The Ski Blog

The Coolboard Workout - part 5

So this is the fifth and final part of our Coolboard series. This part gives you the final 3 exercises for your Coolboard routine. You can view the whole workout by visiting our Snow Fitness page.

The winter season is well underway and by now many people have already had their first snow fix. Clearly with the current economic gloom there may not be much cash around so making sure that you're fit and tuned up for the snow is more important than ever, and then you can get the most from that hard earned lift pass!

Plus having your own Coolboard means you can fit in a few exercises when it suits you. If you haven't got your Coolboard yet then head over to www.coolboard.co.uk to check out the options. Exercises have been devised by Adam Powell of Powell Fitness.

Coolboard Crunches:
Place the Coolboard on the floor and put the ball under one side like the Tilt Squats.
From here sit yourself down at the bottom of the Coolboard then lean back onto it.
This is your start position with your knees bent and feet on the floor, look to get a 90 degree angle at your knees. From here contract your abdominal muscles and either crunch or sit up. Return to the start position and repeat.

Again look for a maximum of 20 reps and 3 sets.

Advanced Option:
To make this exercise harder assume the start position then slowly lean and push the deck so it is of the floor and balancing on the ball. From here start your crunches and sit ups and to make it even more advanced straighten one leg and lift it off the floor.

 

Coolboard Rocker:

Place the CoolBoard on the floor with the ball beneath it.
Get your hands on the board and grip each side. Take one foot out behind you then the other as though you were going to do a press up.

This exercise is quite advanced so even holding this position for 30 seconds can be advanced for some people.

Now you just start to push one hand/side down towards the floor and pull the other up towards you. Keep you abs switched on and don’t let your lower back arch or have your bum up in the air to much!  This will stress your back.

Repeat this either for reps or a period of time e.g. 30 seconds.

Advanced Option:

As well as pushing one side down towards the floor you can roll the Coolboard to one side then repeat towards the other side so the board is making a figure of eight movement. Be careful of grazing your knuckles on the floor! Again repeat for reps of a period of time. Personally I prefer to run this for a certain amount of time.

Coolboard Dips:
Place the CoolBoard on the floor with the ball beneath it.
Sit on top of the Coolboard with your hands gripping the ends in a similar position to the Rocker. From here take your feet away from you so your knees are approximately at 70 degrees.

Now transfer your weight into your arms and slowly lift your bum off and forward of the Coolboard. Next you slowly lower down until your bum is just off the floor and you back is around 1 or 2 inches away from the edge of the Coolboard.

Push up focusing on using the back of your arms (triceps). Don’t let your legs take over. You will be surprised how much they assist this exercise.

Aim to do a max of 20 reps and 3 sets.

Advanced Option:
To increase the difficulty of this exercise straighten your legs. This means your legs cannot assist and places a lot more emphasis on the triceps. Trust me you will feel the difference. And for more advanced options try with one foot of the floor!

If you would like to know more about CoolBoard, click here, http://www.coolboard.co.uk, and if you would like to arrange a training session with Adam, call 07917 765372 or visit http://www.powellfitness.co.uk . Adam can train you in person at home or at his Fitness Studio if you’re local, or arrange a long distance training program.

Skiing in Austria? Get your personal holiday ski lines!

If you're skiing in the Austrian Ski Welt area this winter the purchase of a lift pass will now give you access to a lot more than just the lifts.

Skiline is a new service which allows you to see where you skied, for how long, how many kilometres you covered and how many vertical metres you travelled.

All you need to do is go to the www.skiline.cc, enter the code on your lift pass, and hey presto you can view a line graph of your day - with all the lifts you used, the downhill distance and lift distance covered, and the total vertical metres you've done.

It might seem a bit geeky but when you're back at work on Monday morning, you can spend a few minutes looking back at your previous week - looking at the highs and lows, and reliving the moment! You can also register with Skiline and you will then have access to your personal ski diary - where all your skilines will be viewable, along with webcam images of each skiing day. You might also find at the end of the season that you are in the Top 100 of skiers who have covered the most mileage.

It is also hoped that more services will be added in the future - including mobile phone updates letting you know how big the queues are at various lifts!

The Ski Welt is Austria's largest interconnected ski area and includes Ellmau, Sheffau and Westendorf

 

Big snowstorms on the way for the Alps and Pyrenees

Many alpine resorts have enjoyed a good dump of fresh snow this week - and the prospects for the week ahead are exciting. Some areas are expecting a metre or more of snow to fall over Friday and Saturday, and yet more snow is expected for the early part of next week. Great news if you're heading out to the mountains soon!

