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Exercises

Warm up for skiing: a 7-minute routine in your boots before the first run

Published October 24, 2026

Do 2 minutes of jumping jacks and high knees, then 3 minutes of mobility: 10 leg swings each way per leg, 10 ankle circles per foot, 10 arm circles each direction, 10 bodyweight squats and 5 cossack squats per side. Finish with 2 minutes of primers: 6 skater hops per side and 5 jump squats. Then ski an easy first run with short turns before you go harder. About seven minutes, and it works in ski boots.

  1. Jumping Jack Calves, Quads
  2. High Knees Quads
  3. Leg Swings Hamstrings, Glutes
  4. Bodyweight Squat Quads
  5. Cossack Squat Quads, Adductors
  6. Skater Hop Glutes, Quads, Abductors
  7. Jump Squat Quads, Glutes

Get warm: 2 minutes

Cold air and a chairlift ride make the first run feel stiff. Jumping jacks and high knees warm the legs and get your breathing up, even in boots.

Raise

Jumping Jack

Calves, Quads

It warms the legs and shoulders in a minute, in boots or out.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, heels touching, arms hanging at your sides.
  2. Hop your feet out a little wider than your shoulders while your arms sweep up overhead.
  3. Hop back to the start as your arms come down, and keep a steady, springy rhythm.

Cues

  • Land soft on the balls of your feet
  • Arms travel all the way up

Common mistakes

  • Landing flat-footed and heavy: stay light and let your calves absorb each hop.

Swap for: Star Jump, High Knees, Jump Rope

Build a session with Jumping Jack

Raise, hip flexors

High Knees

Quads

Driving the knees warms the hip flexors that hold your ski position.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet under your hips and your elbows bent.
  2. Jog in place, driving one knee up toward hip height while the other foot stays under you.
  3. Swap legs quickly and pump your arms in time with your knees.

Cues

  • Tall chest, quick feet
  • Knee to hip height

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to lift the knees: stay upright and lower the knee height until you can keep it.

Swap for: Butt Kicks, Skipping in Place, Jumping Jack

Build a session with High Knees

Hips, knees, ankles and shoulders: 3 minutes

Skiing is a low, flexed position with the weight shifting from leg to leg. These moves take the hips, knees and ankles through range and loosen the shoulders for pole plants.

Hip mobility

Leg Swings

Hamstrings, Glutes

Front-to-back swings loosen the hips for long turns and recovering from a slip.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to a wall or post and rest one hand on it.
  2. Swing your outside leg forward and back like a pendulum, letting the range grow each rep.
  3. Do all reps on one leg, then turn around and switch.

Cues

  • Loose leg, still torso
  • Let the range grow

Common mistakes

  • Rounding your back to kick higher: only go as high as your torso can stay upright.

Swap for: Walkout, Cossack Squat

Build a session with Leg Swings

Ankle mobility

Ankle Circles

Calves

Done before you buckle your boots, circles get the ankles ready to flex forward into the boot tongue.

How to do it

  1. Stand on one leg with a hand on a wall, or sit, and lift the other foot.
  2. Trace slow, full circles with your toes in one direction.
  3. Reverse the direction, then switch feet.

Cues

  • Move only at the ankle
  • Full, slow circles

Common mistakes

  • Rushing small circles: make each one as wide as the ankle allows.

Swap for: Standing Calf Raise, Jump Rope

Build a session with Ankle Circles

Shoulder mobility

Arm Circles

Shoulders

It prepares the shoulders for pole plants and getting up after a fall.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder height.
  2. Draw small forward circles, then let them grow larger over the set.
  3. Reverse the direction for the second half.

Cues

  • Small to big
  • Ribs stay down

Common mistakes

  • Shrugging up into your ears: keep the shoulders low while the arms circle.

Swap for: Band Pull-Apart, Plate Halo

Build a session with Arm Circles

Knee and hip flexion

Bodyweight Squat

Quads

Squats warm the quads that hold you low all day.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about shoulder width and your toes turned out a little.
  2. Sit your hips down and back between your heels until your thighs are about parallel or lower.
  3. Stand up by pushing the floor away, keeping your knees in line with your toes.

Cues

  • Knees track your toes
  • Whole foot on the floor

Common mistakes

  • Knees caving inward: push them out over your little toes as you rise.

Swap for: Goblet Squat, Band Squat

Build a session with Bodyweight Squat

Lateral weight shift

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

Shifting deep into one hip, then the other, rehearses the edge-to-edge weight transfer of turning.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about twice shoulder width, toes turned slightly out.
  2. Shift your weight to one side and sit down into that knee while the other leg straightens, toes up.
  3. Push back to center and sink to the other side.

