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There is a saying that skiers are made in the summer. A efficient off-season training programme will enable skiers at all levels to give their best performance, prevent injury and allow for maximum enjoyment throughout the ski season.
To prepare for the winter you must plan in the summer. You will need to make a summer training programme that includes endurance training, strength training and other exercises that develop balance and coordination, so that your body can work efficiently when it is time to ski!
Table of Contents
Dryland Training
Most commonly known as “strength and conditioning training”, dryland training involves any physical activity included in the Summer Cross-Country Ski Training Programme. The purpose of the programme is too physically prepare the body by enhancing physical strength, endurance, flexibility, mobility and balance.
The end goal of dryland training is to pre-season training to ensure the skiers is in the best shape possible before ski season starts. This will not only helps physically prepare the body stamina, but it will also help prevent injuries and increase enjoyment.
Developing a Training Programme
A Summer Cross-Country Ski Training Programme should include:
Cardiovascular or Aerobic Training
targets the muscles’ ability to make the best use of oxygen so that they can produce energy for movement. The ability to provide the muscles with enough oxygen-rich blood to perform vital, and cardiovascular training is often considered to be the most important type of physical fitness. Cardiovascular training exercise:
- Jogging
- Biking
- Nordic Walking
- Swimming
- Roller skiing
Anaerobic Training
Anaerobic fitness is that which is directly related to short powerful bursts and fast movements. Exercises should be intense enough to cause the creation of lactate, enhancing strength, speed and power.
- Weight-lifting,
- Sprinting,
- Plyometrics
- Isometrics
- High-intensity interval training (HIIT) with repetitive short and powerful movements.
Flexibility Training
Flexibility training increases our range of movement. The increased mobility will help perform other exercises with less effort, prevent injuries, enhanced posture and improved balanced.
Muscular Strength & Endurance Training
Muscular strength is a type of fitness directly related to muscle density and endurance. It is essential that cross-country skiers have the strength to repeatedly work against the resistance of their body weight under the additional forces created by XC skiing. Muscular endurance and strength training also have number of other positive impacts on the body, including increased bone density to reduce the risk of osteoporosis. weight management and increase metabolism.
Motor-Skills Training
Motor-skill Training refers to your ability to learn and develop basic physical skills:
- Agility
- Balance
- Coordination
- Reaction time
- Speed
These fitness elements are key building blocks to successful ski season, and can also benefit normal everyday life. Balance and coordination, for example, are used during common tasks such as walking or carrying the beers back to the table after finishing on the ski trails.
Training Periodisation
Periodisation the is the systematic planning of the long-term training, which is broken down further into smaller training cycles. These cycles move through phases, which work towards fitness goals, providing structures and content to the training programme. These cycles are sequenced in such to allow for varying amounts of stress. whilst providing time of optimal recovery.
Macrocycles
A microcycle is the shortest training cycle, typically lasting a week with the goal to facilitate a focused block of training. Each microcycle is planned based on where it is in the overall macrocycle.
Microcycles vary the levels of stress on the skier throughout the week’s training plan. This will allow for the implementation of sessions that focus on; skill progressions, volume, load or recovery.
An example of this is an aerobic endurance training week, where a skier plans three or four long aerobic based session together to progressively overload their training volume.
Day | Activity | Duration | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
Day | Activity | Duration | Intensity | Monday | Mountain Bike | 180 mins | 70-80% MHR |
Tuesday | Roller Ski | 180 mins | 70-80% MHR |
Wednesday | Recovery | – | – |
Thursday | Balance Training Slack-line | 60 mins | 60-70% MHR |
Friday | Nordic Walking | 300 mins | 70-80% MHR |
Saturday | Yoga | 130 mins | 60-70% MHR |
Sunday | Recovery | – | – |
Mesocycles
The mesocycle represents a specific training block, typically made up of 3-4 microcycles focused a particular goal. Training is focused towards improving the specific physical adaptations, e.g. strength endurance, maximal strength, and power.
Macrocycles
A macrocycle is the longest of the three cycles and typically includes the main stages of the training programme, for example this maybe:
Preparation
Pre-competition
Competition
Transition
The preparation phase is broken up into general and specific preparation. An example of general preparation would be building an aerobic base needed for cross-country skiing, such as running on a treadmill or by working through multiple microcycles.
An example of specific preparation would be to work on the proper form to be more efficient skier.
The competitive phase can be several competitions, which lead to the main competition. The competitive phase ends with tapering for the competition.
The transition phase is important for psychological reasons, a year dedicating time towards training means some time off is just as important!
5 Exercises for Summer Cross-Country Ski Training
If you have ever been struggling for air skiing up a hill, found it hard to maintain your balance on an icy track or wondering why it feels so goddamn painful. Here are 5 exercises that you should include in your summer cross-country ski training programme.
01. Roller Skiing
Roller skis is actually pretty similar to cross-country skiing, therefore as an excellent way develop endurance, balance, coordination and movement pattens. You can purchase roller skis both in classic and skating modals. The classic ski has a ratchet system in the wheel, preventing them from rolling back. Adding roller skiing your summer cross-country ski training programme will keep your skiing skills sharpe. To roller ski you will need same balance as on a regular ski and you can use all the techniques, allowing you to keep the same level of performance all year long.
02. Slackline and Balances Board
Fine-tuning your balance in the off-season is a must, in order to prepare your body for the winter season. The use of a slackfline or balance board is a great way to get improve balance, strengthen lower body muscles and increase core stability.
03. Plyometric Exercises
The Plyometric exercises, also known as Plyos or Jump Training, may include lunges, quick jumps, clap pushups and reverse lunges all preformed in rapid successions. Research has proven that plyometric exercises can build muscles, improve athleticism, and increase speed and power.
04. Nordic Walking
Nordic walking, ski walking and nordic bounding or classic dryland training methods and helps improve your skiing fitness. You can also use ski poles while you are doing so. using the ski poles will help maintain skiing posture and reduce negative impact to your ankles and knees while walking downhill.
05. Running
Running is a great way build endurance, strength and balance to during the summer. To make sure your running helps you with the skiing, press through the toes and ball of your foot when you push off.
About the Author
Dave Lamb
Dave is outdoorsman with a passion for sport. In his former year a member of the Great Britain XC skiing & Biathlon Team's. Since 2013 Dave has worked in the outdoor industry as a BASI Trainer and a trainer / assessor for rock climbing, mountain biking and mountaineering instructors. You can usually find him in the backcountry, looking for stories to share.
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