Competitive cross-country (XC) skiing has traditions extending back to the mid-19th century and was included as a men’s event in the first Winter Games in 1924. Since then, tremendous improvements in equipment, track preparation, and knowledge about training have prompted greater increases in XC-skiing speeds than in any other Olympic sport. In response, this commentary focuses on how the training of successful XC skiers has evolved, with interviews and training data from surviving Norwegian world and Olympic XC champions as primary sources. Before 1970, most male champion XC skiers were lumberjacks who ran or skied long distances to and from felling areas while working long days in the woods. In addition, they trained as much as possible, with increased intensity during the autumn, while less work but more ski-specific training and competitions were done during the winter. Until the 1970s, few XC skiers were women, whom coaches believed tolerated less training than men did. Today’s XC skiers are less physically active, but the influence of both science and the systematic approaches of former athletes and coaches have gradually taught XC skiers to adopt smarter, more goal-oriented training practices. Although the very high VO2max of world-class XC skiers has remained the same since the 1960s, new events in modern XC skiing have additionally required superior upper-body power, high-speed techniques, and tactical flexibility. These elements also emerge in the training of today’s best skiers; women’s physiological capacities and training routines especially seem to have improved dramatically.
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The Evolution of Champion Cross-Country-Skier Training: From Lumberjacks to Professional Athletes
Øyvind Sandbakk
Physiological Capacity and Training Routines of Elite Cross-Country Skiers: Approaching the Upper Limits of Human Endurance
Øyvind Sandbakk and Hans-Christer Holmberg
Cross-country (XC) skiing is one of the most demanding of endurance sports, involving protracted competitions on varying terrain employing a variety of skiing techniques that require upper- and/or lower-body work to different extents. Through more effective training and extensive improvements in equipment and track preparation, the speed of cross-country ski races has increased more than that of any other winter Olympic sport, and, in addition, new types of racing events have been introduced. To a certain extent this has altered the optimal physiological capacity required to win, and the training routines of successful skiers have evolved accordingly. The long-standing tradition of researchers working closely with XC-ski coaches and athletes to monitor progress, improve training, and refine skiing techniques has provided unique physiological insights revealing how these athletes are approaching the upper limits of human endurance. This review summarizes current scientific knowledge concerning the demands involved in elite XC skiing, as well as the physiological capacity and training routines of the best athletes.
Eleven Years’ Monitoring of the World’s Most Successful Male Biathlete of the Last Decade
Laurent Schmitt, Stéphane Bouthiaux, and Grégoire P. Millet
. Training and Performance Characteristics The training characteristics were extracted from his training log and are reported as yearly volume (in hours) of LIT, MIT, HIT, and speed and strength training. These intensity zones were defined regularly from incremental tests performed by the French team under
“Track’s Coed, I Never Thought of It as Separate”: Challenging, Reproducing, and Negotiating Gender Stereotypes in Track and Field
Anna Posbergh and Shannon Jette
environment informed by double standards and gendered “norms” despite some elements of progress toward their greater acceptance in a sex-integrated space. The New “Norm”: Accepting Sex-Integrated Environments Although participants acknowledged the pacing, speed, and strength differences between male and
Unstable Osteochondral Fracture of the Talus, Osteochondritis Dissecans, and Chronic Lateral Ankle Instability in an Adolescent Athlete: A Case Report
Toby J. Brooks, Kevin Crawford, and Eugene E. Curry
perform maintenance ankle exercises as needed and has opted to discontinue bracing while concurrently adding off-the-shelf carbon fiber inserts to his cleats. At 10 months postop, he continues to improve in both speed and strength and notes that he now has no pain and no sensations of instability. Figure
Assessing Interlimb Jump Asymmetry in Young Soccer Players: The My Jump 2 App
Matheus Barbalho, Ana Francisca Rozin Kleiner, Bianca Callegari, Ramon Costa de Lima, Givago da Silva Souza, Anselmo de Athayde Costa e Silva, and Victor Silveira Coswig
single-leg jump, with the knee slightly flexed and the body projecting vertically with the greatest speed and strength as possible, reaching the maximum height (flight instant). The same procedure was performed by the opposite lower limb, being performed alternately, 3 times for each side. Statistical
Efficacy of Resisted Sled Sprint Training Compared With Unresisted Sprint Training on Acceleration and Sprint Performance in Rugby Players: An 8-Week Randomized Controlled Trial
Marco Panascì, Simone Di Gennaro, Vittoria Ferrando, Luca Filipas, Piero Ruggeri, and Emanuela Faelli
, Kellis S . The effects of resisted sled-pulling sprint training on acceleration and maximum speed performance . J Sports Med Phys Fitness . 2005 ; 45 ( 3 ): 284 – 290 . PMID: 16230978 16230978 13. Harrison AJ , Bourke G . The effect of resisted sprint training on speed and strength
Elite Junior Throwers Unlikely to Remain at the Top Level in the Senior Category
Gennaro Boccia, Marco Cardinale, and Paolo Riccardo Brustio
presence of RAE in disciplines, such as throwing, with a great emphasis on speed and strength/power. 15 , 28 , 29 The prevalence of RAE is consistent also in Junior & Senior where asymmetry in birth distribution was observed in favor of relatively older athletes. A different trend in birth distribution
Load Monitoring Variables in Training and Competition Situations: A Systematic Review Applied to Wheelchair Sports
Mário A.M. Simim, Marco Túlio de Mello, Bruno V.C. Silva, Dayane F. Rodrigues, João Paulo P. Rosa, Bruno Pena Couto, and Andressa da Silva
in athletes with spinal cord injury who need to push a wheelchair with speed and strength ( Goosey-Tolfrey & Price, 2010 ). The use of biochemical, hormonal, and/or immune measures as indicators of IL is not justified in wheelchair modalities because the research in this area is limited to one
Enhancing the Initial Acceleration Performance of Elite Rugby Backs. Part II: Insights From Multiple Longitudinal Individual-Specific Case-Study Interventions
James J. Wild, Ian N. Bezodis, Jamie S. North, and Neil E. Bezodis
(the full speed and strength-based training sessions during baseline and each phase of the 18-week intervention are in Supplementary Material S1A–S1C [available online]). The participants (T1–T4) following individual-specific technique-based interventions completed the same training as the control
