Photo: Jimmy Chin
Kit DesLauriers, a champion skier and the first person to ski down the highest summits of every continent, shares her knowledge of training and supplement use to perform at high levels.
Many outdoor enthusiasts put their bodies to extreme levels of performance without really thinking about the consequences of their actions. Sure it’s fun to climb an ice waterfall, ski down a 12,000 foot peak or even jump off hard packed ramps on a snowboard all day long. But your body often pays the price if you don’t properly train and supplement it with the nutrients it needs to recover.
Kit DesLauriers knows first hand the toll that skiing and climbing can have on your body. Hiking up some of the world’s tallest peaks and skiing down them is a feat in itself; especially when she became the first American and woman to ski down the summit of Mt. Everest. With this kind of achievement, DesLaurier’s experience proves that training and supplementation are key to achieving the performance you’re looking for and reducing the chance of injury.
While you may not be planning on skiing down the tallest peaks in each continent, DesLauriers does suggest taking each goal you set for yourself in small increments; always making sure to rest properly before heading back to work or your next ski slope. “When the objective is something fairly intense, it’s important to realize that the body doesn’t want to perform at a super high level all the time,” says DesLauriers. “ Set your schedule so you work up to things. Plan to peak a week or even a couple of weeks before the goal, then give yourself a little breather so you can rest.”
Hard training can lead to burnout if your body isn’t fully recovered. DesLauriers suggests that proper rest and drinking lots of water as well as taking supplements will help while you’re training. “I love to follow a hard workout with a protein shake, as it speeds my recovery,” she says. “ I also feel a multivitamin as well as additional vitamin C and omega-3’s are super important.”
Although DesLauriers is a strong believer in eating whole foods to get all the nutrients possible, she also knows that supplements are a necessary part of her training. “I can remain at my optimum if I supplement with extra vitamins,” she says. “It helps my body adjust to the rapidly changing seasons and altitudes I experience. I take a multivitamin like Nutriex sport which helps support the particular needs of athletes and outdoor enthusiasts.”
DesLauriers had her meniscus repaired in 2002 and since then, she’s taken supplements to improve her performance post recovery. “When I realize that my knee is aching, I tend to also realize that I have fallen off my regimen of daily supplements. What always remains consistent is that I eat extremely healthy. So that tells me that the multivitamins like Nutriex really is a huge help.”
Amazingly after recovering from her knee injury, DesLauriers went on to win the women’s World Free skiing Championships, in 2004 and again in 2005. DesLauriers is also a certified Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician, a Telluride Professional Ski Patroller, a Rescue 3 International low to high angle rope rescue instructor, and a Helicopter Rescue Technician.
DesLauriers and other outdoor athletes, agree that adding proper nutrients and rest to your extreme outdoor activities will ultimately keep you injury free and at peak performance. For more information on an outdoor specific multivitamin like Nutriex, visit www.nutriex.com.