Chest Exercises for Skiing

Working out with chest exercises for skking might not seem the obvious thing to do, but the strength you'll gain in your pecs and upper chest will help you maintain body control through long days of skiing or snowboarding.

With most winter sports injuries occurring as a result of fatigue, it makes sense to work on your chest exercises and strength and endurance before you hit the slopes, and ignoring an area as large as your chest will put you at a disadvantage.

The most popular chest exercise is bench press, and with good justification. It works all the muscles in the area, and when performed properly, will dramatically increase the strength of the pectoral muscles.

Bench Press with Barbell

Bench press can be performed in a whole variety of ways - with a barbell, dumbbells, using cable, or on a machine. You can also choose whether to use a flat bench, or work on an incline or decline. You can even perform some exercises on an exercise ball.

Basic flat bench using a barbell is still the most effective all around exercise for this area - three sets of 10-12 reps will build the muscular endurance you need.

Bench Press with Dumbbells

An excellent alternative, the dumbbells expose any inequalities in your strength from one side to the other - they also engage a host of smaller, peripheral muscles, leading to better development.

If you are using dumbbells, you can also perform flyes - these are a good complement to regular bench press. Be sure to keep your arms slightly bent throughout the movement, and don't lower your arms too far.

In Summary

For further variation in your workouts, you can also experiment with bench position - doing these exercises with an inclined bench will develop your upper pecs more, while a decline bench will help to develop the lower pecs.

With those chest exercises in the bag, see our fitness programs for some ideas on how to workout.

By Will Smith