Couch To Cornice Home Exercises With Rachel Croft

"Winter is here, and if your legs still aren't feeling quite up to the challenge of charging down the mountain all day long, here are a few last-minute ways to build those essential skiing muscles without dealing with a gym membership.

Dynamic Warm-Up

Start with some easy, slow movements with an element of stretching to loosen up your muscles, like leg swings for hamstrings, walking lunges for hip flexors, squats for groins, and knee hugs for glutes. Avoid holding any stretch for longer than a few seconds as static stretching decreases the power output from your muscles for about 30 minutes.

Strength and Stability

The first three exercises should be done very slowly to maximize leg burn! Do 3 sets of 15 on each leg.

Balance Dead Lift

Stand on one leg on a pillow (or other unstable surface) with a slight bend in your knee and a weight in your opposite hand. Hinge forward at the waist, keeping your spine in line with your unweighted leg. Return to starting position.

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Balance Split Squat with Twist

Stand on one leg on a pillow with the other leg behind you on a couch or coffee table. Hold a weight in front of your chest, sink down into a lunge, taking care that your knee doesn't pass in front of your big toe. Rotate your torso so the weight passes above your front leg. Return to starting position.

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Eccentric Step Down

Holding a weight, climb onto a chair, stool, or table. Use one leg to slowly lower yourself back to the floor.

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Endurance and Agility

The last three exercises should be done as quickly as possible while still maintaining good form. Do as many as possible in one minute, then rest for one minute. Repeat two more times.

Skate Jumps

Holding a weight, jump sideways for distance off of one foot onto the other, landing in a low skating stance. Jump from there back to the other leg, again absorbing into a low stance.
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Squat jumps

Lower into a squat, keeping your weight back so your knees don't pass in front of your big toes. Jump into the air, making sure that your hips and knees are fully extended, and land back down in a squat.

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Cool Down and Stretch

Walk a few slow laps up and down the stairs or around the room. Be sure to stretch your glutes, hamstrings, quads, hip flexors, groin, and calves, and foam roller your IT bands.

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Protein

Make sure you consume at least 25g of protein within 30 min of completing your workout. Eat a chicken breast, make your favorite protein shake, or try throwing the following ingredients into the blender to make my favorite smoothie:

1/2 c. pasteurized egg whites

1/3 c. plain Greek yogurt

1 T. peanut butter

1/2 frozen banana

1-2 handfuls frozen strawberries, blueberries, and kale

Disclaimer: Please see a doctor before starting any workout program to determine what exercises are appropriate for you."

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Follow Rachel on Instagram: @croftraider16