Fresh snow brings the anticipation of powder days and off piste exploring. With fat skis and snowboards it is much easier now for the less experienced and less informed to venture into terrain that was previously reserved for mountain experts.

Have you ever been tempted to duck under the rope because you've seen others doing it? Or watched from a cable car as a small group sped through a sheer, sparkling powder field below and thought you'd like to try it? How often have you gone "just off-piste" - just a few metres beyond the boundary to see what it's like?

For many expert skiers, and snowboarders, the joy of getting first tracks is true nirvana. However the less experienced will not be aware of the risks involved - not just from injury but from the mountain itself.

The Perils of Powder:

With heavy snowfall comes increased avalanche risk. Piste safety patrols will be watching the weekend's weather very closely - the amount of snow that falls is just one of the factors they have to take into account.

Temperatures will dictate whether the snow that falls is wet and heavy or dry and light. Snowfall  accompanied by strong winds will produce wind stripped and wind loaded slopes, where snow will have been blown off one to the other, transforming the ice crystals on the way. These factors and many more will determine how well the fresh snow layer will bond with what's already there. Neither does the avalanche risk disappear when the snow stops falling.

All ski resorts will publish the avalanche risk for the day - in Europe this is usually graded on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is the lowest risk and 5 the highest. Always be aware of the avalanche risk for the day if you're heading off piste.

Top Tips for the Off-Piste:

Henry's Avalanche Talk is a group of ski professionals, instructors and off-piste guides who have been helping keen skiers and boarders to discover the off-piste for over fifteen years. Based mainly in Val d'Isere during the winter season, the team gives weekly talks on avalanche awareness and how to have fun off- piste and stay safe.

As well as talks they also provide on-snow training including how to use a tranceiver, where to go, when to go, what to look out for, slope selection and loads more useful advice.

The website also provides lots of free information, including a weekly ezine which covers snow reports on off piste conditions in some key French resorts. You can also sign up for a free introductory pdf file which gives some basic pointers for safety and risk management.

"Our mission is to help all people to have fun and be safe" says Henry. Included in the top tips are some of the basic rules, such as never skiing directly above other skiers, or always skiing a slope one at a time so as not to overload it. These rules are considered common sense, but many newbies are completely ignorant of even the most fundamental precautions.

Play it Safe:

Henry's top 3 safety tips are:

1. Never go alone: If anything happens, there is a good chance no-one will discover you. Pistes are busy with people and even when they are quiet, they are patrolled. In the off-piste, there is no patrol and you might be the only person there. So this is one of the few absolutes in off-piste skiing: never means never.

2. Know what you don't know and take a guide: If you're at all unsure about how safe an area is it is it's worth booking a professional to show you the way.

3. Have the right kit - and know how to use it: The right kit includes a shovel, tranceiver and a probe. Make sure you know how they work and of course that all the people in your group have the same equipment and can use it. 

The mountains provide a fantastic playground - that's why we love them. The adrenaline, the views, the great outdoors, the wilderness, the vin chaud - whatever your reasons - make sure you ski or snowboard safely, so you can get the most from one of nature's most spectacular environments.

For more information on Henry's Avalanche Talks, training, ezines and newletters please click here.

The Coolboard Workout - part 4

Here are two more exercises in our Coolboard workout series. In total we will be bringing you eleven exercises to practise on your Coolboard to give you a good all body routine.

If you haven't got your Coolboard yet then head over to www.coolboard.co.uk to check out the options. Exercises have been devised by Adam Powell of Powell Fitness.

Coolboard Burpees:

Place the Coolboard on the floor without the ball beneath it.
Standing on top of the Coolboard jump back and down into a press up position with your hands on the grip tape section of the Coolboard and feet behind you on the floor. From this position stand up with your arms to the ceiling and aim to get your feet onto the Coolboard.

As with previous exercises precision and technique is important. Aim to repeat for maximum of 20 reps and 3 sets or look to do as many as you can for a set period of time e.g. 60 seconds.

 

Advanced Option:

As soon as your feet land on the Coolboard instead of standing up you jump up high as you can, land into squat then repeat the burpees action.

Coolboard Foot Tap Squats

Place the Coolboard on the floor without the ball underneath.
Take the ball in your hands do a squat and twist the ball down towards one foot. Touch the ball down onto one foot or as far as you can go with good form and technique. Ensure you don’t let your knees twist to allow you to touch the ball to your foot. Return to the start position then repeat on the other side.

