If you’re planning to swap your trainers for a pair of big moon boots and make a winter escape to beautiful snowy mountains this skiing season, then you might want to prepare your body before going. Whether you’re an advanced skier, snowboarder or a complete newbie chances are that you’re not using the same muscles in your daily London life, as you will be on the slope. Therefore, in order to avoid having to stop in muscle cramps every 5 minutes have a look at the following tips we’ve pulled together to assist you in your preparation.

Squat Not Spin

You might be thinking that constant spin classes will be your best bet to prepare big firm leg muscles that can resist any pressure when exposed to challenges on the mountain – but no. An important thing, when you’re training for a sport is to incorporate moves that simulates the movement you’ll be doing in the actual sport, so make sure you do, lunges, left right and center as well as squats before going. You’ll also want to build up your endurance so wall squats are great to get practicing. Yes, we know their not pleasant but you’ll thank us!

Walk Like A Penguin

Rubber resistance bands are great for strengthening your entire lower body. Place the band around your legs right above the ankles and carefully take little steps to the side keeping your legs super straight. Walk until you feel the burn in your booty and thighs and try to keep your upper body as still as possible. No swaying allowed! You may look a little bit like a penguin doing this, but the good thing is that you can also do this in the comfort of your living room if you’d rather not look like a penguin in public! No matter what it looks like though, you’ll be feeling these exercises on the side of your hips and effectively not only be prepared but also perfectly toned for your holiday. To progress, bring the band up to above your knees and get those squats going again! Of course, there’s also the TRX you can use for all sorts of exercises targeting your glutes, quads, calfs and lower abs, which are the most important muscle groups to focus on in our preparation.

Take Ski Prep Classes

There’s also the option of getting a little bit help with the toning and prepping. At Epoch Fitness in the Fitzrovia centre you can find a tailor made ski fitness program, designed to help you prep for your holiday on the slopes. This is a great place to go if you’ve never gone skiing before and you’re unsure about which muscles to train to be fully prepared for going away on your little adventure. Additionally Epoch Fitness also run reformer Pilates classes, so if you’re used to Pilates this will be a great step up in terms of intensity, and a straightforward way for you to tone up your body in the right areas so you have the strength you need for skiing or boarding. This is a sure way of reducing the risk of injury during your time on the slopes.

Hot Yoga On The Slopes

If you’re a hard-core yogi we have some exciting news from Hotpod Yoga! At Hotpod Yoga in Notting Hill, you will not only be able to do ski fit classes in London, you may even be able to find them near you in the alps. In Serre Chevalier, Hotpod is planning to provide ski prep as well as post ski yoga sessions to help strengthen and soothe aching limbs as you return from the mountain. We don’t know about you, but to us this sounds absolutely amazing to be able to come home aching from a day out in the cold and then slide straight into a warm gentle yoga session. Ahhhh.

Get On The Ice Rink

Our final tip for you is to connect with your inner child …Or maybe just put on your most beautiful ice blue leggings as you’d imagine Disney’s Elsa from Frozen would wear. Then make your way to Somerset House or take a trip to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and step into the ice rink. Ice skating will not only engaging many of the same muscle groups as when skiing it will also help your vital balancing skills! Not only this, it will also help acclimatize you to colder weather and hopefully get you all excited about being in the great ourdoors!

Have a nice time and be safe!

Words by Mai Copsoe, @ScandinavianEarthchild