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PRE SEASON
CHRIS CARMICHAEL
Contributing Editor for The Master Skier
Chris Carmichael is founder and chairman of Carmichael Training Systems (CTS). CTS coaches endurance athletes of all levels in a variety of sports. Tim Crowley is a certified CTS coach and an avid cross country skier in New England. To learn more about CTS, visit the website at www.trainright.com
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For years, cyclists in the cold, snowy climates have used cross country skiing to maintain fitness, gain strength and become mentally refreshed for the next season.
Skiers can use cycling to gain strength and power during the summer and early fall as part of their preseason training in preparation for the upcoming Nordic season.
In the late eighties, Greg LeMond used skate skiing in Minnesota to train during the winter months.
Noted cyclist Davis Phinney, and top Ironman triathlete Ray Browning have both experienced success as Nordic skiers.
Even Bjorn Daehlie and the Norwegian Junior National Team use cycling as an integral part of their off-season program.
All skiers can utilize cycling successfully in all periods of the training year. Bike training is especially useful for those who skate ski. While running is more specific to classic skiing, the endurance and strength gained by using the pedaling motion is specific to the skate stride.
This article will demonstrate how to build endurance, power and strength on the bike, as well as ways to integrate it into your existing training.
Benefits of Cycling to Skiers
Before you start pounding on the pedals, there are a few things to consider.
First, the heart rates you are using on snow, or roller skiing, will be higher than those used on the bike.
It would be wise to perform a lactate threshold field test to determine your actual bike threshold. This will ensure you are training at the correct intensities and avoid running the risk of over training.
The best way to determine your cycling lactate threshold is to conduct a Field Test. After a good warm up, conduct a 10k bike time trial on flat ground. Note the average heart rate during the field test. This will give you a working estimate of your current cycling threshold.
The bike you choose and the terrain you train on will affect the results you achieve. A road bike will allow for a wider range of training options, such as endurance rides, recovery sessions and threshold work. Mountain biking on trails will enhance your strength and power, but may make recovery rides difficult.
Never the less, off road riding is an excellent way to explore new trail networks and find new training loops.
With the variety of quality indoor trainers, excellent workouts can be done in minimal time and in the comfort of your own home. This is especially useful for those who have to train in the early morning or at night, since running and roller skiing in the dark can be unsafe.
Workloads and heart rates can be carefully controlled indoors, making for accurate and time efficient training sessions. Indoor trainers range in cost from about a hundred dollars for a basic wind trainer or rollers, to over a thousand for a system with all the bells and whistles.
Benefits to Masters Skiers
The benefits to masters skiers who incorporate cycling into their training are plentiful.
VO2max is a key performance variable that declines with age. Research carried out by famed physiologist Michael Pollack of Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Wisconsin found that high intensity training helped preserve VO2 max values in masters athletes.
We also know that masters athletes require longer recovery times between intense training sessions. Since cycling is more forgiving on the joints and muscles than running, you can use quality bike workouts to raise the overall intensity of your training with less risk of injury.
Lee Borowski, the author of Optimal Cross Country Ski Training and a contributing editor to The Master Skier, points out in his book, ‘...cyclists make the transition to Nordic skiing, skate skiing in particular, due to enhanced leg power developed on the bike.’
Bike training is ideal for power development, since cadence, resistance and heart rate intensities can be manipulated.
In the last chapter of his book, Borowski highlights the connection between cycling and ski training. The premise being that increased power and the ability to train at or just below lactate threshold will yield results in any endurance sport.
Part 2, next issue.
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