You might find one side easier than the other but that is common and will improve with practice. Aim to do a maximum of 20 reps and 3 sets.

Advanced Option:

You can do this with the ball under the CoolBoard. Rather than holding the ball in your hands just keep your hands together and slowly repeat the action. It will be alot harder to get all the way down and touch your feet so go as far as you feel comfortable.

If you would like to know more about CoolBoard, click here, http://www.coolboard.co.uk, and if you would like to arrange a training session with Adam, call 07917 765372 or visit http://www.powellfitness.co.uk . Adam can train you in person at home or at his Fitness Studio if you’re local, or arrange a long distance training program.

Skier Cross World Cup underway...

If you've been on a ski holiday in Les Contamines last week or in Flaine this week, you might have noticed large numbers of cat-suited racers skiing around - and generally a bit of a buzz about town as the TV crews rolled in.

Both resorts have just played host to the latest stages of the Skier Cross World Cup - the newest Olympic discipline, which comes under the umbrella of freestyle skiing. Four skiers are let out of the gates simultaneously onto a course of high speed jumps, banked turns, and other assorted obstacles.

Since 5th January, until Sunday, 19th January, the first four Freestyle FIS World Cup ski cross events are being held in three nations on two continents. Over half of the points in the ski cross World Cup are up for grabs in early January. These competitions will also be used to qualify for the 2009 Inawashiro FIS Freestyle World Championships and also as part of the qualification for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. In 2010, this exciting and risky sports discipline will for the first time be an Olympic discipline at the Winter Games in Vancouver.

If you're in a resort where you can see one of these events it's definitely worth taking some time out to see the racers come down and feel the adrenaline rush - the courses require both technical and tactical skiing, and this relatively new discipline has attracted some big names from other areas of the sport - such as Daron Rahlves, former World Cup downhill champion, who has competed in three Winter Olympics.

The competition now moves to North America, with events in Lake Placid, USA, and Cypress in Canada. It returns to Europe in February. For the full calendar take a look at the FIS site.

Get fit for the snow - Coolboard exercises part 3

So how's it going with that fitness routine?

New Year is usually the time when people start thinking about their waistlines and fitness. It's the time when diet and fitness books fly off the shelves as everyone wants to lose the extra pounds gained over Christmas. This year, with most of us being credit crunched, gym memberships could be one of those "luxuries" to fall by the wayside - so the Coolboard can be a great home fitness tool. Take a look at some of the Coolboard benefits, and you'll see that when used correctly it can be far more than a simple balance tool.

Ok so here's the next set of exercises in the Coolboard snow fitness programme. Exercises have been devised by Adam Powell of Powell Fitness.

4. Single leg balance. (Ski specific):
Turn the board length ways and place your foot in the centre of the Coolboard. Do this exercise next to a solid object you can hold yourself up with e.g. wall, staircase etc.

If the Coolboard is under your left foot slowly transfer your weight into your left leg and lift your right foot off the floor. Just staying on the Coolboard for a short period of time will fatigue your leg and try to work up to doing it without holding onto an object or stabilising yourself against the wall.

Aim for increasing your time holding the balance.

   

 

Advanced option: Single leg balance progressing to squats. This exercise is very advanced so take care and go slow!

5. Board hop over:
Turn the Coolboard lengthways and place it on the floor without the ball. Stand to one side of the Coolboard with your feet together. Now bend your knees into a half squat position then jump up and over the Coolboard landing in the same position on the other side.

Make sure when you land you flex your knees to soak up the impact and to protect your knees and back.

The key to this exercise is to be precise on landing, spring up using your calves staying on your toes and keep your knees flexed slightly at all times and keep your feet together, imagine someone has wrapped tape around your legs.

Aim for a smooth transition over the Coolboard and come straight back so no stopping at each side. Progression can be either reps or time. 

If you would like to know more about CoolBoard, click here, http://www.coolboard.co.uk, and if you would like to arrange a training session with Adam, call 07917 765372 or visit http://www.powellfitness.co.uk . Adam can train you in person at home or at his Fitness Studio if you’re local, or arrange a long distance training program.

Kylie in Chamonix!

It's hot news - much loved pop diva Kylie Minogue saw in 2009 in style on a snowboard break in Chamonix.

Chamonix has long been regarded as the birthplace of mountain sports, and one of the coolest places on the planet for serious mountain lovers, but until now has not really attracted the celebrity glitterati, who have tended to favour more glamorous destinations such as Courchevel 1850 and Klosters.

