For decades I have been approached by skiers that are asking me asked me why I suggest doing diagonal skiing on rollerskis. They have been told that – “it’s bad for your technique” and that they should avoid it.
Here are some reasons why it’s good for you, as well as what you need to work on to reap the benefits from this training method.
My approach is that diagonal skiing on rollerskis is great for developing both MaxVO2 and technique, if you know what you are doing and what you should be working on. Good skiers will benefit more from doing this than beginners and intermediate skiers. The good thing is that everyone can learn to do this right and benefit tremendously from it — just pay attention.Â
 skis to track straight forward. You can lose balance!</p><p>The ratcheted wheels (to replace the effect of kick wax) on classic rollerskis that are making it possible to kick and accelerate forward also make it possible to “sit back on the kick ski†and kick hard and effectively without proper weight-shift. Late kick and skiing with no weight-shift are, of course, what you should avoid.<BR><center><img decoding=)
To ski technically well practice the following:
– Start the kick early and get your weight off the kick ski as soon as possible
– Move your weight forward and onto the glide ski. This ski is now the kick ski — kick early, fast and strive for early weight shift.
– Get the rear wheel on the kick ski off the ground early. A sign of poor weight shift is often that the rear wheel on the kick ski stays on the ground through the whole kick phase. That’s called “sitting on the rear wheel or skiing without weight shiftâ€.
So get the rear wheel off the ground early by moving the weight onto the glide ski by slightly bending the knee in the kick leg when the kick leg is passing the glide ski. Avoid bending the kick leg in the final phase of the back motion too much and/or bringing the heel of your foot close toward your butt — that’s called “bikingâ€.
– In the beginning work hard on kicking straight back and work on steering the ski straight forward in the recovery or weight shift phase. This will after a while feel natural.
The benefits of doing diagonal on rollerskis
The main benefits from doing diagonal skiing on rollerskis is that when used for interval training in uphill it’s one of the most specific and therefore among the best ways of developing a high MaxVO2. I suggest for that reason alternating your interval training between skating, running/walking with poles and using a mix of double poling and diagonal skiing in uphills.
Won’t straight double poling make me stronger?
Another argument against using diagonal skiing on rollerskis for interval training is often that you should double pole instead and get stronger. Double poling will correctly make you a stronger double-poler but leaving out using your legs is reducing the very positive effect diagonal can have on your Max VO2. Straight double poling will on the other hand have a very positive affect on your upper body. For that reason do some sessions as a combination of diagonal and double pole with kick in order to develop MaxVO2 and do some (other) session with strictly double poling (no kick) in order to develop upper body Max Vo2 and strength.
