SKI WORKOUT
Ski exercises at home: a ski workout for legs, core and endurance
A ski workout builds three things: legs that hold load, a strong core and an endurance base. At home, the exercises for skiing are squats, lunges, wall sits and planks, plus two easy cardio sessions a week. The studies behind this come from ski racers. That the same exercises protect recreational skiers from injury is not proven.
What ski exercises should train
In ski racers, a run lasts 90 to 120 seconds and is made of repeated phases of high force, where the muscles hold or give way under load (Ferguson, 2010). Preparation splits into three focus areas: leg strength, core strength and endurance.
Seven of the eight sources below cover competitive skiers. The eighth interviews recreational skiers and tests no exercises. No study with recreational skiers backs the exercises on this page. They are our advice, drawn from training practice.
Legs: hold load and lower slowly
In ski racers, the thigh muscles work close to their maximum through a turn, mostly while lengthening under load, and the outside leg carries the main load (Berg and Eiken, 1999). In a 2026 study of national-level racers, of the three leg-strength measures tested, the force they could hold over time was the only one that predicted their giant slalom, super-G and downhill results (Chollet et al., 2026). The study compares skiers. It does not test training.
Exercises where you lower slowly and hold tension fit this: squats with a three-second lowering phase, lunges, step-downs from a low step and wall sits.
Core: a sensible part of preparation
In a 10-year look back at 370 young ski racers aged 14 to 19, those who tore an ACL tended to have weaker core strength (Raschner et al., 2012). A review of injury prevention in alpine ski racing counts 38 reported risk factors, and in ski racers only five of them have a proven direct link to injury, among them weak or unbalanced core strength (Spörri et al., 2017). For core strength, the review cites the Raschner study, so both lines rest on one study of young racers.
That link comes from observation. It does not show that core training prevents ACL tears. For racers, the same review names one prevention measure with a proven effect, and it is equipment: less-shaped, longer skis with a narrower profile. Core exercises are a sensible part of preparation. As protection for your knees, core training is not proven.
Endurance: the base
In ski racers on the Austrian World Cup team, aerobic power was the one measure strongly linked to World Cup ranking in the men (Neumayr et al., 2003). That is an association in a group of 28 men. A review of more than 30 years of research on ski racers names technique as the biggest influence on performance and states that a long season requires high capability in all physiological systems (Turnbull et al., 2009).
Our advice for home: two easy sessions a week, 30 to 45 minutes of running, cycling or rowing at a pace where you can still talk. For a harder session, do 4 x 4 minutes hard with 3 minutes easy between each. That is our advice. No study covers it for recreational skiers.
The exercise list for home
The table gives targets for two strength sessions a week. Start with two sets of each exercise and build to three over the weeks. These numbers are our advice. No study sets them.
| Exercise | Volume | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Squat, slow lowering | 3 x 10, 3 sec down | Legs |
| Reverse lunge | 3 x 8 per leg | Legs |
| Step-down from a step | 3 x 8 per leg | Legs |
| Wall sit | 3 x 30 to 60 sec | Legs |
| Plank | 3 x 30 to 45 sec | Core |
| Side plank | 3 x 20 to 30 sec per side | Core |
| Dead bug | 3 x 8 per side | Core |
| Bird dog | 3 x 8 per side | Core |
A ski workout at home, start to finish
This is our suggestion for putting the list together. It is not from a study and not from Complete's library. It takes about 35 minutes and needs no equipment.
Warm up for 5 minutes: march or jog on the spot, then 10 slow bodyweight squats and 5 lunges per leg. Then do the four leg exercises as a circuit: squats with slow lowering, reverse lunges, step-downs and the wall sit, with about 60 seconds of rest after the wall sit. Do two rounds in the first weeks and three later. Finish with the four core exercises, plank, side plank, dead bug and bird dog, one after the other, for two or three rounds.
End a set when your form slips, even before the number in the table. If your knees hurt in lunges or step-downs, use a lower step or a shorter stride. On the days between, do the easy endurance sessions from the section above.
To progress over six to eight weeks, change one thing at a time. First add the third round. Then lower more slowly in the squats, or hold the wall sit and the planks a little longer. Then add a backpack with a few books for the squats and lunges. In the last week before your trip, do one shorter session at the same effort and rest your legs for the last two days. This is our suggestion too, not a tested plan. If an exercise hurts, leave it out and do only the others that day. The easy endurance sessions between strength days still stay in your week.
