Squats! Ice Climber vs Skier
Squats are the best - it’s a compound exercise that has performance crossover to a ton of sports. The challenge is figuring out which squat is best for you and your sport. Today we will go over how two different sports benefit from different techniques and program design.
First let’s take a look at the squat mechanics during each activity.
The Ice Climbing Squat
As ice gets more vertical it dictates how you have to squat. Shins stay vertical during the squat (or else your knees bash into ice), butt goes out, and you need to have the shoulder mobility to do this with an arm overhead. Important characteristics include:
Low velocity and low eccentric force
Different stance widths
Ankles must be dorsiflexed to engage secondary points
Femur rarely goes below parallel in squat depth
Hips finish in at end range extension (close to the wall)
The Skier Squat
A skier will spend a lot of time with their knees over their toes in the deepest portion of their turn. Important characteristics:
Moderate-high velocity and moderate-high eccentric and isometric forces
Adequate leg endurance will help manage these forces
Ground force reaction forces are outside the skiers centre of gravity during a turn (see image)
Skier usually does not go into full extension at the hips and knees when linking turns
Hips are alternating between internal and external rotation when linking turns
Let’s apply the information now - Training Recommendations at home or in the gym
Ice Climber
Focus on technique first before adding a lot of load or velocity to your squat
Build technique by sitting back to a box, or squat in front of a wall to mimic how you need to squat on steep ice
Finish every rep in full hip extension - my favorite cue for this is pretend you are trying to crack a walnut between your butt cheeks at the top of the squat
Squatting below parallel is great if you have the mobility for it, but not a requirement for the sport
Unless you are struggling with your technique, squats probably don’t need to be trained as frequently compared to a skier
Skier
Include eccentric tempos in your training. Try using a 2-5 second tempo on the lowering phase of the exercise. Keep in mind the slower eccentric tempos and longer holds will create more fatigue and require lighter loads
Include isometric holds in your training. Try using a 2-10 second holds at ‘ski specific’ depths. Keep in mind the holds will create more fatigue and require lighter loads
Your squat technique should have your knees go over your toes like it would during a ski turn
Use other lower body exercises to mimic the ground forces a skier experiences during a turn. The landmine ‘edge’ lunge does a much better job of this (see photo)
Unless you are hucking big jumps, you probably don’t need a bunch of plyometrics in your program. I suggest focusing on a few plyometrics where you can stick the landing with control and precision every rep
A skier will benefit from a higher volume of squats in their program because of the higher demands of the lower body compared to an ice climber
Bonus Queston: What if you want to train for both sports?
Train both types of squats! The ice climber squat won’t hurt the skier squat and vice versa. You can treat them as two different exercises in your program. Once you can do both types of squats with quality technique, I would spend more lower body training volume on the skiing training because of the greater demands of the sport.
References
Vaverka, Frantisek & Jandova, Sona & Elfmark, Milan. (2012). Kinetic Analysis of Ski Turns Based on Measured Ground Reaction Forces. Journal of applied biomechanics. 28. 41-7. 10.1123/jab.28.1.41.