Our story
Built by a masters skier,
for masters skiers.
Ski Strong for Life isn't a repurposed gym program. It's the year-round training system one masters skier built to keep skiing strong — and now shares with athletes 45–75.
The origin
Meet Mike
I'm Mike. I've been strength training for 48 years and skiing for longer than that — 50+ days a season at Snowbasin and Powder Mountain in Utah. I'm a StrongFirst SFL and AGT certified instructor.
For years I did what most dedicated skiers do: I trained hard, but with programs that weren't built for skiing — or for an aging athlete. CrossFit chewed up my joints. Generic strength splits left me strong in the gym but burning out halfway down the mountain. Skiing-specific YouTube workouts never added up to a system.
Ski Strong for Life is the system I built for myself. I spent years figuring out what actually transfers to the hill — and discovered that strength training alone wasn't enough. Adding functional balance and anti-burn endurance was the missing link. Now I'm sharing the complete system with masters skiers who want to keep skiing strong for the next 10, 20, or 30 years.
"I spent years figuring out what actually transfers to the hill. Strength training alone wasn't enough — functional balance and anti-burn endurance were the missing link. Once I found it, everything about my skiing changed."— Mike, StrongFirst SFL · AGT · Founder, Ski Strong for Life
The philosophy
How masters athletes train — and why it's different
Three convictions shape every program in Ski Strong for Life. They aren't marketing language — they're the principles that make the difference between wearing out and skiing strong.
Specific to skiing, not generic fitness
Every program is built around the actual mechanics of skiing — the balance, the leg endurance, the eccentric load of holding an edge — not borrowed from a 25-year-old's bodybuilding split.
Built for how masters athletes recover
Volume, intensity, and rest are tuned for athletes 45–75. You build real strength without grinding your joints or showing up to the hill already exhausted.
A complete year-round system
Strength alone was never enough. Adding functional balance and anti-burn endurance — periodized across the full training year — was the missing link.
What it is — and isn't
This is not a generic senior fitness program.
It's not boot camp. It's not CrossFit with a ski theme. It's structured, periodized, masters-appropriate training that respects how experienced athletes actually adapt.
Not a beginner program
Not a boot camp
Not a ski conditioning circuit
Not a generic strength plan
Not age-based modifications of a younger athlete's program
Not a one-size program for all phases of the year
A product of Ski Fit Nation
Ski Strong for Life is built and run by Ski Fit Nation, LLC — Mike's home for ski-specific training content and coaching for masters athletes.
Read more about my approach at SkiFitNation.com →Train for your strongest season yet
Year-round, ski-specific strength training built for masters athletes — at your own pace.