How do you warm up before a set?

[Shakeski]

What is the best warm up before your ski-set?

[6balls]

I lower the boat lift, watch the other skiers stretch, maybe drive a set :)

[Shakeski]

Straight skiing I see.. haha. I'm thinking of trying to warm up with a short cycling ride to get my blood going before I head out for sets this year and wondering if anyone does the same (or something similar)

[Wish]

On the days I have hopped on the stationary bike and rode for 15mn or so have resulted in some to the best practice sets.

[The_MS]

Rooster walk, keroukie drills, some yoga moves, a few push ups, sidewinders and a bit of swimming if its hot out.

[markn]

Sometimes lift weights before skiing. If not, just put on my Mapple T-1 and go. Never stretch/warm-up before a run either.

[Shakeski]

What about pre set meals? I feel that is something that is extremely import as well... I feel like the bike would help my practice sets a lot, but I know before my long cycling rides; food is everything.

[6balls]

@shakeski you are on the upper fox...I'm not familiar with what's upper vs. lower, but my buddy is in Tower Lakes, skis buoys on Laurie's Quarry but boats on the Fox and skis recreationally with wife and kids there.

[ToddF]

I lay out on the sundeck for a few minutes, that usually warms me right up :)

[foxriverat]

@6 balls lower fox is south of algonquin. I ski the lower fox in St charles IL

[foxriverat]

North of dam in algonquin you can boat all the way up into the chain of lakes. South of algonquin dam are many dams and shallow non boatable areas. We have about a 5 mile stretch in St charles between dams with 2 courses.

[Shakeski]

@6balls I do ski on the upper Fox (which is north of the dam in Mchenry, IL). My parents live on the upper river which runs into the chain of lakes. There is a slalom course in Dutch Creek Bay (just before the chain) which is my parents back yard. Doesn't get much sweeter than that! It is actually a major reason why I navigated away from the wakeboard scene recently... well that and the fact that my knees are starting to feel the true impact from years of landings in the flats... :p

[Shakeski]

@foxriverat Where are the ski courses in relation to the Broken Oar and Kiefs Reef? Is that a dam further down river?

[RAWSki]

COFFEE!

[Razorskier1]

I warm up at 28 off.

[foxriverat]

@Shakeski yes a dam further south in the town of St charles. We can boat north of dam at rt64 for about 4 miles before it gets to shallow to make it to the next dam in South elgin. We have 2 courses we maintain.

[MattP]

@foxriverat great topic. I have brought this topic up before http://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/9695/warming-up-before-skiing

 

I tried harder this past year to do at least some stretching before I hit the water. I started back erging and lifting in the off season. I have about 10-15 active stretches that I do and then about 5 min of jump rope to get the blood moving. Then I will static stretch after my workout. I hope to continue this into the season.

[ALPJr]

Most sets - ight aerobic and stretch about 5 minutes before skiing. I like to be warm.

[Jody_Seal]

Roller tube and a bit of yoga/stretching, I remove the stern seat base step in my 200 and have a carpet that covers the entire area behind the engine box, nearly 70% of my skiing is out on the lake with out a dock and we start from the boat so having the increased area in the boat to stretch an warm up in is a bonus. I also like to take a quick swim before I ski.

[Shakeski]

All great stuff!

[bkreis]

40ish big arm swings in both directions, 40ish 1/4 r.o.m deadlift/hip extension w no weight, continual jumping around in circles, both directions, 20 each way with shoulders really relaxed, gets the joints ready to go

[schafer]

The heated seat in my truck on the way to the lake. But before tournaments if time allows a quick jog and some minor stretching

[alex38]

Wake up and loosen some joints, stretch some muscles, get a little blood flowing, 10 minutes.

[Chef23]

I usually roll out of bed and walk down to the lake and uncover the boat. If I have time I do some leg swings, squats and arm circles/windmills. Our ski site is out away from shore so there is no room to do more. I usually go right from the drivers seat to the platform. I do try to throw a handle over th pylon and lean against it.

 

At tournaments I will take a few more minutes to warm up but I don't change that much.

[TEL]

I am so excited, I haven't done anything before I ski. After reading everyone's post I should be running a new line length with a little bike riding, jogging and some light stretching. It's going to be a good year.

[Deanoski]

I load the Van drive to the boat storage hook up the boat drive to pond take off cover load boat Then im ready for my -28 warm up

[DmaxJC_ski]

Short light jog and major back stretches, I repeatedly bend the exact same direction 100's of times a day, and skiing works the muscles opposite of that , a couple years ago I learned that stretching is beneficial after a week off work and multiple trips to the massage therapist and the chiro..

[MrJones]

I am amazed at how little warm up I see for skiing. A bunch of guys, largely in their 30s-50s, going out to do a very physically taxing sport and they just hop in the water and go. Do you really ever see high school or collegiate athletes (with young flexible bodies) just roll up and start a football game. Not only from an injury standpoint, but you are going to spend all the money on skis, boat, travel, entry fees, etc. and not be absolutely warmed up and ready for you peak performance you actually hit the water???

