Specific Strength – FasterSkier

Wednesday Workout: Old-School Strength with the NTG

FasterSkierAugust 23, 2017

For this week’s workout, we asked for a specific-strength workout from this year’s Junior National Training Group (NTG) Camp, which was held Aug. 2-15 near Park City, Utah. One of three coaches at the camp, Maria Stuber (head nordic coach at the College of St. Scholastica), shared the following, which she described as an “old-school endurance strength workout.” She led the camp with two U.S. Ski Team (USST) staff members, development coach Bryan Fish and...

Workouts

Wednesday Workout: Uphill Double-Pole, Specific Strength with MSU (with Video)

Gabby NaranjaNovember 4, 2015

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.”

Training Workouts

Pro Workout: Specific Strength With Jennie Bender

Audrey ManganJuly 29, 2011

For Central Cross Country’s Jennie Bender, summer is for both building strength and taking time out for unstructured workouts. The winner of the classic race at last year’s Birkie tries to balance the exact focus of specific strength training with free form over distance. By losing track of time on a long run or canoe paddle, she gets inspired to challenge herself with a grueling intensity session. Her go-to intervals, usually done on classic skis,...

Strength Training

How General Strength Makes Specific Strength Easier

Maddy WendtSeptember 1, 2010

Jessie Diggins recently graduated from Stillwater High School in Minnesota, where she earned three individual state championship titles, among other impressive national and international results. Diggins skis for CXC Team Vertical Limit. One might wonder why an endurance athlete like a skier or runner would ever bother lifting weights. Isn’t specific strength enough? Shouldn’t skating without poles, single-sticking and double-poling build all the muscles a skier would need? The truth is, general strength does more...