Foundation Movement Mechanics with Train2Ski
Written by
Turner Moyse Programmer and Co Founder of Train 2 Ski
Stephanie China Co Founder of Train 2 Ski and Ex ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Instagram @train2ski
Train 2 Ski is an online program designed by Turner Moyse and Stephanie China. We are based in Revelstoke BC we own a gym CrossFit Revelstoke and own and run Train 2 Ski. This is a training program delivered 3 times per week to your phone by app to get you ready for the mountains.
If you want to ski stronger, ski for longer and reduce the risk of injury learn these two movements.
We start everyone in our gym with the Air Squat.
The Air Squat is a basic body weight squat no added weight needed, If you haven’t mastered the Air Squat then this is the start before any other exercises. Classically people who step into our gym have their feet at hip width and when they start to squat they hinge. They seem to perform a movement that doesn’t replicate any squatting movement in their life.
To rectify this:
– Stand with feet at shoulder width
– Push hips back and down.
– Drive Knees out
This immediately gets them from stabilising through the knees to Stabilising through the hips by engaging their Glutes.
Our first Barbell movement is the Deadlift.
This movement is fundamental to a healthy back and a strong posterior chain and essential to skiing, meaning that if you master it you will not only save yourself from injury during your everyday life but also you will increase your athletic potential on the slopes.
We start this movement by hinging at the hips. Most people wanting to lower down to the ground will squat first to engage this movement and it is our most common fault that we have to address.
If you squat first any object you are holding at waist height will have to go around your knees. We need lower while clearing the obstacle of your knees, this is one of the reasons why we hinge.
By hinging at the hips – allowing your hips to push back and shoulders to move forward -we can get you into a position where your hands are beneath your knees. Then we can squat down.
This means that we engage the Back, Glutes, Hamstrings and Quads. If we just lower we not only have and obstacle in our way to clear (the knees) but also we are not recruiting all the muscles we have at our disposal and we aren’t moving in the optimum way for performance.
Why are these important?
There is a reason that high level Powerlifters wherever they are around the world move in the same way. Regardless of whichever language they are coached in, this is the optimum Human anatomical way to move the heaviest object in the safest way.
The other reason we start by teaching the Deadlift is it is the Foundation movement to learn all of the Olympic lifts.
It is the start to developing a good movement pattern that can then be transferred into the Clean and Jerk and the Snatch. The two most explosive movements enabling you to build the biggest amount of Power and Strength.
Next week we will talk about Power and Plyometrics.
This is Part 2 of a blog series by Train2Ski. Read Part 1 introducing Train2Ski here, or continue to Part 3 on Power here.
