Alexis Kenyon, graduate of the Boise State Master of Health Science program and academic advisor for the Boise State Multidisciplinary Studies Program, was quoted in The Training Edge, a magazine for certified personal trainers.
In addition to her work at Boise State, Kenyon is a National Academy of Sports Medicine certified personal trainer, and an Alpine Level I professional ski school instructor for Bogus Basin. The article opened with a story about one of her clients who had torn her meniscus while skiing. After completing physical therapy, she decided to work with Kenyon to avoid a recurrence.
Kenyon focuses on stability and core strength with her client so that her knees don’t have to bare all of the load when she is hitting the slopes. Her new workout includes planks, squats, and lunges with a BOSU balance trainer and time with a TRX suspension system.
“Skiing requires its own unique conditioning,” explained Kenyon. “Skiers need stability and mobility as well as muscular balance throughout the lower and upper body and core to maintain control, and it can be unenjoyable and unsafe for those who do not have the stamina.” In a skier with proper form, “knees are flexed forward over the toes, the hips align with the ankles, and the head is over the knees. It’s a forward, active position where the hips are moving forward in the direction you’re turning. That’s a big injury danger zone. You need to be able to stabilize your spine in a gravity-driven sport.” Without core strength and stability, skiers drift into what’s known as ‘the back seat,’ where all of their weight is back and the pressure and forces are going into the knees, which is what Kenyon and her client work to prevent from happening.