It’s 8:30 in the morning, and you’re getting ready to head out skiing for the day. First, you start by picking up a grab-and-go breakfast burrito on the way to the mountain. When you arrive in the parking lot, you hop out of your car, chug the last sips of your coffee, boot up, buckle your helmet, and walk to the lift line. Sounds like you’re 100% ready to ski, right?
Clearly, this isn’t how you would prep for a day at the gym or any other sort of physical activity, so why is it so common to think that jumping out of the car and getting dressed would be enough to send it down Stein’s Way on your first run? This isn’t how the pros warm up, and it doesn’t have to be how you do either. An adequate warm-up for skiing can help prime your body temperature, metabolism, and neuromuscular system so that you can start your first few runs feeling ready to go rather than sluggish and sore.
The good news is that a pre-skiing warm-up doesn’t have to be anything fancy or require any special equipment. It can be done quickly and easily in the parking lot, the lodge, or even at home. Here, I’ve outlined some tips and tricks I learned from a combination of working as a PT for professional skiers and research-backed techniques to optimize your skiing from the first run.
Three primary mechanisms in which warming up helps your body perform its best:
Increasing Body Temperature
Skiing in cold environments puts your muscles at a disadvantage before you even take your first turn. Cold temperatures reduce muscle elasticity, increase stiffness, and slow reaction times, all of which negatively affect your performance when moving at high speeds over variable terrain.
A dynamic warm-up helps elevate your muscle temperature. This improves circulation, muscle function, and tissue extensibility. Studies show that warm muscles perform better and are less prone to injury. Even just five minutes of light aerobic movement (like jogging or jumping jacks) can help get the blood flowing and increase your muscle temperature enough to improve performance.
Luckily for skiers, combining that active warm-up with passive heat (such as heated pants or sitting in a warm car right after your home prep) helps retain the benefits of warming up while getting your gear on or waiting in line at the lift.
Kickstarting Your Metabolism
Your body doesn’t just need warmth; it also needs fuel. When you do a warm-up, as your heart rate elevates, your body increases oxygen uptake, ramping up anaerobic metabolism. This process essentially opens the metabolic gates and prepares your muscles to use energy more efficiently during your first few turns.
That matters a lot in skiing, which combines short bursts of power (think: moguls, carving, jumping) with sustained muscular effort.
Without a warm-up, your body is more likely to rely on inefficient energy pathways during your first few runs, which can lead to faster fatigue and decreased performance. Worst of all, these negative effects of starting off cold are amplified in winter conditions, where your system is already under relative stress from the environmental temperature.
Neuromuscular Adaptations
Neuromuscular adaptation refers to how your brain and muscles communicate. Warming up improves this connection by activating motor units (groups of muscle fibers controlled by a single nerve), improving balance, coordination, and reaction time.
In alpine skiing, neuromuscular priming helps you react faster and maintain better control of your skis. Research shows that a warm-up that includes dynamic movements, plyometrics, and reaction time practice leads to increased muscle activation and power output, which is exactly what you want heading into your first run.
Start at Home: Mobility and Muscle Activation
Before leaving the house, you can start with a little bit of mobility and muscle activation work. I recommend using a mini loop resistance band (like these) to get the posterior chain working before you click into your bindings.
Start off with some easy floor mobility work to get your joints moving:
- Cat Cows
- Thread the Needle
- Side Plank Dips
- Low Trunk Rotations
- Down Dogs to Child's Pose
Then, progress into a little bit of muscle activation work for your glutes, hamstrings and quads:
- Mini band glute bridges
- Side Plank Clamshells
- Squats with the band above your knees
- Side-stepping with the band at your ankles
- Squat Jumps
- Lateral bounds
With all of these, make sure that you're moving in and out of positions gradually at an even tempo (not too fast to get ballistic movements but not too slow as this can reduce muscle elasticity prior to exercise). Spend about 45-60 seconds in each exercise. These movements help wake up key skiing muscles like the glutes, hamstrings, and core. Using a resistance band adds just enough stimulus to activate stabilizer muscles without fatiguing you before you even get to the hill.
Parking Lot Warm-Up:
Once you're at the mountain, take 5–10 minutes to go through this no-equipment warm-up. Do it right next to your car or in the lodge before booting up:
1. Bodyweight Squats – 1 set of 20
2. Reverse Lunges – 1 set of 10 per leg
3. Side Lunges – 1 set of 8-12 per side
4. Side Plank Dips (on car door or bumper) – 2 sets of 10 per side
5. Tuck Jumps – 1-2 sets of 5-10 reps
What If You Have Joint Issues?
If your joints don’t love impact, you can modify the warm-up to include low-impact mobility and balance work. Swap jumps for isometric squat holds, runners step-ups, or band-resisted single-leg balance drills.
Your First Run Shouldn’t Feel Like a Wake-Up Call
Whether you’re chasing powder in Little Cottonwood or cruising groomers at Deer Valley, how you feel on your first few runs sets the tone for the day. A simple warm-up helps improve performance and makes skiing more fun right from the start.
You don’t need to do anything fancy. Just give your body a heads-up that you're about to ask it to perform, and it’ll thank you later.
References
-
Bishop D. Warm up II: performance changes following active warm up and how to structure the warm up. Sports Med. 2003;33(7):483-98. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200333070-00002. PMID: 12762825.
-
McGawley K, Spencer M, Olofsson A, Andersson EP. Comparing Active, Passive, and Combined Warm-Ups Among Junior Alpine Skiers in -7°C. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2021 Aug 1;16(8):1140–1147. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2020-0300. Epub 2021 Feb 14. PMID: 33588374.
-
McGowan CJ, Pyne DB, Thompson KG, Rattray B. Warm-Up Strategies for Sport and Exercise: Mechanisms and Applications. Sports Med. 2015 Nov;45(11):1523-46. doi: 10.1007/s40279-015-0376-x. PMID: 26400696.
-
Wang Z, Cai Y, Wu J, Xie S, Jiao W. Relationship between Lower Extremity Fitness Levels and Injury Risk among Recreational Alpine Skiers: A Prospective Cohort Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 22;19(16):10430. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191610430. PMID: 36012065; PMCID: PMC9408581.
Medical Disclaimer
This blog post is intended for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or a qualified health provider before beginning any new exercise program, especially if you have any pre-existing health conditions or injuries.
