Ever wonder what it takes to be an American Ninja Warrior? A recent conversation with former pro nordic skier Reid Pletcher revealed the answer to be a little balance, a lot of grip strength, and plenty of patience. In this workout, shoot for 100 pull-ups a day, and no, they don't have to be all at once.
Don't live in Boulder? No problem. If you have mountains or even hills around, you can follow CU Head Coach Bruce Cranmer's recommendations for lighthearted spring training. "I recommend first and foremost, make it fun and something you really enjoy doing," he explains. "I think this is a great time to focus on non-specific training."
Pull off a "Clark Kent" with this lunch-hour workout sampling from Chris Pappathopoulos, the inaugural CXC Marathon Cup winner who also doubles as a dad and coach in addition to working full time.
Young, talented and keeping it fun. Katharine Ogden's Wednesday Workout takes us on a stroll up and a schuss down Stratton Mountain. "This is generally level one unless you are a very enthusiastic hiker," she explains.
Sunscreen, sunglasses, and snow. When it comes to spring workouts, it’s not just the freeing feeling of skiing around in Ray Bans and beach-like weather that makes crust skiing an essential workout for this time of year, it’s also the satisfaction that spontaneous skiing provides after a season of structured ski training.
To kick off the offseason, we bring you a Throwback Workout from two years ago: hill climbing then descending ("norpining") at the Middlebury Ski Bowl, or whatever somewhat snow-covered hill is near you.
Looking for a mid-season workout that's both effective but not too taxing? Annika Taylor of the British World Cup team has one for you: a sprint workout with short intervals on varying terrain. "The workout focuses both on the neuromuscular (limb speed) required in sprinting and improving anaerobic capacity," describes Taylor.
Add a little "speed play" into your training, following the natural variation of terrain and conditions, and you could find the less-regimented workout has a lot of benefits. Push yourself and keep track of progress with an app like Strava.
What's the hardest workout Tad Elliott did before winning the 30 k freestyle mass start at U.S. nationals? The Crumble Workout. It involves all-out intervals and reduced rest in between. The goal: to blow up on the last or second-to-last interval.
The winner of the last World Cup sprint in Oberstdorf, Germany, Sophie Caldwell shares some insight on race prep: “A lot of skiers do a bit of a shorter harder workout to wake the body up the day before a race. I found that doing this right before a race often tired me out..." she explains.
This week's workout comes from the eastern edge of the U.S. in Fort Kent, Maine. With plenty of snow ski on, the Maine Winter Sports Center biathlon program completed a head-to-head shooting workout that can be adapted to a non-shooting interval workout for cross-country skiers.
Looking for a workout you can do year-round, with or without snow? Momentum Northwest's Sam Naney has one for you, and it incorporates strength, speed, endurance, and agility/technique, all in one.
This week's workout comes from Kari Øyre Slind, and it's one the 24-year-old Norwegian cross-country skier only does once or twice a year. “This workout is really tough, but I also feel that it really lifts me to a new level," she explains.
The Rocky Mountain Racers team has a standby dryland workout called Ski Specific Strength that's as useful as it is brutal. While rollerskiing uphill, athletes pull a coach on a bike behind them, while their coach applies the brakes. "It’s pretty black and white if your power is going in the wrong direction," Andrea Dupont says.
Hailey Swirbul of the Aspen Valley Ski Club takes us through a workout her team recently did in West Yellowstone, one designed to prepare them for this weekend's races and the season ahead: Level 3/ Level 4 combination skate-intensity.
What to do about shoulder season and the lack of daylight after school and work? Adam Terko, head coach of the Mansfield Nordic Club, shares some ways to fit in quality (and fun) training in the dark.
The one workout no skier should sacrifice? Specific strength, MSU Head Coach Matthew Johnson explains. “It’s really easy to waste time rollerskiing,” he says. “... Practice makes permanent, so we try to practice good permanence.”
While TSS can stand for a lot of things in a training plan (i.e. Top Secret Strength, Totally Stupid Strength), the bottom line is it's an uphill workout that reinforces good ski technique and power. All you need is a short, steep hill.
Heidi Weng has some big goals for the 2015/2016 season, and to reach them, she'll rely heavily on her offseason training. Here are two of her favorite workouts for the fall: one uphill intensity and one easy distance.
A day after turning 58, FasterSkier contributor Peter Minde shaved 6 seconds off his time in the insanely tough Climb to the Castle. Here, Minde shares three workouts that have helped him get the most out of each week, while balancing work, family and training for skiing in New Jersey.