But we always knew that Kylie was cool, so what better place to take your new squeeze snowboarding. Kylie was celebrating the New Year with her new beau in No Escape, in the centre of town. More pictures and the full story is in this week's Hello magazine.

easyJet's ski lifts!

As previously mentioned easyJet have announced their "biggest ski lift" - with cheap flights on sale to major ski airports such as Geneva, Grenoble, Innsbruck and Salzburg, to name just a few. For full details take a look at: http://www.easyjet.com/en/book/our_biggest_ski_lift.html

With credit crunching and the strong euro making an impact on many British holidaymakers, the cheap flights are welcome news. Plus there are still many places with availability and great snow. January has always been one of the best months to ski - with quiet pistes and good conditions. For bargains, special offers and promotions take a look at the Chalets Direct Promotions area.

New Year sales on air fares!

Ryanair is offering a million seats for sale at £15 each across its network in an aim to cut winter fares overall by as much as 20 per cent. The latest seat sale is on until Monday 5th Jan, and includes routes from the UK to popular ski airports including Grenoble, Turin and Carcasonne. 

And according to officials at the airline, easyJet will also be publishing its seat sale in the coming week.

This move by low-cost carriers follows the fare war started by British Airways and Virgin last week, when they slashed prices on some of their flights by as much as 25 per cent.

A spokesman for Ryanair, Stephen McNamara, noted that the carrier appreciated the impact that the recession was having on air passengers and was looking forward to a battle over fares. “Let’s hope there is a price war,” McNamara added.

Earlier in December, industry body IATA warned that aviation is up against its worst environment in decades largely due to an erosion of consumer confidence. As increasing numbers of consumers choose to not travel abroad in 2009, the recession is expected to impact carrier sales.

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quotes.

Get fit for the snow - Coolboard exercises part 2

So with Christmas over and 2009 underway it's time to get serious about that fitness programme. Remember way back in 2008 we told you about the Coolboard? Well it's a great piece of kit for skiers and snowboarders, plus it's fun, it's portable and just a few minutes a day can help improve your balance skills, core strength and get those muscles fired up for the slopes. Part 1 of the Coolboard programme gave you the basic standing balance exercise and tilt squats. Part 2 shows you lunges and calf raises. Exercises have been devised by Adam Powell of Powell Fitness.

Lunges: The Lunge is a great exercise that works all of the muscles in the legs and hips and will benefit both skiers and snowboarders. Set up is the same as the Tilt Squats.

Place one foot in the middle of the Coolboard and the other behind you. Make sure that both feet are pointing forwards.

Keep your weight evenly between heel and toe, keep your shoulders level looking forward all the time. Focus on dropping your back knee straight down. Your front knee will automatically bend and check that it doesn’t track over your toe line.

Your back heel should be off the floor when doing the lunge.

Remember the lower you go the greater the effort required, keep your core muscles fired up and ensure good form for every repetition.

Aim for a maximum of 20 reps each leg and 3 sets. Progression is from 1 set of 10 reps upwards. Also look to do pulses and holds at various angles looking to increase your time each session.

Advanced option: The dynamic lunge is where you jump and switch legs before landing. This requires 100% commitment and good co-ordination. It will also get your heart racing. Aim for a period of time rather than reps eg. 30 seconds, 60 seconds, hardcore is 2 minutes plus.

  

 

Calf Raises: The calf raise helps strengthen the lower leg whilst working on the stabiliser muscles around the ankle. Even though ski and snowboard boots are very supportive it is still important to train the whole leg and not just focus on the thigh muscles. Set up is the same as the Tilt Squats.

Place both feet on the Coolboard with your heels just touching the floor. If your balance isn’t great you can do this exercise near a wall or table so you can help steady yourself.

Keeping your legs straight and keeping your knees straight lift your heels up and imagine you are trying to pull your heels towards your calf muscles.
Aim for a maximum of 20 reps and 3 sets. Progression is from 1 set of 10 reps upwards. Also look to do pulses to add variety.

Advanced option Single leg calf raise places more emphasis on one leg. Tuck your foot behind the heel of one leg and focus on raising up and down on just one leg. This really loads up the muscles of the lower leg and into the stabiliser muscles around the ankle and really taxes your balance. You should find you will tire a lot sooner.

If you would like to know more about CoolBoard, click here, http://www.coolboard.co.uk, and if you would like to arrange a training session with Adam, call 07917 765372 or visit http://www.powellfitness.co.uk . Adam can train you in person at home or at his Fitness Studio if you’re local, or arrange a long distance training program.