How to Use a Ski Machine? Top 10 Best Ski Machine Workouts

Ski machines are relatively new fitness tools, and you may not be familiar with what they are and how to use them. Just as the row machine was created for competitive rowers, the ski machine was developed as a training tool for cross-country skiers. However, due to its effectiveness and flexibility, it has gradually become popular in the gym.

So what makes the ski machine special, and how can it be incorporated into your fitness plan? In this article, we'll dive deep into how to use a ski machine effectively with the top 10 ski machine workouts. If you are considering adding a ski machine to your workout plan, we will help you get the most out of it.

The ski machine, more often known as the SkiErg, was created in 1975 by Edward Pauls, a Nordic skier from Minnesota. It was designed to enable Nordic or cross-country skiers to train indoors.

However, in recent years, it has become very popular among exercisers because it is a low-impact cardiovascular exercise that works the entire body. It can increase muscle strength and endurance, burn many calories, and is suitable for all ages and fitness levels.

What Does The Ski Machine Work?

The main part of the ski machine is a tall frame equipped with two handles connected to flywheels. Like the rowing machine, the ski machine also uses a fan to generate resistance. When you pull on the handles, the blade begins to rotate, generating resistance from the wind. The harder you pull, the faster the fan spins and the more resistance it generates.

It also has a control lever that allows you to select the amount of air entering the fan and change the feel of the movement. For example, if you select level 1, only a small airflow will circulate in the fan, so you will feel a lighter pull. Level 10 allows large air to enter the fan. This means more air interacting with the flywheel and a heavier resistance.

What Muscles Does The Ski Machine Work?

Ski machine workouts are full-body exercises that are particularly effective for strengthening the upper body, lower body, and core muscles.

When you pull, you mainly exercise your shoulders, biceps, and back muscles. Push-ups against resistance exercise your quadriceps, gluteus maximus, and hamstrings, effectively exercising your lower body. When you maintain your balance on the ski machine, you activate your core muscles, strengthening your abdominal muscles and obliques.

In summary, the ski machine is a full-body training equipment designed to improve physical fitness and strength. Its unique design and exercise mode make it an ideal choice for various fitness goals.

As an excellent alternative to traditional cardio equipment, they offer multiple benefits for health and fitness. Here are some benefits you can gain from incorporating a ski machine into your routine.

Full-Body Workout

The strongest benefit of the ski machine is the full-body workout. Unlike other cardio machines that concentrate on the lower body, the ski machine exercises most of the body mass. As you push the handles up, you engage your lats, Triceps, and shoulders. At the same time, your core muscles will engage to stabilize your body and pass the power between your upper and lower body.

Low-Impact Cardio

Most workouts, like running, can exert a lot of stress on joints. It will cause discomfort or injury. The ski machine is a phenomenal low-impact option that comes with high-quality cardio exercise. Your feet stay on the foot platform or gently on the ground to minimize low impact on the joints. This makes the ski machine an ideal choice for people who have suffered lower limb injuries or painful joints. Its low-impact characteristics are also usable by a larger spectrum of ages and fitness levels, ensuring that everyone can enjoy a ski machine workout.

Weight Loss & Endurance

The ski machine also allows you to burn more calories in a short time. As the machine works out your entire body, it means greater effort and increased calorie expenditure, supporting weight loss. Simultaneously, the continuous workout elevates your heart rate to strengthen your heart and lungs, improving your stamina.

Another advantage of ski machines is that they are simple and easy to use, even for beginners. All you need to do is walk to it, grab the handles, and start.

Here are 10 simple ski machine workouts. You can follow the steps and practice them in your daily workout routine.

1) Basic Skiing Workout

The basic skiing workout is perfect for beginners. It engages the arms, shoulders, quads, glutes, and core. It can strengthen the body, enhance cardiovascular health, and build muscle endurance.

Time: 5-10 min

Intensity: Moderate

How to use:

• Position the ski machine at a resistance to your liking.
• On a shoulder-width stance, grasp the handles.
• Start skiing by alternating pushing with your legs and pulling with your arms in a smooth and synchronized way.

