Ski conditioning? Who's got the time? You better.

What looks more fun, this?
Or this?
This is the time of year when magazines, and even the Out There section of The Gazette, tend to be full of silly photos of people doing exercises they would never normally do in order to get in shape for ski season.

If you're one of those people who likes these tips, here are a few you can go read. Click here or here.

For the rest of us, who don't have medicine balls, and wouldn't spend an hour a day messing with them if we did, there are ways to get in ski shape without wasting a lot of time.

The trick is to multi-task.
This year I've vowed to quit snowboarding cold turkey and fully commit myself to telemark skiing. It's the only way I'm going to get better. I know I'll need a lot of quad strength, core strength, and aerobic fitness too keep up with my buddies. So here's the plan:

++ Wall sits at work. Sit at a desk a lot? I do. And there's a filing cabinet nearby that I can sit against while proof-reading copy. It builds leg and core muscle.

++ Lunges while walking the dog. It doesn't take many of these knee-dipping steps to build a lot of strength, and it's just the kind I need.

++ Build balance and eye coordination with mountain biking. This is something I love to do anyway, and the crossover to skiing is a natural. It gets you in shape, but also sharpens your brain's ability to pick a line of travel while moving quickly. Oh, and that shift over the axis the hips do while making quick turns on skis? It's the same on a bike. This is the most fun training you can do.

++ Take the stairs two at a time: it builds strong hips and good balance.

++ And of course, a little hard-core body punishment is always a good thing. Many people choose to do the incline. Not that we endorse that...