My gym, american family fitness, just got a new lateral motion aerobic machne. http://www.octanefitness.com/club/products/standing-ellipticals/lateralx-club-model/index.html
I thought is really worked the same muscles I use skiing. Particularly the outside ski leg motion. It is very close to skating motion and just one of the best machines I have come accross in a long time. It has an xmode function where you do squatting type of positions and I found that to be challenging and also created a very similar burn I get hen I am doing agreesive tuns in bumps all day. I was really impressed and plan on spending some time on this machine in comming weeks to get ready for peak ski season and thought I would share.

That's pretty cool. Wouldn't mind playing around on one of those for a while. Thanks for sharing!!


Although I still think this is the best off-the-snow training for skiing bumps:

Dry Land Training

He's a beast! This one definitely doesn't have the same motion of skiing, but works same muscles.

Yeah, that's a good one. Our gym has had one of those for a while now; long enough for it to get really, really annoyingly squeaky.

One caveat though: some people find that particular machine really hard on their knees, as in long-term inflammation and soreness.

It's a weird Catch-22: if your legs and stance are in good enough shape to not get knee-sore, then you're not getting a muscle-/building/ workout just an aerobic one. Whereas if your legs need the muscle building, your knees get sore before the leg muscles get a workout.

I have one the the original Skiers' Edge machines back home. I've had it for maybe 15 years. The advantage it has over a laterals machine is that you actually practice edging as you move from side to side (edge to edge)

I do 4-5k turns before the start of any season and I'm ready to go.

http://www.skiersedge.com/products/

It appears that Skiers edge has some competition. Products look very similar and allow you to practice rhythm and edging in the same way.

http://www.ski-simulator.com/

Yeah, I thought about getting a skiers edge machine, but really don't want another machine at house, which is why I was excited about the machine at the gym. I think this lateral is fairly new and let's you adjust te lateral movement to your comfort zone.I am surprised it hurts the knees.

Nah, that's completely understood. People always go on about how home machines save you money over expensive gyms - but those same people never calculate the monthly payment on the house per square foot into their comparisons.



Really? I'm not. One of my pastimes at the gym is to catalog the absolute cr@p form of runners on treadmills & XC machines and try to find underlying causes. Put a treadmill-banger on a lateral machine they're not used to and of course they will get sore knees.

Maybe my definition of pain is different . I can see a little muscle soreness for people that have never really worked or stretched their muscles in that way, but all they need to do is adjust the width more gradually. It is pretty much low impact otherwise since it is smooth motion similar to a elliptical, vs. a jarring motion where your body weight is slamming into the joints. I am not going to say anything about others workout. I am sure I get my share of eye rolls as a 46 year old desk jockey who spends way too many hours working and on the road , enjoys good food and drinks, trying to hold onto some level fitness.

I'm talking about straight-up ligament soreness. The regular elliptical machine does not put valgus torque on the knee, not unless the person is really throwing their hips side-to-side.

You are right that muscle conditioning is also a factor for some. Since muscle conditioning directly affects kneecap tracking, I've seen the pain be a lot more serious that 'a little' though, requiring months of patience and pure-strength non-cardio workouts to get past what bike riders used to call "Easter knees".

http://www.livestrong.com/article/528877-bicycling-cold-weather-and-knee-injuries/

Notice that neither problem has to do with 'jarring' or impact.



I'm right there with ya. I look at it like Jane Austen did:

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours and laugh at them in our turn?"

EDIT: Got an hour in on the lateral on Sunday, averaging mid-80s cadence with some bursts of 120+.