BNS News

One of the big challenges we face as cross-country skiers is that we can't ski year-round and so we are forced to spend long periods of the year training in other modes than skiing.  Fall training should focus on preparing for this transition to snow and provide the final base for the long winter season ahead.  The summer months have hopefully provided a large aerobic and strength base to which the fall training will add more ski-specific strength, intensity and endurance work.  Casual skiers should focus on gradually building core strength and ski-specific strength and endurance.  Elite racers will be ramping up their high-end fitness with the first races on snow only a few weeks away.

For many of us, the summer has been filled with leg-focused aerobic activities like running and cycling.  These activities provide great aerobic fitness, but often neglect strength, especially in the upper body.  Making a smooth transition to snow requires that the skier has aerobic capacity to supply the entire body with Oxygen and Energy, Core Strength to be able to stabilize the body while the extremities push on the skis and poles, and specific strength in legs and arms to be able to pole and push strongly for long periods of time.

No matter what your fitness level or goals are, training at this point should be fairly simple.  Being smart and following these general tips over the next two months will bring you to snow prepared and make the transition to snow fun and easy.

1.  Gradually introduce new stresses.  Your body needs time to adapt to new movement patterns and exercises.  Increase the stress slowly and allow time to recover and rebuild.  Listen to your body.
2. To maximize the benefits of your training, prioritize your weekly workouts in this order: intensity, strength, speed/neuromuscular, endurance/distance.  Always get the first three in and then fill in the rest of your training with endurance.
3. Do Core Strength 2-4 times per week.  Regularly.  A simple 15-minute routine in the morning, evening or end of an aerobic workout gets the job done efficiently and effectively.  Make it a routine.
4. Add ski-specific strength to your strength and endurance training.  Dips, pull-ups, squats, Lat Pull downs, cable rows, push-ups and triceps extensions are great in the gym or at home with a stretch cord.  Rollerskiing is the best way to ease the transition to snow.  Add time double-poling, single-poling and skating without poles to your "regular" rollerski workouts.  For example, skate easy for 20 minutes, double-pole for 15 minutes, skate without poles for 15 minutes, then skate for 30 minutes, occasionally single-poling up a 200m hill.
5. Train at different speeds: slow in most of your endurance workouts, fast on intensity days.  While this is a topic to fill a large book, in general, go fast 1-2 times per week and comfortably slow for the rest of your workouts.  Intervals, sustained tempo and races count toward intensity.
6. Gradually increase ski-specificity the closer you are to snow.