Off-Season Training That Actually Works – What Science Says to Alpine Skiers

It's late April. The snow is gone and the season is over. What should you actually train? How long? At what intensity?

What Alpine Skiing Actually Requires from the Body

Slalom is the most explosive and neuromuscularly demanding discipline. Giant slalom requires a more balanced profile. Super-G and downhill require above all aerobic capacity and core isometry.

The consequence is simple: your off-season training should look completely different depending on your primary discipline.

The Most Important Things You Do in May and June

Off-season is about building the aerobic base and maximal strength. A study by Breil and colleagues (2010) showed that an eleven-day block of high-intensity interval training increased VO2 max by six percent.

However, plyometric performance decreased by almost five percent during the same period. Don't do heavy drop jumps directly after a HIIT block.

Pre-Season: Build Power and Reactivity

Supramaximal eccentric movements (SME) at knee angles between 20 and 60 degrees simulate the quasi-isometric loading that characterizes the loading phase of the GS turn.

For slalom specialists: plyometrics and drop jumps now. Reactive Strength Index – RSI – is the metric you want to improve.

Train the Movements That Transfer

Lateral jumps with short contact time, rotational jumps, single-leg exercises, plank with rotation, single-leg squat with eccentric control.

In-Season: Maintain What You've Built

One to two strength sessions per week, with a focus on maintaining neuromuscular readiness.

One Thing That Overshadows Everything Else

No single physical trait predicts competitive performance alone. It's the combination that makes the difference.

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Sources: Breil, F.A. et al. (2010). Frontiers in Sports and Active Living (2024).

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