Ski/Snowboarding
Conditioning
Program

 

Although often seen as leisure activities, skiing and snowboarding are highly demanding sports that place significant physical stress on the body.

A typical snowboarding session can last up to six hours with heart rates averaging 72% of maximum, while elite athletes require exceptional lower-body strength, explosive power, and endurance to withstand high forces and reduce injury risk.

Alpine skiing challenges athletes with fatigue that impacts physiology and biomechanics, and cross-country skiing pushes human endurance to its limits.

Injury risks also differ, with skiing more often linked to lower extremity injuries than snowboarding.

These demands highlight the need for structured training and conditioning programs tailored to each discipline.

Snowboarding

< Evidence-Based Practice >

  • Research on training for skiers and snowboarders emphasizes multidisciplinary approaches combining physical, technical, and mental components.
  • The International Ski Federation’s consensus statement provides comprehensive recommendations for training and testing competitive alpine and freestyle athletes (Spörri et al., 2025).
  • Strength training significantly improves performance metrics, with specialized protocols enhancing take-off speed and jump height in ski athletes (Liu et al., 2023).
  • Motor and mental training components, including simulation-based exercises and psychological resilience training, improve technical precision, coordination, and competitive performance across skiing disciplines (Marcyś et al., 2025).
  • Balance training shows particular effectiveness, with 8-week complex programs improving dynamic stability and reducing lower extremity asymmetries in young alpine skiers (Słomka et al., 2018).
  • For cross-country skiing, both strength training and ski-ergometer training produce similar physiological improvements, particularly in female athletes (Carlsson et al., 2017).
  • Special preparatory exercises significantly enhance physical qualities including strength, power, and endurance (Polevoy, 2024).
  • Evidence-based strength and conditioning programs are essential for freestyle snowboarding given increasing physical demands (Dann & Kelly, 2020), while Olympic-level training requires sophisticated periodization addressing sport-specific challenges (Gilgien et al., 2018).
Ski

< Exercises & Trainings >

        • Strengthening & Endurance
          • Squat
          • Romanian Deadlift
          • Lateral Step-Down
          • Jump Squat
          • Plank with Shoulder Tap
          • Russian Twist
          • Anti-Rotation Pull
          • Kettlebell Squat Hold
    •  
        • Balance & Coordination
          • BOSU Single-Leg Balance
          • Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
          • Lateral Hops over Line

< Reference >

  • Spörri, Jörg, Oriol Bonell Monsonís, Peter Balsiger, et al. “International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Consensus Statement on Training and Testing in Competitive Alpine and Freestyle Skiers and Snowboarders.” BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 11, no. 3 (2025): e002623. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2025-002623.
  • Liu, Shuo, Zhenzhong Liu, and Jin Wang. “STRENGTH TRAINING METHODS FOR SKIERS.” Revista Brasileira de Medicina Do Esporte 29 (2023): e2022_0654. https://doi.org/10.1590/1517-8692202329012022_0654.
  • Karol Marcyś, Wojciech Ługowski, Julia Samek, et al. “TYPES OF MOTOR AND MENTAL TRAINING AND THEIR IMPACT ON IMPROVING SKIERS’ SKILLS – A REVIEW ARTICLE.” International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science 2, no. 3(47) (2025). https://doi.org/10.31435/ijitss.3(47).2025.3409.
  • Słomka, Kajetan J., Michał Pawłowski, Justyna Michalska, Anna Kamieniarz, Anna Brachman, and Grzegorz Juras. “Effects of 8-Week Complex Balance Training in Young Alpine Skiers: A Pilot Study.” BioMed Research International 2018 (November 2018): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/6804534.
  • Carlsson, Tomas, Lars Wedholm, Johnny Nilsson, and Magnus Carlsson. “The Effects of Strength Training versus Ski-Ergometer Training on Double-Poling Capacity of Elite Junior Cross-Country Skiers.” European Journal of Applied Physiology 117, no. 8 (2017): 1523–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-017-3621-1.
  • G G, Polevoy. “The Use of Special Exercises in the Preparatory Period of Skiers.” Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science 23, no. 3 (2024): 818–25. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v23i3.75115.
  • Dann, Rick A., and Vincent Kelly. “Evidence-Based Strength and Conditioning Plan for Freestyle Snowboarding Athletes.” Strength & Conditioning Journal 43, no. 5 (2021): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000619.
  • Gilgien, Matthias, Robert Reid, Christian Raschner, Matej Supej, and Hans-Christer Holmberg. “The Training of Olympic Alpine Ski Racers.” Frontiers in Physiology 9 (December 2018): 1772. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.01772.