XC Ski Training
Balance Quietly for More Power and Efficiency
By Doug Garfield
I recommended this series of two articles to Silent Sports because I thought they would be very helpful to many readers, especially those who took up skiing after
their teenage years, where balance can be more of a hurdle. This magazine is particularly suited for these articles, because almost every skier I talk to on the trails and at races is an avid reader of Silent Sports; I know, because they tell me. And one thing is clear as I watch them on the trails, for many balance is a limiting factor for their enjoyment of skiing. There is little doubt that Garfield's exercises will help most of these skiers.
One example: My workout partner
Bob Bodensteiner is hardly a beginning roller skier; but like most adults who start skiing, complete, uninhibited weight transfer has been an elusive ability. Sometimes he'd have it, but the next time it would be gone. I convinced Bob to give these drills a try to see if they would help. Then I didn't see him for a couple of weeks. When we got together again, was I surprised. His balance was much better, especially the Open Field Skate in faster conditions. Where he used to straddle the trail
in an incomplete weight transfer, he now confidently rode a "steady ski." But the biggest thing I noticed was that he was making me work harder to keep up.
So if an experienced roller skier of 15 years can make that kind of improvement in two weeks, there's a good chance these exercises will help you. And Bob did nothing else in that time any differently.
Lee Borowski
The Situation To cross country ski with power and efficiency, skiers must balance quietly. Quiet balance is economical and effective. It's achieved with small, subconscious corrections that are imperceptible to the outside world. To skiers, it's vital because quiet balance lets you glide on a steady ski. A steady ski is a thing of beauty. It not only
glides faster and farther after each push, it feels secure and capable of dismissing every imperfection left by Mother Nature or Pisten Bully. It rewards you with faster times, better tours, and it sends your back to the trail with a smile because it's so much fun to ride.
In comparison, if your balance is noisy – more frequent, bigger corrections – you create an unsteady gliding ski. In your search for the stable sweet spot, you constantly move the focus of pressure around and
around. Every rock, roll and balance–saving totter transfers directly, creating extra friction. The snow has no choice. It must obey Newton's Third Law, the law of reaction, which commands it to press back against your P–Tex with energy matching your wobbles. As a result, you lose momentum and need to kick or skate earlier than if you glided on a steady ski.
The Remedy
It doesn't matter whether you stride, skate, race or tour, if you increase your balance skill and stabilization strength, you will balance more quietly and glide on a steady ski. Fortunately, the ability to balance quietly is not evasive, finding its way only to the genetically elite. With surprisingly little practice, you can enjoy more power and greater energy efficiency.
Quiet Balance in Two–Part Harmony
Quiet balance comprises two components, proprioception and stabilization. Together, they form a vital alliance, an amazing brain–to–brawn operation, that, when properly tuned, liberates precision and efficiency, invaluable assets for racing and touring.
Proprioception
Proprioception is the nerve center of quiet balance. It supplements your vision, which is essential to balance, with a continuous stream of sensory information captured throughout your body by specialized receptors called proprioceptors. They are responsible for the keen sense you have of your body's
position, called kinesthetic sense.
Combined, your proprioceptors faithfully check the status of your balance and create the solutions to correct any deviations that, if left unchecked, may topple you. Proprioception needs a partner, however, to implement its sophisticated schemes. That partner is muscle, muscle for stabilization, the second component of quiet balance.
Stabilization
Stabilization is the application of muscle force for support so you can sit, stand and ski with aplomb. You have two types of stabilizing muscles, primary and secondary, and both are directed by your proprioceptors.
Primary Stabilization
The core muscles that support your trunk – your spinal erectors and the  muscles of your abdominal wall are good examples – perform the critical task of primary stabilization. The firmer you make your trunk by strengthening your core muscles – front, back and sides – the
more locomotive power your arms and legs can liberate. Why? A stronger trunk is not only a firmer anchor for your arms and legs to work against (greater efficiency), it also does more balancing, which allows your power muscles to focus on moving you, not keeping you upright. To race with efficiency and power, you must excel at primary stabilization.
Hunk of a trunk, strong and stable
Secondary Stabilization
The muscles that stabilize and steer the joints of your arms and legs do the work of secondary stabilization. Here secondary doesn't mean less important. In this context, it means second in line to the stabilization of
your trunk. Secondary stabilization braces the joints of your arms and legs like your primary stabilizers brace your trunk.
Power and stability at the knee joint.
 Consider your knee joints. Your quadriceps attach in front so that they can extend your
knees with power. Other muscles, like the tensor fascia lata and sartorius, curve around your knee joints. These muscles stabilize and steer your knees so that you can move efficiently. All the joints of your arms and legs have similar muscles to support them.
How Do You Improve Quiet Balance?
If you challenge your proprioceptors and stabilizing muscles in ways that are specific to the functional demands of cross country skiing, you will improve your ability to quiet balance. Specificity is key. For example, most of us learned to ride a bike and do other balance–intensive activities before we learned to ski and snowboard. But none of these forerunner activities, all requiring good balance, gave us the knack, the specific balance to ride a steady ski.
Don't use your arms to help you balance, it will reduce the overload on your primary and secondary stabilizers.
If you need more challenge, close your eyes. Be prepared to fall.
This article is an excerpt from the book, The Steady Ski by Doug Garfield ($19.95 + S&H), which includes the complete program of 11 circuits and 25 exercises. To order The Steady Ski, call 1–877–V2JENEX.
Before earning a doctorate in exercise physiology from Syracuse
University, Doug Garfield rowed for the Canadian National Rowing Team and cross country ski raced in winter. After college teaching and research, he became an entrepreneur, founding ExperCorp, Bioform Engineering, the maker of CyclePlus®, and in 1994, Motioneering Inc. to offer elite and recreational athletes practical sports science affordably. Garfield roller skis in summer and ski tours in winter.
The Big–Five Circuit
Here are five, quiet–balance exercises for cross country skiers. Before a workout, they will help you shake off the distractions of the day, and after, they're a nice re–entry back to civilian life. The Big Five are:
1. Heel–Toe Rock (balance): With your feet hip–width apart, rise up on to your toes and hold for a few seconds, then slowly lower your heels to the floor and immediately rock back on your heels lifting your toes with control. Lower your toes and repeat five to 10 times. 2. Hip Circles (balance): Balanced on one leg, circle your extended, free leg with your hip muscles. Do all three positions alternating legs. Vary your stance–leg's knee angle. Do five to ten circles per position. 3. Swivels (balance): In a balanced telemark with your right foot directly in front of your left, rotate your body 180° to the left so that you end up in a telemark position with your left foot in the lead. Stay in your telemark as you rotate. Reverse direction and repeat nonstop for five rotations in each direction.  4. T–Pose (primary stabilization): Balanced on one leg, rotate your trunk and free leg until they're parallel to the floor. If you need help with balance, use a counter–height structure. Quiet balance in this position for two to three breaths, then switch stance legs and repeat. Do three to five
repetitions per leg, alternating legs. More challenge? Do slow quarter squats.  5. Trunk and Hips (secondary stabilization): Do a set of ab crunches, then position yourself in the raised position of a standard push–up. Firm
up your abdominal wall, then lift your right leg with your hip and hold for one breath cycle, then lower it to the start and repeat with your left leg. Do five to 10 repetitions per hip, alternating sides. Work on gradually reducing the number and size of your balance corrections, including the small movements in your feet.
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