Guest Author - Joe Collvins

Ski season is coming! Now is the time to start getting your body into shape, so you enjoy the ski season to its full potential.

Knees
Probably the most important thing to take care of for skiing is your knees, The stresses on your knees can approach 100Gs or more of gravity. Do exercises like squats that build up your leg muscles and help improve your knee's flexibility. Be sure to wear proper knee protection - once a knee is injured, it can always be succeptable to stress problems.

Hamstrings
Your hamstring strength is critical to carry you down the slopes, around corners and through swerves. Do hamstring curls or other hamstring exercises.

Hands
If you ski with poles, your hands can often need to yank out a pole that is stuck, or resist a twisting by a caught pole. Work on hand strength with a squeeze ball or other hand-strenghtening device.

Aerobic Exercise
Skiing takes a lot of energy and endurance. Make sure that you build that up before you get on the slopes. Whether it's mountain biking, jogging, tennis or other forms of exercise, get your body into shape so it can last all day on the slopes.