2) Interval Skiing Workout

The interval ski workout means alternation between high-intensity phases and low-intensity ones. It burns as many calories as possible and enhances cardiovascular fitness. This routine is aimed at legs, arms, and core muscles.

Time: 20 minutes

Intensity: High

How to use:

• Set the ski machine to moderate resistance.
• Scale at high speed for 30 seconds.
• Be followed by 30 seconds of easy skiing.
• Do a total of 5-10 rounds.

3) Leg Focused Skiing Workout

This ski machine exercise focuses on the lower body, such as quads, hamstrings, and glutes. It challenges the legs to become stronger whilst simultaneously working the core to improve the overall balance.

Time: 5-10 min

Intensity: Moderate

How to use:

• Begin to ski focusing on using your legs to propel yourself instead of your arms.
• Use your arms for balance, lightly, but drive down with your legs to include your quads and glutes.
• Keep a steady rhythm.

4) Upper Body Focused Skiing Workout

This skiing workout targets the upper body, including the arms, shoulders, and back. It's effective for definition and the upper body, and also gets your core engaged.

Time: 5 min

Intensity: Moderate

How to use:

• Start skiing on the machine.
• Pull the handles in to you with your arms and shoulders.
• Keep the movement to an upper-body effort, and limit the use of your legs.
• Exercise at a slow and steady clip.

5) Skiing with Side-to-Side Twists

The exercise has the twist of core strengthening. It works on the obliques and improves core muscles' flexibility and muscle tone. It also exercises the legs, arms, and shoulders.

Time: 5-10 min

Intensity: Moderate

How to use:

• Use your ski machine as usual.
• Pull the handles while turning your body in a gentle twist to the right or left.
• Use your obliques for every twist.
• Concentrate on lower intensity, free motions.

6) Incline Skiing Workout

The incline ski workout is an effective low-intensity exercise that is perfect for beginners. It helps you to get accustomed to the ski machine, while also providing an excellent cardio exercise and strength-building session without straining your muscles.

Time: 15-20 minutes

Intensity: Low

How to use:

• Set the incline or resistance to a moderate level.
• Begin skiing at a slow pace and maintain a rhythm.
• Keep your core tight throughout the workout.

7) Skiing with High Knees

The ski workout with high knees is great for adding an element of agility and lower-body strength. It targets the quads, hamstrings, and core, improving overall fitness and coordination.

Time: 5-10 min

Intensity: Moderate to high

How to use:

• Use your ski machine at a steady pace.
• Raise your knees higher with each stride.
• Continue skiing at a steady pace, focusing on driving your knees up.

8) Ski Machine Sprints

This high-intensity ski workout targets achieving increased cardio and fat burning. It works your upper and lower body muscles, offering explosive training.

Time: 15 min

Intensity: High for sprints, slow for recovery

How to use:

• Set your ski machine on high resistance.
• Go all out on the ski for 20-30 seconds.
• Take a 30-second break.
• Do 5-8 repetitions.

9) Skiing with Squats

It is a compound ski workout for legs, particularly for your glutes, quads, and hamstrings. It also engages the core for control and to strengthen it.

Time: 5 rounds

Reps: 10-15 squats per set

How to use:

• Ski on the machine for 30 seconds.
• Immediately after skiing, do 10-15 reps of squats.

10) Ski Intervals with Push-Ups

This workout engages upper-body strength through push-ups. Combined with a ski machine, it effectively enhances the effects of cardio training for a full-body workout. It's suitable for exercisers based on a certain level.

Time: 15-20 minutes

Reps: 10 push-ups per set

How to use:

• Ski at an all-out demand for 30 seconds.
• After skiing, do 10 push-ups.
• Skiing and push-ups alternate for 5-8 rounds

These ski workouts are suitable for beginners to progressively improve the use of their ski machine and their strength and core stability. You can gradually increase the intensity of your training according to your physical fitness level.

 

While the ski machine is intuitive, beginners often make a few common mistakes. Incorrect use may cause injury. Here are some tips on how to use ski machines most efficiently:

Insufficient Stroke

One of the most frequent errors is not completing the full range of motion. You might stop your pull too high or not extend your arms fully overhead on the recovery. This reduces the effectiveness of the exercise, especially for your core and upper body.

