Quads burn
Most of the time it is the back seat. When your hips sit behind your feet, your quads hold you up through the whole turn instead of the ski carrying you. Move the same skier over the middle of the foot and the quad bar drops.
quads working · shin muscles working
Muscle load
Easy, can hold all dayWorkingBurningTick: average through the turn
Tail at the finish
14%
The fix: 5%
Tip at the finish
4%
The fix: 12%
Showing: Your stance. 55% back.
Shown for the default skier: 92 kg on the K2 Mindbender 89 Ti at the finish of the turn, 3 mm of boot play, groomed snow.
Your quads work whenever your knees have to hold a bent position under load. Stand tall and your bones carry the weight. Crouch and the muscle carries it. Some burn is normal. The question is whether your quads are doing more than the turn needs.
The usual reason they do more is the back seat. If your hips drift behind your feet, the weight lands on the tails and your knees stay bent to stop you tipping backwards. Your quads brace for the whole turn. You are no longer steering the ski, you are holding yourself up on it. The figure above puts the same skier in two stances so you can watch the quad bar change.
Skiers who ask about this are often in new boots. A boot with more forward lean or a higher heel ramp than your last pair pushes your shin forward. If your ankle can not follow, you pull your feet back and sit down to compensate, and the burn comes with it. If it started the week you changed boots or skis, the gear is the first suspect, not your fitness.
A fit skier who is balanced still burns, but later in the day and evenly in both legs. If your quads are fine on easy groomers and only burn when you push, or only in the new gear, look at the boot or the ski before the gym. If your quads are fine all day, the model points away from the back seat and towards the ski or the boot.
Change one thing at a time. Try the cue in the list below for two runs on a slope you know. If the burn eases on the same run, you have your answer. If nothing changes, move down the list, and take a short video from the side if you can. Most people sit further back than they think, and the camera shows it.
The model’s first match for this symptom is you're sitting back (63% of the evidence). Here is what else it ranks, and how to tell each one apart.
Play in the boot means your input arrives late and partly lost, so you end up chasing your balance, usually backwards.
How to tell: It started with new boots, or your heel lifts as you flex. A loose boot makes you chase your balance, usually backwards.
Model check: With 8 mm of play the ski loses 44% of your fore/aft movement and gets it 368 ms late.
Getting the edge by leaning in rather than angulating loads the ski harder and leaves less grip in reserve.
How to tell: You get the edge by leaning your whole body in. Your outside leg burns on one side more than the other, and your skis feel loaded rather than grippy.
Model check: Leaning in puts 1.31× body weight on the ski; angulating at the same edge angle drops it to 1.11×.
If the burn started with new boots, take them back to the shop that fitted them and tell them what you feel. A change to forward lean or the heel ramp is a ten-minute job. Compare skis if you suspect the ski is working against you.
Compare skisTired, burning muscle is normal. Sharp pain, pain in a joint, or pain that stays after a rest day is a different thing. See a physio.
Pain or injury? This tool is for how skiing feels, not medical advice. See a physio.
Not medical advice. Edge Lab describes how skiing feels and why.
The model above uses a default skier. Add your weight, skis and boots and see your own numbers.
Check your own setup