Fanny Smith's Unconventional Balance Exercises Are Ridiculous

Professional ski cross athlete Fanny Smith doesn't screw around when it comes to dry season training.

Watch as she pulls off training exercises that would probably leave me or any other mere mortal in a neck brace.

One commenter on this post succinctly summed up my reaction to watching Fanny's training regime: "'aight i can do that' *eats s--t*."

Yeah, me too. But I'm also not a well-decorated ski cross racer.

Fanny's racked up some serious hardware throughout her career, including Olympic podiums and a staggering 31 World Cup wins. To reach her level, you gotta be prepared to work hard in the gym.

Although hard work for a skier in the gym, as evidenced by this video, often looks unconventional.

Usually, on the rare day that I find myself lifting weights, most folks are doing, y'know, standard workouts. Think curls, deadlifts, and pull-ups.

But occasionally, I'll spot someone getting truly weird with a resistance band or workout ball and think, "Ah, must be another skier." I mean, why else would someone wrap multiple resistance bands around their legs and walk around like a cowboy during high noon? Or jump back and forth like they're trying to mime a figure skater?

See, skiing works a slew of wacky muscle groups, meaning traditional exercises will only get you so far during off-season preparation. To actively mimic the physical experience of skiing, you need to make like Fanny and break out the workout balls. Or just do like 4000 squat jumps.

To me, the former sounds more appealing. Provided you're willing to take a tumble here and there.

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