Fitness and skiing as you age

At some point just being born athletic and not being fat won't cut it anymore

I have always been fairly athletic. Not the most gifted athlete in my high school class but decent. I’ve had spurts of working out and getting in decent shape but those were always the exceptions. I like being in shape and like so many others I have always lacked the discipline to work out on a regular basis. Twenty years ago this wasn’t much of a problem. But slowly the story started to change. My weight went from 190 to 200, to 210 to 220 and this spring peaked at 232. In the past I was on the 1st chair to to last chair and one the fastest “regular” skiers on the hill. (This excluded of course big time skiers who used or still do race.) In my 20’s I became a certified ski instructor and with some career success even went helicopter skiing a couple times skiing in the fast group.

But this past season the reality of being 64 (now 65) and not working hard at being in shape bit me. I have an artificial knee after a life time of various sports and abusing my knees, but that wasn’t the problem. I was too heavy and my muscles were not up to the task.

I went on two different trips this past season, each a few weeks long. After the first trip I returned with groin muscles very sore. So sore that getting up and down from the toilet became a challenge. Even walking and tying my shoe was not good. But hey, I’m a tough guy. Give it a few weeks or a month and I will be good to go for trip number two, right?

Muscles felt a little better, not great, by the time I went on trip number two. But the groin didn’t get better, it got worse. Half days of skiing, days off from skiing…what the hell?

So I limped home and decided the answer was personal training with a set schedule and the expertise of a professional. If I am paying for the time I will show up and work out! Stop buying cookies and potato chips, don’t eat until you are full. I dropped 10 pounds but the groin soreness was not improving and maybe even getting worse.

I went looking for the silver bullet. Maybe the pain is from a hernia or a tumor where a little surgery will be the magic answer? So I got the doctor referral and had a CT scan. No hernia, no tumor. Shit, no silver bullet.

Almost in tears now the pain and stiffness was so bad I chatted with the personal trainer and said I need a new approach. What about physical therapy? He referred to a physical therapist and that is where I have been the last three months. The groin is markedly better but still not where it needs to be.

So what have I learned? What can I pass along to my friends who want to ski steep powder in their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s?

1. You must work out 6 times or more per week. Some days weight/muscle work and some days cardio. If you don’t and then go ski hard you will damage something like I did.

2. If something on your body isn’t working right, is sore, restricted or weak go see a physical therapist (PT). These folks really work magic. Once I “graduate” from PT and get back to a personal trainer I will still visit PT occasionally to get a check up.

3. Don’t work out in isolation. Get coaching of some type, occasional or regular. They will see where you are weak and insure you are doing the exercises correctly.

4. If your body is not responding make a change of some type. Get a new coach in your corner. Winter and life in general on this planet is too short to not ski at your physical best. (Day to day life improves considerably as well.)

5. Read Younger Next Year. “Turn back your biological clock.” Authors are Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge. It is time for me to re-read it and give my motivation a jump start. Click the link to read about it. You may not buy it but you won’t regret reading about it.