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With summer officially behind us and the cool season starting to take over all we can think about at Alpinistas is getting ready for our most favorite time of the year and the super fun activities that it brings. Snowboarding! Splitboarding! Winter Mountaineering! (And backcountry skiing for you shred sisters out there!)

Nobody enjoys missing out on those early season powder days due to spaghetti legs.

While sitting in the lodge sipping hot chocolate is still fantastic, the best best bet to be strong on the slopes is to start incorporating some sport-specific training to your usual workout plan.

First of all, nothing beats a healthy dose of year-round outdoor mountain activities. Cross training with other sports like mountain biking or hiking keeps your mountain lungs breathing in that thin air and remembering what elevation activity feels like. This will help prevent you from the dreaded lung burn after six months sipping mai-tais at sea level!

MLa

Hopefully, you already have a solid exercise regimen that includes strength training and cardio. Strength training is integral to all sorts of mountain sports, especially skiing, snowboarding and backcountry travel. Not to mention, all of the other amazing off-mountain benefits of weight bearing exercise and cardio building endorphins.

So yeah, you’re already squared away on your fitness game so what else can you do to bring it to the next level?

Snowboarding, skiing, mountaineering and skinning all demand excellent aerobic capacity as well as aerobic endurance in the legs, but that’s not all. While your usual repertoire for leg day (squats, deadlifts, lunges) focuses on the concentric or push movement of muscle work, the same attention should be placed on the negative or eccentric part of the movement.

Eccentric movement is the lowering part of a move or the lengthening of the muscle. Muscle fibers are actually stronger when moving eccentrically. This often ignored part of exercise routines has a whole host of benefits in addition to increased hypertrophy (build muscle) and increased concentric power. Alpine sports consist of a large amount of eccentric action. Eccentric training is key to handle the tuck hold on the downhills, the low squat riding over chunky snow, holding that long toe edge on the cat track and even hiking down steep hills.

Here Is A Six Week Plan To Incorporate Eccentric Leg Sessions Into Your Normal Training Plan.

Just note, eccentric training causes more muscle damage than concentric training so get ready for some ouchy ouchy the day after. This is a key time to build in rest and recovery nutrition!

Alpinistas ELT Training Plan

Alpinistas Eccentric Training

ELT Workout Woman

If you can make it through these twelve progressive sessions, I am positive that you are going to head into this winter season just stomping your shred game!

As always, you should consult your physician or other health care professional before starting this or any other fitness program to determine if it is right for your needs.