Drew Goldsack may be a recent addition to the Alberta World Cup Academy but he’s not stranger to hard training. After 8 years on the Canadian National Team, Goldsack joined the Alberta World Cup Academy, a recently instated Canadian Training Centre and he’s enjoying every minute of it. Being on the AWCA has reunited him with former National Ski Team coach Mike Cavaliere and former teammate Chris Jeffries. “Working with The Alberta World Cup Academy this year has been a great change of pace for me and has brought a new source of energy and enthusiasm to my training for the coming season,” said Goldsack of his new team.
As a sprinter, Goldsack enjoys a good hard session in the gym. “Strength is important for any skier, especially for sprinters,” said Goldsack. He likes them because he finds it easy to see improvements and a good way to test his absolute limits. He was introduced to power lifting by NST strength coach Matt Jordan and is currently working with his AWCA strength coach Rob Sofer, as well as head coach Mike Cavaliere. Right now, Goldsack and the AWCA are in a power phase of their strength sessions.
The workout typically starts with a short run including some agility and balance work, followed by 15-20 minutes of dynamic stretching, light core strength and jumps/hops.
When doing a hard session in the gym, Goldsack does a warm-up set of each exercise with 30% of the weight he’ll be lifting. He does 3 sets of 4-8 reps, lifting max weight. The focus is on the speed of movement for the concentric, or explosive contracting phase of the muscles and the transition between the concentric and eccentric, or decelerating motions.
Goldsack’s program includes exercises such Olympic lifts, barbell snatches and barbell split snatches. “These exercises require a lot of technique to be effective and are a great leg, core and arm workout if done properly,” said Goldsack.
These are followed up by squats, chin-ups, bench press, push ups and seated rowing.
These workouts will develop speed and power. They link upper and lower body strength so explosive power can be delivered efficiently through the arms and legs. For skiing, this means better speed, more power on uphills and allows the skier the ability to accelerate quickly.
Goldsack does these types of power sessions twice a week late in the summer and through the fall with adjustments depending on volume and intensity of his otherworkouts for the week. Each workout focuses on either upper or lower body, but usually both are used.
He’ll be focusing on the skate sprint at the World Championships and trying to get back into regular starts on the World Cup.
“I’m taking things year by year now but my main goal is to get back to a level of racing even higher than where I was at before my injury,” said Goldsack.
