We all know the benefits weight training has on sports performance, but did you know how much weight lifting significantly lowers your chance of sports-injury?
Seventy-eight percent of severe injuries to the upper body struck non-lifting athletes, or those students who were not in a controlled weight-lifting program... ... non-lifting athletes accounted for 64 percent of those with severe injuries to the lower body. Link to full article
Lift heavy for protection
It is not just any type of weight lifting that provides this benefit; more and more research is showing "heavy lifting" may be the overall best method for injury prevention due to how it trains your central nervous system to respond to increased forces in muscles, as well as strengthening joints, ligaments and overall bone density.
Yes, this takes time in the gym. Time that many don't have, especially during ski season.
Fear not, as is there ONE heavy lifting lifting exercise we can focus on that would provide the best benefit... and you can do it in just 15 minutes every other day (heavy lifting one day a week, and light to medium on the others).
The ONE: The Heavy Deadlift
If there is one exercise I prefer for sports injury prevention it is the deadlift. Deadlifts improve glute strength, leading directly to improved knee stability and fewer injuries in that joint. In particular, for sports that pose large impact forces on the body and knees, I really like what's known as "the 2x bodyweight deadlift".
Practicing what I preach: performing the "2x bodyweight" deadlift, which for me is 205 kilograms
In the 2x bodyweight deadlift, your goal is to be able to lift double what you weigh, for at least one repetition. Or lift slightly less for multiple repetitions. For me, I weigh anywhere from 105 to 110 kilograms (235-240lbs)... so I load the bar to 205 kilo / 452 lbs as it's a nice close number to my weight, and at this weight I can repeat it for 3 repetitions.
Why "2x" bodyweight as a goal?
One may be wondering: "In skiing, why would we ever need that kind of strength?"
Well, I could throw out a bunch of life threatening and dangerous scenarios where the speeds we ski at cause huge force loads on our joints when turning / stopping fast / jumping. A professional skier can easily achieve 8x gravity on a hard turn... which means the recreational skier can easily experience forces of 2x gravity even at an intermediate or casual level.
Think of how much force it takes to stop your mass, traveling at even 30 MPH on skis in a second (not unusual for an emergency brake). The math yields 1.6g
If you weigh 100 kilo, this is now a compounded force on your knees of your current weight + the g force of the braking. This yields a total compounded force of nearly 220 kilos being applied to your knee. (Your current weight the knee is supporting against the pull of gravity + the new directional force of the stop, and then compounded depending on the vector / angle)
Now we see the reasoning of training a joint to support 3x your weight. In a 2x deadlift it's your bodyweight + 2x your weight for a total force of 3x on your joint.
What really are the chances of that situation?
Given the number of variables in skiing, and the ever witnessed ride-of-shame we see guests taking on a patrol toboggan, it doesn't take a scientific study to say "it happens, and frequently".
Even just falling produces a great amount of force on the body and, as the saying goes: "the stronger you are, the better you are able to handle a fall."
What if I can't do 2x?
There is a reality that a large percentage of us will never get there. Very much like running a 4-minute mile, the 2x deadlift is considered a feat for the serious athletes to achieve.
However, goals are important. A 2x bodyweight deadlift is a very tough and very challenging goal that lifting enthusiasts strive to reach, and the reality is you may be only able to achieve something less.
Don't let that discourage you. Even a 1x bodyweight deadlift will have amazing benefits on conditioning your body. Just the act of working yourself through progressive repetitions trying to achieve a 2x over years will provide HUGE benefit.
Can't you injure yourself deadlifting!?!
No matter what exercise you do, you can indeed get hurt if you do it wrong. The key is, alway be slow and controlled. Never jerk hard, or move fast. Never rush. If you feel something tense or pull incorrectly when slowly starting STOP IMMEDIATELY!
How slow?
As trainers and coaches we should always SHOW In terms of lifting what this looks like, as when using YouTube and Google for "deadlifting" you see lots of videos of people dropping weights or doing an incomplete motion. This is something I don't like to see as 50% of the benefit of a lift is: setting it down.
This is the speed I like to see both up and down when deadlifting heavy: 2 seconds up and 2 seconds down
Even though I am capable of a 2.25x lift of my bodyweight (my personal goal is to hit 3x some day), if you watched me lift ANY weight leading up to this you will ALWAYS see the same deliberate motions for every repetition. It doesn’t matter if it's 50 lbs or 450.
Controlled, deliberate motions. Always. (Edit: not to be confused with eccentric or negative rep motions on the let down. We don’t want to resist that much, but we don’t want slam the weight either. The speed I show is the speed to target)
What's the best way to start and what form?
Full disclosure; my deadlift form isn't absolutely perfect. It's good, but I know it's not “picture perfect”. So, what I want you to do is watch this video for what is considered the absolute PERFECT form:
What's next?
Even better than a video is to schedule an appointment with a professionally certified fitness trainer, or a coach... however those cost money. For the cheap route you can always look for the huge lunk at your local gym performing deadlifts well, and honestly feel free to ask "hey, can you help me get started?" and they'll happily instruct.
There are also a number of quality guides and articles on how to do the exercise as well, and those shouldn't be avoided.
Whatever path you choose, just start deadlifting. It's seriously one of the most effective exercises you can do to enhance your athletic abilities.
About the author: Not just a Ski Instructor...
Matthew Hilla is a professional engineer specializing in sports sciences and fitness; credited on multiple patents in the field of sports performance analysis , human biometrics, and professional sports training.
He has worked with major sports teams, fitness brands, and technology companies where his research has enabled modern devices and applications to better measure human performance and improve recommendations as a result of analyzing data.
The direct benefit of his research can be found in most every wearable device and mobile phone existing today.
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