Kjœlstad Experimented with Training Prior to World Cup

Johan Kjœlstad felt like his form was so good after the recent stair workout he did in Livigno (site of a recent Norwegian Sprint national team camp) that he wants to try it prior to the Düsseldorf sprint.

“I’m planning to do some stair training on Friday. I’m doing this in order to get some spenst in the legs and because it worked well in Livigno,” says Johan Kjœlstad to langrenn.com.

Half Length
Kjœlstad isn’t worried about getting stiff prior to Saturday’s competitions.

”I have continually done the same type of workout since May, so it shouldn’t be a problem. However, I do plan to only do half the length compared to what I normally do. The hard period of the workout will be about 15 minutes in length, including the rest periods,” explains Kjœlstad.

Last year Kjœlstad opened with a 14th place, but is hoping to improve on that result this year.

“This year I want to try something new that will hopefully work better. The goal is a place in the final. But it is still early and the competitions in Düsseldorf won’t predict how things will go in the rest of the season.”

Close to the Edge
The challenge for the Norwegian will be to last through all the heats. Kjœlstad describes himself as a typical sprinter, but this year he has trained more to increase his capacity. He has been quite happy with the previous two weeks’ altitude camp.

“We were very disciplined and concentrated on keeping the intensity low. This was nice after the hard period just prior to the camp. I was a little close to the edge after a lot of hard training prior to this camp, but this was a conscious decision and something that I had planned for.

Together with Øystein Pettersen, he stayed at the back of the workouts in Livgno and in Val Senales.

“I wasn’t allowed to head up to the Glacier the day after we had testing, but the day afterwards I felt really good again. I’m hoping to get some of the altitude effect this weekend and the body feels good,” concludes Kjœlstad.

Today the sprinters are getting on a plane heading to Düsseldorf after four days in the ski tunnel in Torsby. Saturday the World Cup is opening with the year’s first sprint competitions.

Source: Langrenn.com