Surviving your ski trip!

A while ago I wrote and article about ski fitness and I know that this season some of my colleagues have done the same. These were mostly about getting fit to ski so that you will enjoy it more and get the most out of your trip. This one is different, it's about when you get there what to do at the end of each day so that you can go again the next day.

Firstly lets talk stretches, I know, I know, you forget, hey so do I and boy do I regret it in the morning. Let me make it easy for you – you don't have to stretch immediately after you take your boots off. How about you combine it with your shower in the evening – multi-tasking is the word here!

Hold each stretch for 10-15 seconds and make sure you can feel the muscles stretching, you should feel just 'mild discomfort'. Remember to do both sides where required too.

• Stretch one (front of leg) – standing on one leg (lean against the wall for balance if you need to), bend the other leg at the knee and grab the ankle pulling your foot towards your bottom, keep knees together and hips forward.
• Stretch two (back of legs) – legs hip distance apart, place your hands on the front of your legs and bend at the waist sliding your hands down your legs, go as far down as you can and hold.

Although skiing works mostly your legs you may find the the effort of using your poles to push on the flat areas will also be felt in though arms so here are two more for arms and chest/shoulders.

• Stretch three (back of arm) – bend your arm at the elbow and drop your forearm between your shoulder blades. Use the other hand to gently pull the elbow so you can feel a stretch in the upper arm at the back
• Stretch four (chest/shoulder) – with you upper arm straight out at your side at shoulder height place your palm and lower arm against the wall, lean slightly forward and feel a stretch at the top of the arm into the shoulder and chest.

Now lets take care of hydration – remember even a little amount of dehydration will affect your abilities and you do not feel thirsty until you are a long way past that mark. Also, don't get to thinking that because its cold you don't need to take on water - let's be honest here, you will sweat when skiing.

If your usual intake is two litres a day then you need at least that – the exercise will mean you lose more water and as you're on holiday you may also be drinking a little more alcohol than usual so this needs to be balanced with more water. Have water with breakfast, if you stop for a hot drink get more or better still carry some with you and ensure that you drink a little each time you stop. Have water with your dinner as well as your wine/beer/cocktails too.

I mentioned alcohol in the last section and I will again here – as it often says in the in flight magazine on your way to the resort, altitude and alcohol don't mix well. Your ability to cope with alcohol is affected by the altitude in resort too. Alright, I know it's not quite the height of a plane or a pressurised cabin but it still has a worse effect on you than at your usual height from sea level due to reduced oxygen intake in the brain (or so the articles I've been reading have found).

Enjoy your holiday and look forward to the next one with these simple tips!