preventing the most probable ski injuries

[Platinum Pete]

What are the most probable season ending ski injuries? According to Gimp Central it looks like knee tendons, shoulders, and neck/back.
What are the best exercises to do to ward off such injuries?
Should I bee doing squats, lunges, military press, or what? Specific stretches?
I'm no PT, MD, PhD, or LDS so you tell me.
Knees:
Shoulders:
Back/Neck:

Should most of the work be in the weight room, or swimming/running/biking/yoga, or what?

I know there's the annual "what are you doing to get ready for the season?" thread, but I am looking for specific catastrophic injury prevention exercises beyond the general cardio and stretching. What do you know?

[lemon boy]

holy shit dude, you better be offering some serious shizzle to the god of jinx (Halle Berry) b/c a thread like this is just asking to get hurt.
[knocks wood for even posting here]

there is nothing you can do (other than not ski) to prevent a season ending injury.

[FrankZappa]

I suggest finding the Fountain of Youth, drinking heartily and enjoy. Everybody (at least older folks) knows re-coop time is only a few weeks max when you're young.

[Mofro261]

Strut.

Practice it. Learn it. Live it.

Once you get The Strut down nothin' can touch you.

[GoldMember]

I'm sorry but I've got to disagree with the distinguished gentleman from Alco-Hall of Fame (there is nothing you can do (other than not ski) to prevent a season ending injury.). Muscle development and stretching can definitely aid in preventing injuries from skiing. For one thing, more strength can help in pulling out of situations where you otherwise could wreck big and get hurt.

I've skied for 40 years and, short of breaking a bone in my hand when I was 16, have never had any serious injuries of any kind (except for when....well....an incident with a ski tail nearly planting itself up my ass....long story). My pre-season, pre-season being pretty much year-round, activities include biking, running, tons of walking, and weight training in the fall and winter for the upper body. The biking is good for building the quads which help the knees and the upper body weights are concentrated mostly on shoulders, biceps, and triceps. I also do a lot of sit-ups for core strength. During the season, I try to stretch my lower body and back for flexibility. That's my plan that seems to work pretty well. The other part of avoiding injuries is not doing things that get you hurt. But that's kind of not as much fun.

[Oarhead]

Core exercises will help stability so that you don't get into sticky situations in the first place. The exerise ball is your friend. All of those little muscles make a serious difference.

Use a wobble board to develop ankle and knee stability as well as better balance. Throw a tennis ball against the wall if you are alone or a medicine ball with a partner while standing on an exercise ball or wobble board. It helped me a lot last year.

[Barnballs]

tons of walking

as in more than usual?

[GoldMember]

as in more than usual?

I walked 154 rounds of golf last year, carrying my bag on hilly courses. I also hike around up by my house quite a bit.

[hutash]

Drink heavily before skiing....it may not prevent injuries, but can make them less painful.

[stupendous man]

Also drink heavily after skiing. and try to get laid.

[buckethead]

yes must agree with GM.
think in terms of the weak links in your chain of bones, muscles, tendons, joints.
strong and flexible muscles, will indeed protect your tendons and joints...and will allow you to pull out of hairy situations.
i tweaked my back two seasons ago - basically, in the backseat in heavy snow - doing some heavy lifting to prevent my skis from coming out from under me. i of course tried to ski a few more days on it and made things much worse. finally went to a sports doc...first thing he noticed was that i appeared to be in pretty good shape - except for my core muscle group. a strong gut will protect the back - mine wasn't keeping up - and help keep the whole body centered, so i pay attention to that area (though not enough), as well as the muscles around my knees, which take a beating as i spend a lot of my time in the bumps.
you can do a google search for ski fitness and likely get some helpful links.
here's a couple:
http://www.skiingmag.com/skiing/be_s...560853,00.html
http://www.back.com/articles-exercis...rstabilization

[MeatPuppet]

I kind of started thinking about the same thing a month or two ago and have been adjusting my workout routine.

Exercises I have added/increased:

High weight leg extensions: Works the quads which help stabilize the knee.

Low weight(60-70lbs)/high rep(100+) squats while standing on a bosu ball: Strengthens the core as well as all the normal benfits from squats. Last week I started holding two 25lb weights over my head while doing the squats on the bosu ball. That was much more demanding than useing the bar. I think I'll be holding the weights over my head from now on.

Medium/high weight, 10-15 rep, very slow good mornings: Great for the lower back/spinal erectors. I normally do very slow reps; 5 sec down, 5 sec back up= 1 rep. You have to be really carefull with this exercise. It's very easy to rupture a disc if not done properly.

[buckethead]

...yes, and safety meetings are important too.
safety first!

[leroy jenkins]

I think that the most probably ski injury by far is a concussion. I mean, who hasn't gotten like twelve right?

So a good helmet is a must.

Also, buy some padded shorts. I'm still not sure whether a back protector actually does any real good, but padded shorts definitly absorb a lot of impact when you go down. For some reason people seem to fall onto thier hips a lot, I've had more than a few falls that really should have hurt a lot more than they did thanks to hip pads.


EDIT: Forgot to say CORE STRENGTH BITCHES,

one of the best things you can do is improve core strength, oh, and for the rest of your body, I think flexibility is way more important than just strength.

[GoldMember]

I think it's also a good idea to wear a bright hunter-orange safety vest with matching helmet so that you're easily seen by others on the run.

[Buster Highmen]

The most probable ski injury is a thumb sprain.

[GoldMember]

The most probable ski injury is a thumb sprain.

True. Masturbating furiously is a good exercise for thumb muscle development.

[hutash]

Also drink heavily after skiing. and try to get laid.

Do STDs count as ski injuries?

[Buster Highmen]

True. Masturbating furiously is a good exercise for thumb muscle development.

Didja hafta go and get all overt about it? Geez, you people have no touch.

[FrankZappa]

I am looking for specific catastrophic injury prevention exercises beyond the general cardio and stretching. What do you know?

I'm pretty sure thats what the infamous "White Ribbon of Death" is good for.

Have to agree about the thumb bashing thing. - Damn rocks that hide under an inch of snow

[Spats]

there is nothing you can do (other than not ski) to prevent a season ending injury.

You can decrease the odds by not cranking your bindings up to a bajillion because you're hardcore. Learn to ski with them set lower than you usually ski -- if you're regularly putting that much torque on your knee, you need to improve your form.

I skied Las Lenas at 6.75 DIN. (On Looks.)

Use Looks. You can get away with a lower total DIN because of the elastic travel. I prereleased S900s at 8.25, but never prereleased P10s at 6.75.

Stay strong. Weekend warrior syndrome hurts a lot of people...you can't stay in condition by exercising once every couple weeks. Do at least a little bit (15-20 minutes) of cardio every day, and if you cycle a lot, make sure you do some hamstring work also.

Be a bit cautious. If you see that the slope below you is choppy sun-warmed ACL-grabbing mank, know this and adjust accordingly.

Sometimes it's best not to try and save it. Just let yourself eat it. (This only works if your bindings aren't set at a bajillion.)

[GoldMember]

^^^ "and if you cycle a lot, make sure you do some hamstring work also."

That's where the running helps. Also, especially if you're road cycling, the pedal stroke should have nearly as much up-pull as down-push in the full stroke.

[Buster Highmen]

...have nearly as much up-pull as down-push in the full stroke.

OK. Enough already. Geeeeez....

[GoldMember]

^^^ And just where did your mind's imagination take you this time.....

[MOHSHSIHd]

I have come to the realization that I WILL get hurt sooner or later.....flipping off clifs its only a matter of time before I fuck up....