A session from Complete's library
Single Leg Strength (single-leg-strength-day) is a session in Complete's library. It is not written for skiing. You train the legs one side at a time, with dumbbells and a sturdy step, for about 45 minutes. In ski racers, the outside leg carries the main load through a turn (Berg and Eiken, 1999). A one-leg session adds to the leg exercises above.
| Block | Exercise | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up | World's greatest stretch | 1 x 4 per side |
| Warm-up | Bulgarian split squat, bodyweight | 1 x 6 per side |
| Main | Bulgarian split squat | 2 x 8 per side |
| Main | Single-leg RDL | 2 x 8 per side |
| Accessory | Step-up | 2 x 10 per side |
| Finisher | Single-leg calf raise | 2 x 15 per side |
When to start and how often
No study covers this for recreational skiers. Our advice: start six to eight weeks before the trip, with two strength sessions and two easy endurance sessions a week and rest days between. If you have knee or back problems, talk through the exercises with a doctor or physiotherapist first.
Ski exercises and Complete
Complete starts from your long-term goals, not a plan, and your goals steer the recommendation for each day. Every workout that reaches Apple Health counts toward your score and the recommendation for each day, in any sport. That includes a home session your watch records and a ski day. Complete does not write ski training.
Frequently asked questions
What is a ski workout?
It is training before the ski season for legs, core and endurance. The term names no fixed method. Most ski workouts use squats, lunges, wall sits and core exercises.
What is a good ski workout at home?
Our suggestion is a 35-minute circuit of slow squats, reverse lunges, step-downs and wall sits, then planks, side planks, dead bugs and bird dogs, twice a week, plus two easy endurance sessions. The section above gives the order. No study tests this plan for recreational skiers.
How long before a ski trip should I start?
Our advice is six to eight weeks, with two strength sessions and two easy endurance sessions a week. No study covers this for recreational skiers.
Do I need equipment for ski exercises?
No. Squats, lunges, wall sits and planks work without equipment. Dumbbells and a sturdy step make one-leg exercises harder, as in the session above.
Do ski exercises prevent injuries?
That is not proven. In ski racers, weaker core strength went with ACL tears (Raschner et al., 2012), and a 2017 review of ski racing names race equipment, less-shaped and longer skis, as the one prevention measure with a proven effect (Spörri et al., 2017). Of 588 recreational skiers with an ACL tear, about 81 percent said their legs felt no fatigue or a trace of it at the moment of the accident, and the authors conclude that fatigue does not seem to be a major risk factor for these tears (Ruedl et al., 2015).
What do wall sits do for skiing?
A wall sit trains holding tension in the thighs over time. In racers, the leg force they could hold over time predicted their results (Chollet et al., 2026). Whether wall sits build that force in recreational skiers, the study does not show.
What matters more, strength or technique?
In ski racers, a review names technique as the biggest influence on performance and says that keeping it through a long season takes high capability in all physiological systems (Turnbull et al., 2009).
Does a ski workout count in Complete?
Yes. Every workout that reaches Apple Health counts toward your score and the recommendation for each day.
Related guides
Sources
- Berg and Eiken (1999), Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: Muscle control in elite alpine skiing checked 19 Oct 2026
- Chollet et al. (2026), Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports: Lower-Limb Strength in Alpine Skiing: Are Maximal, Explosive or Endurance Capacities More Important for Performance? checked 19 Oct 2026
- Ferguson (2010), Experimental Physiology: Limitations to performance during alpine skiing checked 19 Oct 2026
- Raschner et al. (2012), British Journal of Sports Medicine: The relationship between ACL injuries and physical fitness in young competitive ski racers: a 10-year longitudinal study checked 19 Oct 2026
- Spörri et al. (2017), Sports Medicine: How to Prevent Injuries in Alpine Ski Racing: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go from Here? checked 19 Oct 2026
- Ruedl et al. (2015), Sportverletzung Sportschaden: Impact of Self-Reported Fatigue on ACL Injuries in Alpine Skiing: A Sex Comparison (English title as listed in PubMed) checked 19 Oct 2026
- Neumayr et al. (2003), International Journal of Sports Medicine: Physical and physiological factors associated with success in professional alpine skiing checked 19 Oct 2026
- Turnbull et al. (2009), Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports: Physiology of alpine skiing checked 19 Oct 2026