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PRE SEASON
DAN HEIL, Ph.D.
Contributing Editor for The Master Skier
Dan Heil is an avid Master skier from Bozeman, MT, and an Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology at Montana State. Dan also serves as director of the Movement Science / Human Per-for-mance Lab for testing local master and junior Nordic athletes.
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US Ski Team's Andy Newell leads training clinic.
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I skied the Boulder Mountain Tour (BMT) skate race in 2003 for the first time and absolutely loved it! So, I made it a goal to do this race again.
Fast forward to the 2005 ski season… I’m busy. No, I’m extremely busy with the usual juggling of work and personal life. So much so, in fact, that I really do not have time for the short drive to the local ski area. Frankly, I did not have time to keep my skis waxed either.
Since I was already preregistered for the 2005 BMT, I did what any self-respecting exercise-addict would do - I cross-trained!
With only a fraction of the usual ski-specific training under my belt, I did the 2005 BMT and actually had a good time (1:22:18) and placed well for my abilities (93rd overall).
Interestingly, in 2003 I was only slightly faster (1:18:31) but placed similarly to 2005 (94th overall), while the overall winning time for 2005 (1:09:43) was also slower than that for the 2003 race (1:06:27).
With a few calculations I determined that my 2005 time was 18.0% off the winning time (12:35 mins slower) while my 2003 time was only 18.2% off (12:05 mins slower).
You do not need to be a statistician to realize that my 2003 and 2005 BMT races were essentially identical despite drastically different training programs.
How did this happen with lots of ski-specific training in 2003 and relatively little ski-specific training in 2005? The answer resides in the cross training emphasized for the 2005 season.
What is Cross Training?
Cross training is often defined as participating in a training program that emphasizes multiple fitness components (e.g. strength, endurance, flexibility).
Cross training was first popularized in the 1980’s with the meteoric rise in popularity of triathlons.
Cross training is now a fundamental way of training imbedded within most competitive sports as a way to decrease the risk of overuse injuries, increase total training volume during the base-training phase, as well as a research-proven method for improving athletic performance.
A key concept with cross training, however, is that the physiological and neuromuscular adaptations from training will most likely “cross over” to activities with similar physiological and neuromuscular demands.
Roller skiing, for example, is a highly specific form of cross training while hiking and bicycling are far less specific.
The Evidence
Fortunately, I have kept meticulous computer-based training records over the years that minimally includes the type and duration of each activity for each day, some indication of the intensity level (using heart rate training zones), as well as splits for workouts that include intervals.
Using the five months preceding each race and beginning with the 2003 BMT, I found that I had put in 180 hrs of training, 70% of which was specific to skiing (roller skiing or snow skiing).
For the same time period in 2005, I put in 200 hours of training, 43% of which was specific to skiing.
More interestingly, during the two months immediately prior to the 2003 BMT, 91% of my training was specific to skiing but only 46% for the same time period preceding the 2005 BMT.
I also participated in four local ski races before the 2003 BMT but only one before the 2005 BMT.
Clearly, I was focused on Nordic training and racing in 2003 and NOT in 2005.
If this is true, why were my 2003 and 2005 performances identical? If I was not doing ski specific training, what was I doing instead?
The answer to these questions comes in three parts:
1. Training Volume
In 2005 my training volume was actually a little higher than 2003 (200 vs. 180 hours for the five month period) despite my busy schedule.
The time saved by not driving and waxing my skis so frequently allowed me to accomplish more total training AND take care of my work-related demands.
2. Specificity of Cross Training Exercises
In 2005 my ski-specific training was half that in 2003 (46% vs. 91% of total hrs) during the eight weeks prior to the BMT, while the balance of training time was spent running (20%), swimming (20%) or resistance training (4%).
The running helped maintain the muscular and cardiovascular adaptations specific to the lower body, while swimming did the same for my upper body.
The key here, of course, is that the physiological demands of these activities on the lower and upper body musculature were able to “cross over” nicely to Nordic skiing.
3. Physiological vs. Neuromuscular Adaptations
Cross training is far more likely to benefit the skilled versus nonskilled Nordic skier.
Nordic skiing is a high skill activity that requires a phenomenal integration of cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular coordination and kinesthetic awareness.
How many other competitive sports require athletes to attach skinny boards to the feet, poles to the hands and then propel themselves as fast as possible through the woods at high speeds with hundreds (or thousands) like fitted athletes?
Ski specific activities train the neuromuscular system in a manner that other activities (such as bicycling and running, generally considered low-skill activities) will never be able to emulate. Thus, skilled Master skiers will benefit the most from cross training because their on-snow skills have already been developed.
Low-skilled skiers should emphasize as much ski-specific activities as possible to emphasize both physiological and neuromuscular adaptations.
Why is This Important to Master Skiers?
At one time or another, every Master skier struggles with balancing their desire to ski and train hard with the conflicting demands of out-of-town travel, sickness, injury or just a hectic daily schedule.
Skiers should realize that cross training during the ski season can be a great tool for maintaining or increasing training volume when on-snow training is not possible (e.g. traveling out-of-town, bad local snow, etc.).
With this in mind, cross training could be absolutely perfect for maintaining your conditioning for that end-of-season ski race given unfavorable local snow conditions.
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