FITNESS FOCUS WITH...
Cara Brown
The former British Alpine ski racer encourages us to focus on fitness outside the box
Cara Brown, sporting a suitably 2020-appropriate face mask
Cara Brown has competed all over the world as a British Alpine Ski Racer for the past 10 years. She has represented Great Britain at World Championships, World Junior Championships, numerous World Cup and European Cup events as well as being five times British Ski Champion.
Cara hung up her race skis and retired from full-time competition earlier this year. As she says: “It wasn’t an easy decision but my mind and body were telling me it was the right time.” With a lifetime of skiing behind her, she hasn’t strayed far from the slopes and is currently coaching for the International Ski Racing Academy based in the Dolomites, which claims young alpine stars such as Alice Robinson amongst its athletes.
In addition to coaching, Cara set up an online ski workout program called VC Ski Fitness this summer with Vivian Fonseca, one of the UK’s top functional fitness trainers. As she explains: “The program is designed to boost your fitness levels before your ski holidays so you can ski harder, faster and for longer.” There are currently three levels of programs available, which cover technique, strength and unique skiing motor skills such as balance, coordination and agility. Get a taster of the VC Ski Fitness programs with the exclusive workout video at the bottom of this page, which Cara and Vivian created specifically for Ski Club Members.
Cara knows better than most what it takes to be at the top of your game: “The life of a professional ski racer may seem very glamorous but a huge amount of hard work and training goes on behind the scenes. I wanted to share some tips that I’ve learned through my life as a pro skier on how to exercise and build awareness of parts of your body you might not have really thought about in relation to skiing.”
Ankles, ankles and ankles
It’s a common mistake to think that you don’t need to work your ankles and calves due to the fact that they’re well supported by your ski boot when skiing. However, your ankle is not only the first joint to control your skis but also the first to make corrections and absorb impact while you’re skiing. Work your ankles really simply by standing on one leg, lifting your arms above your head, closing your eyes and challenging your balance.
Your calf muscles, which work in close alignment with your ankles, are also vital when it comes to protecting your knee joints, along with your quad and hamstring thigh muscles. Your calves can easily be exercised with calf raises on a step. Stand with just your toes and the ball of your foot on the step, let your heels drop down below the height of the step and then push up onto your tiptoes as high as you can go. You can hold onto something to help your balance or work your ankles and calves at the same time by not holding on at all!
Don’t forget your upper body
Even though you ski on your legs you can’t neglect your upper body! Your arms are vital in helping to control your balance. The reason instructors always focus on keeping your arms up and in front of you is because it pulls your weight forward - as soon as you drop your arms, your weight falls back and your balance suffers.
That said, holding your arms up in front of your all day can get pretty tiring on your shoulders. I therefore recommend adding some shoulder and chest presses to your home workout. You don’t need weights, just grab a ski pole or even a broom handle to use as your “bar”!
Skiing start to finish
Are you a keen runner or do you enjoy cardio? Have you ever noticed that no matter how strong your lungs are, your legs are still knackered by the end of a ski day? That’s because your muscle endurance in skiing is more important than your heart and lung endurance.
Get your body used to that intense burn by adding squat pulses, lunge pulses and glute bridge pulses to your workout. Rather than doing a traditional squat (sinking all the way down and all the way back up), stop at the half-way point on the way back up and go back down again, attempting to do one pulse per second. The average ski run lasts about a minute, so see if you can work your way up to a minute of pulses!