For the past four ski seasons, Americans have broken attendance records at resorts across the U.S., with the last season racking up 61.5 million skier visits. If you were among them, you’re familiar with the feeling of exhausted quads after a day on the slopes. But how good of a workout is skiing, really?
Only a handful of high-quality studies have examined the sport’s fitness benefits for the casual skier. Experts don’t even agree whether a day of easy, recreational skiing counts as a workout.
Some point out that skiing combines strength work (like isometric holds and eccentric movements) with cardiovascular sprints, almost like an extended HIIT workout.
“It’s a tremendous workout,” added Lyndsay Meyer, a professional skier and ski trainer with Aspen Skiing Company in Colorado. “The next day, people are always tired.”
Studies suggest that a half day of skiing — about two and a half hours including chairlift time — can have similar benefits to, say, an hour of cycling in the gym, said Dr. Martin Burtscher, a sports science professor at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.
The median age of skiers is also going up, and other small studies suggest the sport can have benefits for older exercisers by addressing muscle loss and improving balance. (Of course, to prevent injuries, all skiers need to build strength in their legs, hips and core well before the season.)
Other experts are skeptical of the cardiovascular benefits for recreational skiers, especially when the slopes are crowded. Mary Katherine “MK” Drury, a personal trainer and owner at HIIT Performance Training in Vermont, suggested that an easy ski run is more comparable to a series of Pilates movements.
“You don’t see a lot of people out there heaving, you know, trying to catch their breath,” she said.
Trainers and scientists do agree that to get a good workout, you have to be intentional. Here are their top tips to maximize a day on the slopes if fitness is your goal.
Do the entire run without stopping.
On a casual group ski trip, you’re often pausing to chat and take a breather. There’s nothing wrong with this, but “I would struggle to call it a workout,” Ms. Drury said.
Skiers wanting to get their heart rate up and strengthen their lower body should try each run without stopping, regardless of trail difficulty, she said. Planning a route that connects several runs farther down the mountain is even better, since it will keep your heart rate elevated and your muscles engaged longer.
Of course, you can’t control lifts and lines, but ideally aim for a one-to-four work-to-rest ratio, said Keith Diaz, an exercise physiologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. A moderate ski run might take about five minutes, leaving you 20 minutes to get back up the mountain.
Turn a lot.
Turns continuously engage your core, quads, glutes and stabilizer muscles while also ramping up cardiovascular work. Quick turns provide the “best bang for your buck,” especially on easier terrain, said Tom Gellie, a ski coach based in Sydney and founder of Big Picture Skiing.
“It’s like being on a trampoline,” he added.
For more experienced skiers, Mr. Gellie recommended taking the run at 60 turns per minute. Imagine you’re skiing moguls or even try singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (which has a tempo of roughly 60 beats per minute) to yourself, making a turn on each syllable.
When getting rentals, ask for shorter skis, which are more conducive to quick turns.
Choose a run that challenges you.
You can get a workout on any run, experts said, but the type of terrain will challenge your body in different ways. Attempting a difficult run or an ungroomed one is more likely to build strength, balance, agility and power, whereas easier ones (with plenty of turns and few stops) are more like endurance training, Ms. Meyer said.
But just because a ski run is technically harder doesn’t always mean it’s a better workout, especially if you aren’t an expert. Stopping more on challenging runs cuts into exercise time, Ms. Drury said.
On the other hand, repeatedly skiing the same easy routes soon becomes less of a workout. Ms. Meyer encourages skiers to tackle harder runs as they become more comfortable, in the same way they might progressively overload weights.
“It’s going to challenge more muscles, stability, balance. It’s going to throw more problems at your body to try to overcome,” she said.
Just be sure to pick runs you feel confident you can get down safely to avoid accidents and injuries.
Skiers can also opt for easier ungroomed runs for a more dynamic workout, Mr. Gellie added. Moguls, for example, require you to drop into a “mini squat” every time you go over a bump, and force you to work harder to stay balanced.
The same tips apply to experts, said Mr. Gellie. He recently returned from a ski trip to Austria where he estimated one day he did more than 600 turns in two hours. “I’m pretty fit, but my legs were ruined,” he said.
Currie Engel is a freelance journalist based in London.
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