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Develop poling prowess by John Burns
When it comes to training cross-country skiers, I've found that the typical upper body weight room training routines consist of free weights, weight machines and use of medicine balls. These can be beneficial for developing the general strength of ski specific muscles, but they tend not to develop the upper body's full power potential. To best propel one's body mass down a ski trail, it is important that the upper body's musculature complement the power endurance of the lower body. To that end, I have put the research findings of Paavolainen et. al. (Applied Physiology, 1999) to use in an upper body strength training workout that will help skiers enhance their overall poling prowess or their upper body power endurance. In the above-mentioned study, endur-ance athletes who incorporated plyometrics into their training regimens were able to improve their running economy and power endurance. The lower body plyometric drills studied are now utilized by many cross-country skiers to facilitate the development of maximum, explosive strength as well as facilitate adaptive changes in Type II anaerobic (slow-twitch) muscle fibers in a way that allows them to perform more like Type I aerobic (fast-twitch) fibers. The ability to recruit slow-twitch fibers – generally only utilized during short bursts of exertion – over longer durations can greatly enhance a skier's ability to traverse the terrain with greater power and endurance. Adding body suspension exercises into a skier's weekly workout routine can provide this type of power endurance training for the upper body. Body suspension exercises are exercises that require the participant to displace their own body weight against the resistance of gravity – essentially what one needs to do to ski uphill. Climbing ropes and suspended chains allow one to work ski-specific muscle groups of the upper body in multiple planes of motion. I contend that if a skier is limited in their ability to manipulate their own body weight in this fashion, they will not be as powerful as they could be when double poling, diagonal striding or skate skiing. With this in mind, I've developed a comprehensive maximum strength training program that addresses the ski-specific prime movers of the upper and lower body to address the various techniques of cross-country skiing. What you will need: • A climbing rope that will tax the latisimus dorsi and bicep muscles needed to skate ski the V-1 technique. • Two or three suspended chains with hand grips that will tax the poling muscles in the sagital and frontal planes enhancing double poling, V1 and V2 poling actions. • Basement rafters and the hardware necessary to suspend the rope and chains. • Step-up platforms if you want to alternate between upper and lower body drills. • A stop watch to time two-minute intervals with 10 to 15 seconds of rest in between. In the focused intensive strength training (FIST) workout I've developed (now on DVD), I utilize the above-mentioned apparatus in a circuit-training fashion. I suggest alternating stations every two minutes between the upper extremities (utilizing body suspension exercises) and lower extremities (utilizing plyometric bounding and step-up drills) to stress all the ski-specific muscles and resting for 10 to 15 seconds between stations. Perform as many reps as you can at each station in two minutes. The simple goal is to fatigue the muscle groups involved. Research suggests that you only need to fatigue the muscle to facilitate an adaptive response. In due course, you will improve your upper body's strength, power and endurance for enhanced poling prowess. And what would otherwise take hours of double poling to accomplish, this workout takes fewer than 40 minutes to complete. John Burns MS, PT, LAc, coaches the Tao F.I.T. Ski Team and is the creator of the XC Ski F.I.T. Series on DVD for skiers wanting to improve technique, increase strength and agility and prevent injuries. Burns leads a regularly scheduled group training workout at Lapham Peak State Park in Dousman, Wisconsin. For the FIST workout or any of the other XC Ski F.I.T. DVDs, contact John Burns at jburns8@wi.rr.com.
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