the blade, then drag it straight back parallel to the board (without hitting it) and twisting your torso as you do so. That’s the power phase — the push.

Just as if you were thinking of “Toe-Knee-Nose” while practicing V1-skate technique, spend some time actually following your paddles movement back toward your feet — while keeping your lower body in a forward-facing fixed position.

When the blade passes your feet, pull it out of the water. Relax as you release. To return to start, twist your lower wrist forward to “feather” the blade and minimize wind resistance and maximize efficiency.

Repeat and switch sides as necessary to keep the board straight (or turn it), swinging the paddle shaft in front of your chest like a pendulum and trading out top and bottom hands to stroke on the other side.

According to Men’s Fitness, stand-up paddling is one of the top-five water activities for burning calories. Probably more important for skiers, it works on core strength and balance.

“SUP, as it’s affectionately known—is just as good as kayaking and more so because the lower body component comes into play more consistently,” the article states, explaining that it engages quadriceps, hamstrings, and glute muscles throughout.

Compared to swimming, waterskiing and kayaking, the calorie burn per 30 minutes is on the lower side if you’re doing it leisurely in flat water (with no wind), but it still compares to surfing at around 123 calories for a 180-pound person.

At race pace, the burn can soar up to 850 calories per hour for a 160-pound person. A fitness paddle (in calm water, light wind, but continuous high pace and elevated heart rate) clocks in around 500 calories per hour for the same person.

Add wind, choppy water and the added challenge of riding waves, and you could burn hundreds of more calories per hour, according a SUP fitness article on the Isle Surfboards blog.

“SUP builds endurance and balance, giving your entire body a complete cardio workout—in fact, some experts say that 30 minutes of SUP is equivalent to running six miles,” Men’s Fitness states.

Perfect Your Stand Up Paddling Technique (adopted from Seabreeze.com.au)

Hand position: If you hold the paddle above your head then your elbows should be at a 90-degree angle. If they’re too far either side of this then your paddling will be inefficient. Think about getting some tape and marking out where your bottom hand should be – at least till you get a feel for it.

Feet position: Think of your feet as the foundations for your arms and your paddle – weak foundations equal an unstable paddle technique. To get it right, your feet should be a shoulder width apart with one foot a couple of inches in front of the other to keep you stable front-to-back.

The technique:
You can break the paddle stroke down into distinct stages:

1.      The Catch. This is when you get your paddle in the water and before you begin pulling it back. Have your arms fully extended, and then aim to place your paddle about a foot beyond where the paddle would enter the water if you kept it in a vertical position. Get your paddle blade deep into the water before you begin pulling back.
2.      The Stroke [or pull/power phase]. Focus on pulling yourself past the paddle, rather than pulling the paddle past you… Keep your bottom arm almost straight and twist your shoulders for good positioning and to ensure that you really get ‘over’ the paddle and put maximum power into your stroke. You should aim for a good clean stroke in one consistent motion.
3.      The Return [release/relax]. When your blade gets level with your feet then it’s time to think about pulling it out of the water. By the time it’s completely out it should be no more than two feet behind your body. Aim to lift the blade out quickly and at an angle – so that you’re not lifting your arms up too high, but ‘swinging’ the blade away from you and out of the water. Once it’s clear of the water, turn your blade through 90-degrees, so that it’s got minimal wind resistance and bring it back up to the correct position for the start of The Catch.

July 9, 2014
Wednesday Workout: Ring Training for Your Inner Gymnast

Katie Bono demonstrating the kneeling ring rollout.

Cross-country skiers are a pretty fit lot. We tend to pride ourselves on overall fitness, and indeed it’s true that ski training does a great job of developing Crossfit-like versatility. Even in strength workouts, the nemesis of many upper-body-challenged athletes, skiers tend to do pretty well. Look at photos of Kikkan Randall, Andy Newell, and other top-level skiers doing weighted pullups and you’ll realize this.

Cody Doolan in an L-sit

Clearly, skiers need some new exercises to bump up the difficulty level in the weight room. If you find yourself maxing out the difficulty level of your current weight-room exercises, or if you are simply bored with all of them, give strength training with rings a try.

Gymnastic ring training isn’t anything new. Although it and it’s trendier cousin, TRX suspension training, are making some waves in the fitness world right now, rings have been around for ages. However, if you’d like to make significant gains in upper-body and core strength and stability, take a new look at ring training.

Training on rings has a plethora of benefits: it’s fun, the rings are extremely portable and versatile, and the exercises develop strength, coordination, and stability. However, the main benefit is that ring training is HARD. Like REALLY HARD. Ring training is the most difficult training I’ve ever done in a gym.

I started doing ring workouts as training for skiing and all-around fitness at a point when my strength fitness was relatively high, and was amazed at the difficulty in performing relatively benign exercises like dips. Although my ego was somewhat shattered, I quickly discovered that the intense difficulty of ring training paid off mightily in my fitness. If you’d like to experiment with ring training, start off with intro exercises and work up.

A big plus to ring training is that, for all intents and purposes, you can never get too strong for them. As a frame of reference, Olympic gymnastic exercises are rated on a scale from A to E, with A being the easiest. A muscle-up on rings, a fairly difficult exercise for the layman or laywoman, is an A-. Check your local gym to see if they have rings to use or buy your own and bring ’em along!

Exercises

Here are some exercises to get you started, but be creative and do some googling! Many traditional upper body and core exercises can be done (albeit at a harder grade) on rings.

Ring Pushups: Adjust the rings so they are low to the floor. Place your feet on the floor, your hands in the rings, and do pushups. The lower to the floor the rings are, the harder it will be. If you perfect these, prop your feet up on a weight bench level with the rings.

Ring Pullup and Dips: Pullups and dips on rings. Make sure to not let your arms rest on the straps as you do dips. If you want to make the dips harder, let your body come in front of the rings and turn your hands out (see photo).

Ring Rollouts: Similar to rollouts done with a squat bar. Adjust the rings so they are just above the ground. Put your feet close to the rings and bend over to grasp the rings. Slowly move your hands and the rings away from you until you are stretched out and suspended by the rings. Then pull your body back to the starting position using only your core. An easier version of this is to start in a kneeling position instead of standing.

L-sits: Adjust the rings to just above your waist, and support yourself on the rings (as if you were at the top position of a dip). Then lift your legs up to the level of your waist.

Full and Half Levers: Adjust the rings to just above your head. Hang from the rings, and keeping your body rigid in a plank position, raise your body until it is parallel to the ground. An easier version is to bend one leg so your knee is up by your chest (half lever). Don’t let your butt sag!

The Iron Cross: Perhaps not as ski specific as the other exercises, this is a good one to impress your friends. Save it for off-season tomfoolery. Rated a B on the Olympic gymnastic exercise scale, the way to do this one is to start in the support position (the starting position for dips). Lower your body by moving your arms out to the side until your hands are almost level with your shoulders. Yikes!

Cody Doolan performing a ring dip

Cody Doolan in an L-sit

Katie Bono demonstrating the kneeling ring rollout.

Cody Doolan demonstrating ring pushups with elevated feet.

December 4, 2013