In July, 45 young ski racers, 11-14 years old, completed 1,200 burpees at ELITEAM — about half of them in the rain! That is an average of 200 burpees per day above and beyond the actual program. Maybe not all were done with a smile, but all were done with positive energy. No equipment needed. No lane space needed. Just determination and grit.

As we tackle the issue of cost in ski racing, I would like to share a way that junior athletes can become tougher, stronger, fitter and most importantly FASTER ski racers and save money at the same time.

Most of the high costs of training comes from training on snow — mostly in the off-season. And I appreciate that there is no better way to technically train for ski racing, than to ski. You can’t develop and practice your skills without lots of time spent free-skiing, honing skills and getting race starts.

However, ski racing is not just about who can carve their ski the cleanest, hold a more aerodynamic tuck, or get out of the start the quickest. I would argue that THE most important skill to have, especially on race day, is confidence.

When I won my bronze medal in 1985 on the gnarly and dangerous track at Bormio, I was not the most technical skier on that mountain — but I certainly may have been the most confident. I credit an early focus on developing and perfecting my sports psychology skills for that life-changing run.

Don’t believe me? Here are a couple of ski racers with their take on mental skills:

“On race day, mental skills are probably 90% of what you are going to be able to do. You can do the technical and physical preparation, you can have all that, but if you don’t have your mental preparation, then you’re not going to be able to apply your physical or technical skill.”

—Storm Klomhaus, US Ski Team

“By the time you are in the start gate your technical skiing skills are not going to change, but you can use your mental training to stay relaxed, focused and confident to ensure that you are able to bring out your best performances on the days of the race.”

—Marco Sullivan, World Cup winner

For 30 years, I have created through ELITEAM, a curriculum of developing confidence in junior athletes. In my experience, confidence is gained through a focus on developing strong mental skills like goals, commitment, focus, imagery, stress control, and embracing failure. But probably the most important mental skill to have, is GRIT!

So what is grit?

Grit is the ability to dig deep and continue to push forward toward your goals when everything — your body, your mind, the outside world — is willing you to stop. It is the struggle to continue when every part of your being is wanting to quit. Fundamentally, grit comes with a focus and commitment to a goal — to wanting something more than not wanting it. And pushing yourself to go above and beyond to get that goal. And truly gritty people enjoy and embrace this suffering.

Here are a few athletes with their take on grit.

Grit is enjoying the worst parts of anything — skiing in the rain or lifting on Friday afternoon all alone when you are tired. It is doing the unenjoyable things you know will help you achieve your goals and doing them with a smile.

—Jimmy Krupka, US Ski Team

I think grit is having the tenacity to keep going when something inside of you or something outside of you is telling you to stop. Whether that is your legs burning in a training session or maybe it’s someone in your life who doesn’t believe in you, I think grit is choosing to believe in yourself and pushing through anyways.

—Nina O’Brien, US Ski Team

 I do believe that everyone is born with a certain level of grit. But grit is also a skill you can develop, just like carving a ski or pole planting. You can train it purposefully with planned training sessions or you can find opportunities to train it when difficult and tough situations appear in front of you.

And luckily for us, it is a skill that you can train for FREE! No equipment, no lane space, no academy, no app, no special clothing. All it takes is a great coach to inspire their athlete to Dig Deep. To also lead by example and show the athlete that they also have the motivation and grit to commit to their craft and goals, as well.

The following are some examples of how athletes and coaches can train grit with little more than a rock and a raincoat during the off-season.

Burpees: If you know ELITEAM, you know that we LOVE burpees. Burpees are tough physically and mentally. Burpees are a complete workout exercise. And Burpees suck. But, they are free, easy to do, and build grit.

How to do Burpees: Build into it. Try starting with 10 Burpees, build by one Burpee each day. By the time skiing starts for most of us at Thanksgiving, you will be doing 90 per day. And those are all FREE!

Bad Weather: Dryland ski training is usually done outdoors and can really be brutal at times — whether it is a frosty 40 degrees in the fall or pouring rain. But champions realize that those challenging weather days are opportunities. Opportunities to build and train grit. I challenge athletes and coaches to realize that those days hold a special opportunity. Don’t back away. Instead, lean into bad weather. Rainy dryland is perfect for obstacle courses, hill sprints and circuits — where athletes can work on balance and agility in nasty conditions and teams can bond together in “embracing the suck.”

Rocks: Rocks are FREE, and rocks are awesome training tools for off-season training. Find one that weighs your age (if you are 20 or older, just stick with a 20 pounder) and that can be your workout buddy. Carry it, lift it, press it, row it, throw it, run with it, or squat it. Name your rock as it will simultaneously be your best friend AND your worst nightmare! And these rocks are a perfect weight for learning foundational strength training skills as they are light-weight and require a focus on functional movements to work with.

Appropriate challenges: There are so many ways to create challenges for athletes. Get creative and have fun! Here is an easy way to add a gritty challenge. Since we already have a rock, it’s time to take it on an adventure up your home ski hill. Throw it in a backpack or carry it above your head the entire time. This builds strength, endurance, power, capacity, as well as grit. Add in a vertical goal to make it a game, can your U14 get in 1400 vertical feet with his or her rock?

Hill sprints: To go downhill fast in the winter, use uphill sprints in the off-season! Nothing makes you dig deeper than head-to-head hill sprints. All you need is a hill — whether a grassy slope or a gravely (and safe) road. Measure 50 yards, line up, and push your limits. Again, the fitness gains are great, but the grit gains are what matters.

Surprise add-ons: Your mind has a way of playing tricks on you regarding expectations. If you expect your workout to last 30 min, your body seems to get tired and wants to quit about 25 min in. One way to add grit is to include surprise add-ons at the end of your workouts. Carry five envelopes around containing an extra exercise to add on after your workout. Commit to choosing one and completing this “extra” workout after you are done with your planned workout. This will train your grit in being open and actually excited to Dig Deeper when you may not want to.

Examples to have in your envelope:

• 50 Burpees (of course)
• 5 min Core
• A 5 min EMOM (every minute on the minute) of Skiers Jumps, Rock Presses, Tuck Jumps and Burpees (of course).
• A 400 yard sprint/run
• 5 min Tuck Tabata

So, as you look to plan out a training program for your young skier, consider adding in some free Grit training to supplement (or perhaps replace) what you are spending money on. A fall of planned, safe grit training intertwined with their physical training can deliver a strong, focused athletes ready to take those skills onto the slopes and enable them to make big gains over the season.

Doug Lewis is a two-time Olympian and has been coaching junior athletes for over 30 years both with his ELITEAM Fitness Programs and on the hill. He and his wife, Kelley (also a World Class ski racer), just launched their groundbreaking online Dig Deep Academy that includes Workout Programs, Sports Education as well as a FREE Clubhouse community page with US Ski Team athletes posting videos daily. Learn more at www.digdeep.eliteam.com. Or email Doug directly at doug@eliteam.com.