Imagine putting an Indy car engine into a compact car and not adjusting the brakes. That’s what it’s like when you transition from one sport to another without proper strength training. All summer and fall, you paddled down rivers. You hiked over uneven terrain, bagging a few peaks. You mountain biked along rugged trails or shot across smooth pavement on a road bike. You feel strong. 

But the reality is that the series of muscles required for snow sports, like snowboarding or cross-country skiing, are not always identical to those used in the summer and fall. And, your brain hasn’t yet recalibrated itself to snow-related movement. How to retool?

Bill Knowles, director of iSport Training at the Killington Medical Clinic in Vermont, recommends against isolating specific muscle groups. Instead, this certified athletic trainer who works with elite ski racers and snowboarders advocates a strength training regimen that revolves around movement, not muscle. When you’re headed down a ski slope, your brain does not compartmentalize what particular muscle is being used from one movement to the next. Rather, it cues in on the fluidity of an entire motion.

“You have to train movement patterns,” Knowles says. The following exercises will help to sync your body to the season.

ALPINE “From a training perspective, hiking up and down hills is good strength building for downhill skiing,” says Knowles. “But downhill is better than uphill.” Downhill skiing involves resisting gravity and fighting centripetal force, he explains. And walking downhill mimics that. 

To get back into the downhill groove, Knowles suggests mimicking these motions on the trail. “Do small agility steps, quick-action foot touches on a zigzag during a light jog,” he says. “What you’re doing is working on the quickness of your feet and building power.”

To maximize this exercise, do it in short bursts 15 to 30 times. Do 20 to 30 seconds on a downhill followed by a one-minute walk. “If you spent the summer biking, you spent a lot of time pushing down with your legs,” notes Knowles. “Skiing is more about resist, resist, resist. That’s where this exercise come in.” The timing of the exercise is designed to resemble running a ski hill.

CROSS-COUNTRY “Cross-country skiers are often very aerobic-minded people,” observes Knowles. “They have a tendency to like running, biking, and roller skiing in the off season.” However, cross-country skiing involves more upper body work, particularly in the shoulders and back, than many other snow sports. To compensate, Knowles suggests getting in a few fall kayaking, canoeing, or rowing sessions to work the upper body. 

For the lower extremities, his top recommendation involves forward diagonal bounding on an uphill slope. “Take large steps, both left and right,” he says. “Try to clear at least 3 or 4 feet with each step.” This motion should be fairly explosive, he says, and your arms should mimic the on-snow movement of cross-country skiing. Take a one-minute break between 10 to 12 strides.

TELEMARK The motion that is perhaps most significant to a telemark skier is getting low. “This is really, really important,” says Knowles. It’s what provides the greatest leverage to a skier while turning on a slope. As a result, he suggests forward lunge walking. Take a forward lunge step. Stand up. Move forward. Do it again. He suggests three sets of 12 lunges, with a two-minute rest in between. Start on a level surface to maintain control. Then add gravitational resistance by attempting it on a slope.

SNOWBOARD “With snowboarding, you’re locked in,” says Knowles. “So you need to do activities related to balance and increasing hip strength.” To simulate the wide range of motion your hips undergo while on the board, start by lying on your back. Bend your knees at a 90-degree angle and raise your legs so your calves are parallel to the ground. Press your feet against a picnic table or desk and lift your hips off the ground. “This teaches your hamstrings how to deal with the tension that will be applied to them while snowboarding,” Knowles says. It may also reduce the risk of knee injury.