 

Enough preaching. I try to do some light exercise to get my heart rate up. Jog, bike, etc. Then some dynamic whole body movement. Lunge walk, crossover running, "bird dog" exercises for the back, push ups.... It it's not too cold I like to swim as well. Really seems to lengthen out the lats and mid back. Plus it kind of wakes me up. What I don't do is enough static stretch for the hips and low back after I ski.

 

Oh. A cup of coffee as well if possible.

[Shakeski]

Again, great stuff here everyone! For me, I feel that I might add a lot more stretching before my sets as a result of this. Also add a foam roller to the mix. My goal is to be more awake for my sets and feel stronger/more into my passes.

[Chef23]

@MrJones I agree with you that not warming up isn't ideal. We aren't in an ideal situation however when we ski. We are away from shore and in a boat for the duration of our skiing. When we have 3-4 skiers if I warm up at home and am the 4th skier up it can be up to an hour before I get on the water. By that time any warm up I have done has gone away. That leaves space to do some leg swings, squats, arm circles and jump up and down a bit.

 

I think it was Will Asher that said he doesn't warm up that is what 32 off is for. It is a reason that I start at the line lengths I do. It gives me a couple of passes to get warm and get my body sorted before getting to tough passes.

[ozski]

-28 is my warm up....

[Chef23]

@Shakeski regarding food I don't think that what you eat is as critical for a ski set as it is for the bike because a ski set is a short intense activity not a long activity like a bike ride. I don't like to be full when I ski. When we ski in the morning I actually don't eat. If I am at a tournament I tend to graze on protein and fruit during the day to keep some fuel in me without getting full.

[Shakeski]

@Chef23 that makes a lot of sense. I never thought about this stuff as much when I was wakeboarding all the time, but I can see and feel how different skiing is. I never like doing anything full, but I also want to make sure I don't bonk at any point.

[JohnCox]

I will probably have to start stretching soon, but I've always used my opening pass as the stretch... As for food, I generally treat it like I do a workout. I eat a meal about an hour before if at all possible, and try to take something in within an hour after.

[lpskier]

I ski just south of the a Canadian border. I warm up with a down parka, touk, gloves, heated seat, boat heater on high and the hot shower. Sometimes I'll loosen up brushing the snow off the boat or shoveling the dock. I'll also do a five gallon press from the platform to the gunnel. If desperate, I'll also do the " icantbelieveitssofuckingcold" dance in the stern of the boat whilst changing out of the above apparel and into board shorts, PFD and no top while saying "Man, what a beautiful morning!."

[SM]

@lpskier ......and that's in July!

[Texas6]

I have a pull-up bar at my dock and I generally start warming up by hanging from the bar and lightly swinging using my shoulders to move move my entire body - then I'll do 5-10 slow pull ups and hang at the bottom of each one....I will usually do some leg swings, 20 pushups and 20 squats just to get the blood moving and then I go ski

[JAG]

Sometimes lift weights before skiing. If not, just put on my Mapple T-1 and go. Never stretch/warm-up before a run either.

 

Markn, why should you not stretch or warm up before a set? Just wondering.

 

thanks,

 

RPG

[BrennanKMN]

By hooking up the trailer and driving to the lake. :blush:

 

I probably should start doing some stretches or a quick jog before I hit the water. My first few passes are usually pretty much a warm up though.

[slvrbulit]

I do a 12 ounce curl.

 

 

[dchristman]

I like to warm up with some tricks... eventually. First day of Spring ... yipee!

 

[The_MS]

I thought that it was the Dos Equis guy there for a second.

[dchristman]

Stay thirsty, my friends.

[MichaelGoodman]

A while back I read a article I think in was in Mens Journal. It was major study that involved

the Australian army and there was about 10,000 test subjects on each side, half warmed up

before workouts and half just went in cold. I think the test covered about a 6 month period. The

bottom line was the ones that did not warm up had the same rate of injury as the group that did warm up.

[The_MS]

I read that.

[oldjeep]

Put me in the never warm up category - except maybe for downhill ski racing, I usually ski before racing because I'm there anyways so I guess that is a sort of warmup. For any sort of running races, waterskiing, biking, etc - just get on and go. Never could get in the habit of going for a warm up jog before a track/cc race in high school. Most of the course skiing I do is early AM before work, so it is drink coffee in the truck - hop out of the truck and go.

[Texas6]

@MichaelGoodman ; the warm up for me is as much about being ready to ski, having my body, muscles, and mind prepared to perform as it is injury prevention. Had the Australian study tested to see who runs a better 100 yard dash, those that just got out of a car seat or those who activated their muscles prior, I bet the results would have been different

[MichaelGoodman]

Thats why I always try to start at a line length that should be a given that becomes my warm up.

[Shakeski]

Seems to be a solid mix of people who have a set routine and a solid group who just go ski! For me, coming over to the buoy chasers side is something new as of last season. I have been wakeboarding for 18 years or so (I'm 24 now) and very rarely did I ever do much of a warm up before a wake set. I noticed very quickly the difference in intensity with skiing and feel that for me, I am going to really look to get some form of solid stretching/warm up before hitting the course this year.