Bullet-Proof Knees

By Suzanne Nottingham
The key to your knees is to train for strength, support, and balance.

Every skier and snowboarder has heard it more than once in their life: "Bend your knees." That's particularly good advice for tense beginners or intermediates who look rigid. But what appears to be "knee bend" in experienced skiers and riders is actually a kind of functional relaxation, something that becomes a habit in all good athletes because of one important fact: Relaxing the knees facilitates balance.

Below are four exercises to develop knee strength, balance, and quickness using apparatus found in most gyms. Add them to your usual strength exercises before and during ski season. In preparation for winter, don't ignore aerobic conditioning (try cycling or in-line skating) or the flexibility provided by stretching.

• Fitness Ball Leg Curles: Lie on your back with the ball under the calves. Roll the ball toward your heels while lifting the pelvis; knees will bend. Keep your feet aligned with the hips. Try one to three sets of 12 repetitions.
  Focus: to strengthen the hamstrings (one of the most under-conditioned muscle groups) and body core. Your hamstrings are responsible for stabilizing the knee joints if they strain their range of safe movement (about 3-5 degrees laterally).
• Lunges On A Wobble Board: Stand with your feet hips' width apart and step one foot forward onto the wobble board so that the weight is on the heel. Lower and raise your center of mass (hips), keeping the weight evenly distributed between the heel of the front foot and the ball of the back foot while your upper body is upright. Lowering and raising your hips several times on a wobble board is challenging. So, first try one set of 12 repetitions on each side on the ground. Then go for one set of 8-12 on both sides on the board.
  Focus: strengthens the lower back, hips, butt, and thighs. Be aware of the knee moving too far inside or outside during each lunge; chances are, the same thing is happening on skis or a board.
• Single-Side Squat With Resitance Tube: Put one end of the tube under one foot and hold the other end on your hand. Standing on just that one leg, bend the knee to 30-60 degrees during squats. (Professionals bend to 80-90 degrees as a test of strength or dysfunction). Try one to three sets (depending on your fitness level) of 15 repetitions on both sides.
  Focus: Supporting the body on one leg forces stabilization of the entire body. This amount of flexing and extending is similar to the moving from foot-to-foot action of both skiing and riding.
• Squats On A Bongo Board: First perfect a squat on solid ground. Place your feet slightly wider that your hips, toes pointing ahead. Lower your hips as though sitting in a chair, keeping your weight centered over the arch and heel of your feet, your head upright, and eyes focused straight ahead. Then, if you've never been on a Bongo Board, get comfortable with it. Use it on a carpeted area and have someone "spot" you while you try a few squats (the spotter's hands should be close to your waist). As you get more confident, change foot positions to simulate skiing and snowboarding stances.
  Focus: While squats alone will strengthen your thigh-to-knee connection, adding the Bongo Board trains your entire body for stabilization and balance.

Suzanne Nottingham is a fitness consultant based in Mammoth Lakes, California. She serves on the Governor's Council for Physical Fitness and is a part-time ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain.