Marit Bjørgen dominated the World Cup, World Championships, and Olympics for two decades. This article reveals one of her most important workouts during the summer season.

Marit Bjørgen retired from the competitive scene after the 2018 Olympic season but made a comeback three years later as a long-distance skier. Bjørgen made a convincing start to her Ski Classics career, skiing straight to the podium at Vasaloppet, finishing second behind Lina Korsgren in 2021.

Talent and motivation are always important, but it is no accident that the best skiers succeed. Bjørgen has revealed one of her most important dryland workouts used to hone her peak fitness. Now, the 42-year-old champion athlete has left the tracks behind, but sport is still important, and now she is aiming for the New York marathon.

One of Bjørgen’s main workouts was uphill intervals with poles with different duration and preferably done on a skiing slope. In the exercise in question, she did the 5-4-3-3-4-3 minute intervals slightly below or just above the threshold. Below are the instructions for the workout:

“Start with a gentle warm-up, such as a four to five-kilometer run on a trail or gravel road, for example, moving up a suitable hill. The first interval (5 minutes) is performed as a warm-up resistance just below the lactic acid threshold. The next four-minute interval goes a little harder, roughly at the threshold. After that, two 3-minute intervals at a harder power and then another 4-minute interval at the threshold. Finish the workout with another 3 minutes, which is a little harder. Recovery between intervals is one to two minutes. At the end of the exercise, a light cooling down by running.”

Why was this particular exercise so helpful?

“Intervals develop capacity by increasing the heart rate, i.e., increasing the amount of blood the heart can pump to the muscles. The increased stroke frequency increases the oxygen supply to the working muscles, which can therefore work harder, producing more power and speed. Pulling at and around the threshold also helps raise the anaerobic threshold, meaning you can work at a higher heart rate without producing more lactic acid in your muscles than your body can handle.”

How long does the workout take from start to finish?

“About an hour and a half: 22 minutes of total interval time, 10 minutes of total recovery between intervals, and about half an hour of warm-up and cool-down.”