I know it’s not necessarily like this in many parts of the country, but here in Colorado when fall begins peeking around the corner it means ski season is nearly here.

Skiing can be deceptively tough sport, physically, so it’s important to be in good shape when you hit the slopes.  If you don’t already have a good workout routine, now is the ideal time to start one so you can be ready to make the most of your visits to the mountains.

So where to start?  As with pretty much any sport my basic recommendation is to have a well rounded plan together that uses weight lifting, aerobic exercise, and stretching.  For skiing specifically I recommend giving an above average emphasis to your legs and aerobic training.

In your weight lifting routine, be sure to include leg specific exercises such as squats, lunges, leg press, leg extensions, and leg curls.  These will strengthen your leg muscles so they can better handle the beating they take.  Better yet, if you have a BOSU or some other balance training equipment, incorporate those exercises as well to get all your stabilizer muscles trained.

Your aerobic training is critical.  Skiing is primarily a cardiovascular sport, so the better trained you are to handle this type of exercise, the better.  If you can run, you should be doing that at least 2-3 times per week, 30-60 minutes per run.  If you can’t run, then skiing may be out for you as well.  Start easy and work your way up to longer and faster runs by adding 5 minutes and/or a quarter mile to your run each time you go out.

Stretching is far too often overlooked in many routines, but may be one of your best ways of avoiding injury.  If you fall while skiing, the more limber your tendons, ligaments, and muscles are, the more likely they will be able to avoid getting torn.  Stretching before and after skiing will also help reduce the amount of time it takes your body to heal and be ready for the next day on the slopes.

If you’re like most people there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you want.  One of the first things to go when people are pressed for time is their exercise, because a lot of times getting to the gym and getting in a worthwhile workout can take 1-2 hours.

It doesn’t have to be that way.  Supersets to the rescue!

What is a superset?  While it sounds like some complex training technique that should be left to your favorite Olympic athlete, they’re in fact very simple and can be done by anyone.  A superset is no more than one set of a weight lifting exercise followed immediately by another different one.  No rest in between, or at least the rest should be as minimal as the time it takes to switch exercises.  After both sets have been completed, rest for about a minute or less and jump right back in to the first exercise again.

Supersets can be done a number of ways, but I’ll only cover what I feel are the 2 most useful as far as shaving time off your workout:  Exercises that are using either opposing or unrelated muscle groups.

Opposing Muscle Group Superset:   Here, you choose two exercises that work opposing muscle groups.  Why is this beneficial?  Because unlike unrelated muscle groups the two will always be close together, keeping the increased blood flow caused by the exercise to remain in a specific area of the body.  This increased blood flow delivers nutrients and oxygen to the muscles being worked.

Opposing muscle groups would include chest/back, biceps/triceps, or quadriceps/hamstrings.  An example of this type of superset would be doing one set of bench press (for your chest) followed immediately by a set of pull ups (for your back).

Unrelated Muscle Group Superset:  By choosing two unrelated exercises you can still accomplish a lot at one time, even for groups that don’t really have opposing muscles.  For example, your calf muscles don’t really have an opposing muscle group so you could superset an abdominal exercise.

An example would be to do calf raises with abdominal crunches.  Neither muscle group is worn out by the set done with the other group, so they’re still fresh for getting in a good set.

Try this simple superset routine the next time you visit the gym, and see if you don’t get in a great full body workout in less than 30 minutes:

• 3 sets of bench presses with 3 sets of pull ups (or pull downs)
• 3 sets of squats (or lunges) with 3 sets dumbbell shoulder presses
• 3 sets bicycle kicks (for your abdominals) with 3 sets calf raises

Just remember, warm up on an exercise bike for 5 minutes first, and be sure to do each set until you get within 1 or 2 reps of failure.

Just about everyone understands that obesity is a problem in the United States.  This ‘epidemic’ is no longer just a problem for the adult population, as we have known for some time that more and more young kids are now battling the bulge as well.  We shouldn’t really be too surprised, though, because kids will often follow their parents lead.

What we should be surprised about, however, is the latest recommendations that children as young as 2 years old be screened for high cholesterol.  Yep, wean ‘em and then get ‘em on statin drugs.  Why wait? 

Does anyone else smell something stinky here?  Not the aforementioned 2 year old’s diaper, something much worse.  Imagine how much more of a market you would have if kids could now take statin drugs.  Imagine your joy at this if you were a drug rep for a company that produced statin drugs…

But I digress.  First, be aware that cholesterol is not some evil thing lurking in your arteries hoping to do you in.  Cholesterol is an important and essential component of every single cell in your body!  Some authorities go so far as to say that cholesterol has been wrongly vilified when it comes to heart disease.  In addition, statin drugs have many of their own dangers, and have never really been shown to increase the lifespan of people with high cholesterol.

Here’s what I prescribe for the rotund youngster:  kick them out the door for the day with a plate full of fresh fruits and veggies.  Being outside and active and eating unprocessed foods is what these kids need, not a dose of prescription medication.  And while you’re at it, take a dose of this for yourself.  It may save you a copay AND your life.