Telemark training on/off season

Question
I am an expert telemark skier but I suffer from burned out legs quite often.  I am curious to know what binding I should be using.  I'm 200lbs, 6'1" and drop quite low in most of my turns.  I use the G3 with the expert cartridges.  What binding is stiffer?  Is the bishop bomber stiffer?  ALso, what type of leg excercises should I be doing?

Answer
hi and thanks for the question.
if your legs are burning out - you may need to adjust your technique. Possible finer adjustments may need to be made to your front and/or back foot position. If these are slightly out - it will change the way you balance [using more muscle rather than skeleton].

exercises that will help include [only do what you can, use a personal/professional trainer if you are new to this type of exercise to avoid injury]:

isometrics:
lean against a wall, knee/hip at 90deg and hold as long as you can building up in time. You can also drop a little lower in the knee - however be careful doing these as you need to be able to get yourself out of the position to avoid damaging your knees.
squats:
vary your foot width, depth of squat and be aware that your toes must point in the same direction as your knee. You may also like to try putting one foot at a different height [telephone book or step] as this will isolate one leg.
lunges:
step forward and back - do top then bottom halves. put front/back foot on a step to increase difficulty.

telemark skiing needs not only strength but also flexibility, so work toward incresing your range of movement in the hips as well as having good flexible hamstrings & quads. other areas you can build up will be abdominals [as they are the core stability muscles], back, calves.  
Also look at your overall general fitness - if this is lacking, then it will effect your day. Other things to consider are diet and rest leading up to your ski trip/days.  Most people work lots and eat poorly prior to a ski holiday trying to get everything done - this then hinders their trip because they arrive burnt out before they have even thought about clicking into bindings.


As for bindings, i am unable to assist with specific brands as i am not up-to-date with these. im not sure why you want a more stiff binding tho? Are you popping out the ones you have? If so, this is technique.

Hope this has been helpful, enjoy your skidays

lisa