Ski preseason is here and it's time to hit training camp. Not only will you have a better chance of avoiding injury, you'll also lessen the overwhelming muscle soreness after your first day of skiing. But don't let these primer exercises keep you from slipping into that well-deserved hot tub after a day on the slopes!

Here are a few of Stone Clinic's ten tips to prime you for ski season:

• Single leg, one-third knee bends address strength. Stand on one leg with knee slightly bent and a chair on the opposite side for support, then go down and up on the single leg. Try for a smooth motion with no pause on the way up or down. The slightly bent knee should go to about 80 degrees of knee bend -- perform until fatigued, working up to 2 minutes per leg.
• Walk backwards uphill or upstairs in a semi-squat position. This one sounds really difficult, I'm going to try it on our local sledding hill which stands at about 45 degrees.
• Good for improving power, plyometrics are exercises that put a muscle in a stretched state, followed with an explosive move to contract/shorten the very same muscle. Stand on a curb or a step with your side to the sidewalk and jump down off the curb and quickly back up in sets of 10-30 seconds each.
• Stone Clinic recommends balance and proprioception exercises at the end of your workout, as good balance is especially necessary when you're fatigued on that last ski run and most prone to injury. Try standing on one slightly bent leg, hold arms tight against your sides and balance on the leg for 10-30 seconds, drop a little lower and hold for 10-30 more seconds. Repeat the sequence 3-4 times across different bent knee positions. Standing on an uneven surface (couch pillow, or those squishy semi-circles at the gym) or performing with your eyes closed will increase the challenge.

My husband's high school ski team used to start dry land training six weeks before they'd ever ski on snow. We're hitting the slopes in late December ... I will definitely be folding these exercises into my workout. I can already feel the burn.

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