For years, recreational and junior skiers have been encouraged to emphasize circuit training, but what if it was replaced by strength training? 

If you are aiming for long-distance events this winter, there is no point in starting a massive strength training effort now in December. Still, it is, at least, worth thinking about it, says Marko Rossi, an experienced physiotherapist and strength coach.

Skiers should perform as many exercises as possible in an upright position because the sport also takes place in an upright position. Strength is directional – in which direction you move, that is where you develop. Thus, it would be best if you also thought about the position in which you do the exercises.

“If you are in a hunched position or lying on your back, you improve at movements in those positions, and it does not necessarily translate to skiing. When the skier is laying on their back on the ground, that is usually when one has crashed or has crossed the finish line. It is great that you can stand up by using your abdominal muscles, but it does not show up on the clock (when racing) in any way,” says Rossi to Maastohiihto.com.

For a long time, it has been thought that strength training is not suitable for young athletes, and it has been feared, among other things, that development would be impaired. That is why the circuit exercises have been seen as ‘safer’ for juniors. However, several studies show that strength training can be done at a very young age. Research also shows that strength training contributes to more healthy training days, improved technique, performance efficiency, fatigue tolerance, and endurance.

“Circuit workouts are good for the youngest juniors because that is when everything is still developing. But pretty quickly you get to the point where body weight and a rubber band are not enough, and you have to use weights to develop. If you do only circuit training up to your twenties, your strength levels are so low that you fall behind, often leading to challenges in handling training load.” 

“Maximum strength and maximum strength reserve are the base characteristics for all other strength disciplines. There is no point in building endurance or doing endurance-type training similar to strength training because it does not directly develop strength. First, you must get your maximum power reserve to a sufficient level, as it is the base for speed and endurance. The maximal power reserve is essential. It develops most with maximum strength training.” 

Endurance Training Without Poles and By Double Poling 

Rossi describes circuit training basically as endurance training done with strength exercises:

“You cannot put a lot of load on it because otherwise, you will not be able to do it right. Then you are training endurance, and you forget about strength altogether. Moreover, the exercises on circuit training instructions are often in such a way that they do not develop strength properly. Endurance training should be done in a sport-specific way; skating without poles and double poling develops it much more than doing endurance type of strength training at the gym.”

Common sense and learning the basics right will go a long way. Strength training can be started once a week with familiar basic movements, from which it is easy to build into progressive strength training. If you want to develop strength, the load should be at least 80% of the maximum for a single repetition. Then do one to five or eight repetitions, two or three sets.

“You do not need a lot of exercises. Four to six different exercises in a single workout are enough. In just over an hour, you can get a good strength workout. You have to take recovery into account. Strength training should include a good recovery in between the sets. It is not like you are doing a bench press and then doing abs in between. You do not recover like that. You have to rest during the recovery. This is maybe the hardest part for skiers.” 

“When talking about different exercises, for example, you can start with a back squat. With time you can increase the number of repetitions, you can increase the weight, or more sets, and it is already progress. Then you move to a step squat, then a Bulgarian squat with the back leg on the bench. For every exercise, you can build with a similar progression. With bench, you can do a wide grip, a narrow grip.” 

So how do you find the correct weights for strength training?

“Let’s say, if a junior skier is going to do strength training, you can estimate less than 60% of the maximum and a lot of reps. The goal is to raise the weights to 80 percent of the single maximum repetition and do six to 12 reps for a couple of sets. Then more than three sets, preferably from light weights upwards.” 

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