Cues

  • Heel of the bent leg stays down
  • Chest proud

Common mistakes

  • Dropping deeper than your hips allow: stop where your heel starts to lift, and go a little lower each rep.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Kettlebell Lateral Lunge

Build a session with Cossack Squat

Glute activation: 1 minute

When you warm up before a gym session for skiing, band side steps switch on the outer hips that keep your knees steady through each turn.

Glute activation

Lateral Band Walk

Abductors

Side steps against a band wake up the outer hips that keep the knees tracking through turns.

How to do it

  1. Place a mini band around your legs just above the knees or at the ankles.
  2. Sink into a quarter squat with your feet hip-distance apart.
  3. Step sideways with the lead foot, follow with the other without letting the feet touch, and keep tension in the band.

Cues

  • Stay low
  • Toes point forward

Common mistakes

  • Swaying the torso side to side: keep your shoulders level and take shorter steps.

Swap for: Clamshell, Band Standing Hip Abduction

Build a session with Lateral Band Walk

Primers for the first run: 2 minutes

Side-to-side bounds rehearse the edge-to-edge weight shift, and a few jumps wake up the legs for bumps. Then make your first run easy.

Edge-change primer

Skater Hop

Glutes, Quads, Abductors

Bounding side to side and sticking each landing matches the rhythm of linked turns.

How to do it

  1. Stand on your right leg with a slight bend in the knee.
  2. Push off sideways and land on your left foot, letting your right leg swing behind you.
  3. Stick the landing, then bound back to the right.

Cues

  • Stick each landing
  • Push sideways, not up

Common mistakes

  • Taking off before you are balanced: pause for a beat on each landing.

Swap for: Lateral Box Jump, Single-Leg Jump

Build a session with Skater Hop

Elastic primer

Jump Squat

Quads, Glutes

A few jumps prepare the legs for bumps, rollers and uneven snow.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about shoulder width and your arms ready.
  2. Dip into a quarter to half squat, then jump straight up, swinging your arms.
  3. Land softly with bent knees and reset before the next jump.

Cues

  • Soft, quiet landing
  • Reset between reps

Common mistakes

  • Landing stiff-legged: let the hips and knees bend to absorb the landing.

Swap for: Box Jump, Bodyweight Squat

Build a session with Jump Squat

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Parking lot before the first run

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets8 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

You ski for the day and want the first run to feel smooth.

Raise, mobility and short primers that you can do in boots in seven minutes. Nothing is tiring.

Slope Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 2 × 30 4 10 s
High KneesSeconds. 1 × 30 4 10 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Arm CirclesEach direction. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Bodyweight Squat 1 × 10 4 15 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 5 4 15 s
Skater HopPer side. 1 × 6 3 30 s
How to run it
Do it before your first lift, and again in short form after a long lunch break.
How to progress
Add a second set of skater hops once the routine feels easy.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Very cold days and after lunch

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets11 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

It is freezing, or you have sat still for a long lunch and feel stiff.

Longer raise and more ankle and hip work, because cold, stiff joints take longer to loosen. The primers stay short.

Cold-Day Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 3 × 30 4 10 s
High KneesSeconds. 2 × 30 4 10 s
Ankle CirclesPer foot, before buckling. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 2 × 10 4 0 s
Bodyweight Squat 2 × 10 4 15 s
Jump Squat 1 × 3–5 3 30 s
How to run it
Use it on cold mornings and after long breaks.
How to progress
Shorten the raise as the day warms up.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Before a ski-prep gym session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands

You train before the season to get your legs ready.

Adds band activation and jumps, so the main leg work starts with the hips switched on.

Ski Prep Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 2 × 45 4 15 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 2 × 5 4 15 s
Bodyweight Squat 1 × 10–12 4 15 s
Lateral Band WalkSteps each way. 2 × 10–12 3 15 s
Skater HopPer side. 2 × 6–8 3 30 s
Jump Squat 2 × 4–5 3 45 s
How to run it
Use it at the start of your ski-prep sessions.
How to progress
Add a third set of skater hops in the last weeks before the season.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How do you warm up for skiing?

Get warm with jumping jacks and high knees, loosen the hips, knees and ankles with swings and squats, then do a few skater hops and jumps. Make your first run easy.

What exercises prepare you for skiing?

In the weeks before the season, squats, lunges and lateral work for the legs. The exercises for skiing page has a full program.

How long should a ski warm-up be?

About seven minutes before the first run and a short version after long breaks.

Should I stretch before skiing?

Keep it moving before you ski. Longer held stretches suit the end of the day.

Can I warm up in ski boots?

Yes. Keep the jumps small, and do the ankle circles before you buckle up.