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With Coach Kennedy

We are well into winter at this point, and ski season is underway! Like every season, along with the enjoyment, also come the injuries.  Injuries can be the result of lack of muscular endurance, stability, mobility,  and body awareness to name a few.

One way to help prevent injuries and increase your performance:  practice and simulate the movements of skiing to help that skill transfer from dry land to the hills!

This leads me to the Movement of the Month:  THE COREFX Battle Rope 45-degree Moguls.

Moguls are a great exercise to challenge you in all planes of motion – frontal, sagittal and transverse – exactly what skiing requires. Moguls are also a great exercise to help with your lower and upper body endurance, anyone who has skied would know exactly what I’m talking about.

If you haven’t skied, just imagine setting yourself in about a quarter squat position, tall spine, shoulders retracted, elbows bent at about 90 degrees and holding onto battle ropes…which feel like they weigh a hundred pounds by the way, and if that isn’t enough (as you’ll see in the video) then you’ll be asked to become dynamic while creating  tight waves with the ropes. Not an easy feat! BUT, what a great exercise to simulate the skiing you’ll do on snow on dry land. I don’t think there is a better way to help prepare for skiing this winter then getting to know your battle ropes.

Here’s what the COREX 45 Degree Moguls will do for us:

  • It will work on intermuscular (think quads coordinating with calves and hamstrings, glutes etc.) and intramuscular coordination (think about the individual muscles having to coordinate within themselves).
  • It’s also great for transitional balance – the ability to stay balanced while moving into and out of different directions, like skiing.
  • They are also great for working on deceleration. Every little hump or unevenness on the terrain creates mini squats all the way down the hill, so your lower body is constantly adjusting to absorb forces. This requires a TON of muscular endurance! And transfers to day-to-day activities like walking, lunging forward and coming to sudden stops.
  • Lastly, it’s FUN and different, and people LOVE battle ropes! Enjoying exercise always helps to increase adherence to it.

Exercise Execution:

Begin in an athletic stance (feet about hip with apart, ¼ squat, CORE braced, shoulders set in their “set position” –  elevate, retract and pull straight down, your upper arm approximately in line with torso, elbows bent at about 90 degrees and with each hand holding onto the end of the battle ropes. Begin your quick, tight waves and then in that ¼ squat fixed position jump side to side at 45-degree angles while still maintaining the quick tight waves.

Exercise Protocol:

This movement works best based on time ranges from 10-30 seconds or rep ranges.

NOTE: One rep is completed when you’ve jumped from your starting position to the opposite side and then back to the starting position.

Apply the exercise based on your client’s fitness level.  In other words, regress and progress as required.

Questions? Contact Coach Kennedy at kennedy@coachkennedyonline.ca

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Coach Kennedy (Kennedy Lodato) is a 27-year veteran of the fitness industry with a thirst for knowledge and a passion for teaching and running his CK Mentorships, CK Private Coaching sessions, and Fitness Educator of LIVE education to the fitness industry.

Before pursuing the role of Fitness Educator, he occupied the positions of Personal Trainer, Sport Conditioning Coach, and Personal Training Manager. Kennedy is a three-time recipient of the canfitpro PRO TRAINER of the year award, co-founder of the CFEA (Canadian Fitness Education Alliance), and master instructor for various industry companies including canfitpro and EBFA Global (Evidence Based Fitness Academy). For more information visit  www.KennedyLodato.com