Right way: Ensure your hands finish near your pockets and your arms extend fully on the return.

Incorrect Posture

Many people adopt a hunched, downward-facing, or forward-leaning posture when using a ski machine. It will cause unnecessary pressure to concentrate on the spine and joints, potentially leading to discomfort in the back and waist.

Right way: When using a ski machine, keep your chest up and your abdomen tight, look straight ahead, and don't look down or up.

Too Fast

Some beginners might use the ski machine too fast, trying to increase the intensity by moving quickly. This can lead to improper form, increasing the risk of injury and making the workout less effective.

Right way: Maintain a moderate speed to ensure the movements are smooth and controlled. For high-intensity training, use HIIT workouts to increase intensity rather than simply increasing speed.

Discontinuous Movements

The movements on the ski machine should be smooth, but many people will perform discontinuous movements or use excessive force. This will cause accelerated muscle fatigue and may even damage the joints.

Right way: Ensure that each push and pull movement is smooth and coordinated, and control the rhythm to allow sufficient time for each movement to be completed.

Excessive Dependence on Handles

Although the handles are useful, over-reliance on them may result in less involvement of the upper body, leading to suboptimal training effects for upper limb strength and core muscle groups.

Right way: Use the handles moderately during ski machine workouts, and try to control movements primarily through leg and core strength. Maintain natural arm movements and avoid excessive gripping or relying on the handles for balance.

Lack of Warm-Up & Cool-Down

Many people may not warm up or cool down during skiing exercise. It will increase the risk of injury and impair recovery.

Right way: Perform some light warm-up exercises before starting training to gradually acclimate the body to the exercise state. After training, do stretching and relaxation exercises to aid muscle recovery and prevent stiffness and soreness.

Inattentive Breathing

When using a ski machine, many people may forget to maintain steady breathing, especially during high-intensity exercise. Holding your breath or breathing unevenly can cause your body to become overly tense, which can affect your performance.

Right way: Make sure to maintain steady breathing during skiing workouts to help maintain oxygen supply to the body and reduce fatigue.

To achieve the best training results and reduce the risk of injury, correct posture, moderate intensity, and good exercise habits are very important. Avoiding these common mistakes will allow you to use the ski machine more effectively for a full-body workout and achieve your fitness goals.

Before starting to use a ski machine for exercise, many people have some common questions. We provide detailed answers to help you better understand and utilize the ski machine to achieve your fitness goals.

Q1: Is a ski machine good exercise?

Yes. As we discussed earlier, ski machines work the whole body, enhancing the level of cardiovascular fitness, building muscles, and losing fat. It can fit any person at a different physical level, and it can be either a rehabilitation device or a training device.

Q2: Is a ski machine good for weight loss

Absolutely! Ski machines have a great capacity for burning calories, especially when they are used with HIIT. They promote fat burning, especially for heavier people. For example, at a moderate intensity on a ski machine, a 70 kg person may burn approximately 400 to 600 calories per hour, while a 90 kg person can burn more, around 500 to 700. If you increase resistance or accelerate the speed, you'll burn more. It's ideal equipment for fat loss.

Q3: How long should a beginner use a ski machine?

For beginners, it is recommended to start with short ski machine workouts to avoid overexertion or injury. As your body adapts and strength increases, gradually increase the duration and intensity of your workouts.

• Beginning phase: 15 to 20 minutes per exercise and 3 to 4 times per week. Maintain moderate intensity and avoid excessive resistance.
• Adaptation phase: As the body gradually adapts, it is recommended to increase each session by 5 to 10 minutes until reaching 30 minutes each. You can also increase the number of weekly exercises, but ensure at least 1–2 days of rest.

NOTE: Perform a light warm-up before each training session. If you feel pain or overtired, stop immediately and rest.

Now that you know all about the SkiErg, are you ready to give it a try? If you're looking for a high-quality indoor ski machine, we recommend Merach Foldable and Adjustable Ski Machine. Unlike traditional fitness equipment, this ski trainer is especially designed for home use. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced athlete, it offers versatility and effectiveness for fat-burning and endurance.