Spending time in the Rocky Mountains can be a lot of a fun, with plenty of outdoor activities that can get you having fun in the fresh air. However, if you're trying to bridge the gap from being merely competent at a sport and being great at it, you will need to include some training. One great type of exercise that's great for Rocky Mountain sports is plyometrics, which trains your body to better use its strength as explosive power, which can help you in a number of sports. To help you start applying plyometrics for Rocky Mountain sports training, here are some ideas for exercises to help with your sports.

Mountain Biking

Though is seems like in downhill mountain biking, gravity will be doing most of the work for you, there are situations where you will need your legs to help you, such as increasing your speed again when you come out of a turn or making up for the loss of speed when you hit a little rise in the landscape. Plyometrics for this Rocky Mountain sport will target the legs, helping you to pedal harder when you need it. One example where you use plyometrics is the stadium jump, where you start with your feet slightly apart, one forward, one back, as if you are pedaling at the nine and three o'clock positions, and you hop up from one stadium stair to the next highest with your arms on your hips, using only your lower body strength. A few reps of these a week and you'll be pedaling harder.

Skiing

Another downhill Rocky Mountain sport where plyometrics will benefit you is skiing. As with most plyometrics exercise regimens, you'll be mostly exercising your legs. One exercise that can increase both your leg strength and the agility you need to handle yourself well on the ski slopes is two-leg hops. Think about the motions you do when jumping rope, bouncing on your toes and hopping back up as soon as you hit the ground again. If you remove the rope and instead jump side to side over a line, say a line in a parking lot, you can increase your leg strength as well as become surer on your feet.

Rock Climbing

Another favorite, for this Rocky Mountain sport, the plyometrics exercises that we'll use are for the upper arms and will require a medicine ball. Rest the ball on a box that's a little below your hip level, and face the ball with knees slightly bent. While exhaling, grab the ball and bring it towards your chest, as if trying to snatch it away from someone. Just as fast, push the ball back forward and set it back on the box. This will help strengthen your upper body, which is just as important as your legs in rock climbing. As you can see, for any Rocky Mountain sport, a plyometrics exercise can be used to help train for it, so find ones that work for your favorite sport and help bring your performance from average to great.