The road to pro-skierdom is a road seldom traveled for a few obvious reasons: excruciating amounts of physical training and practice, an unyielding level of mental toughness and, of course, you need that little bit of raw God-given talent. With the level of competition on the rise, professional skiers are facing serious pressure; the fight to remain in the top-tier is increasingly difficult.
You see them at events, you see them in the movies, and you see them in the magazines, but what you don’t see is how hard these athletes are working behind the scenes to stay on top of their game. Fitness and mental training become all the more important to retain status and respect. We’re checking in with some of the biggest names in the sport to see how they train in the off-season. For those of you aspiring athletes out there, you’d better bust out your pen and take some notes.
In this latest installation, we check in with Mr. Smooth, a.k.a TJ Schiller.
FS: Tell us about your diet.
TJ: No diets. Just make sure not to eat fast food. Try and eat organic as much as possible. Lots of whole grains, veggies, fruit, lean protein and water!
How does training benefit you as a skier?
Our winter never ends so it’s important to build up your strength to allow your body to endure the season. The stronger you come into the season, the longer you will last.
What’s your favorite exercise?
I’ve been focusing on lower body and this is my gnar routine. It starts out with a 30-minute bike ride. Run up stairs five times—walk down backwards five times—skipping rope five minutes—fifty air squats—three sets of 15 lunges with 20 pound weight each hand—leap to one foot balance, knee bent at 20 degrees, 10 on each leg—ride bike for five minutes—then squats with bar and no weight for warmup—eighty kilos each side squats; three sets of 8—deadlifts with bar, no weight—as many sets of Gorilla hops as you can do—bike ride 30 minutes—stretch.
TJ @ Copper Mountain | P: Shay Williams
What are some alternative workouts you enjoy?
It’s so key to get outside of the gym to train, especially during our off-season, i.e. the summer. I try and get in as much road and mountain biking as possible during the hot months. In the evenings I do hot yoga. It’s a great way to loosen up the body and mellow out the mind. Lake swimming and try to get a few surf trips in each year.
Favorite place to workout?
Outside!
Favorite stoke-up workout song?
Anything by Rolling Stones.
Favorite workout apparel/accessories?
My SubZero water bottle, iPod shuffle and Skullcandy Fix in ear buds.
