Sharpening 101

A common element of a well execute peaking plan are strategic interval sessions known as sharpening workouts. Sharpening workouts occur within a taper phase in the days (or weeks) leading up to a major event.  

Taper phases can vary in length depending on the athlete, their training base, and the event they are preparing for. If an athlete puts in a big 4–6-week training block they will typically have a longer taper phase (14+ days). If the athlete had a smaller training block, they might implement a short taper (less than 7 days). 

I refer to a short taper phase as a ‘crash taper’ (think stock market plummeting). Crash tapers are used when skiers don’t have enough time to properly implement a full training block so high-volume training is pushed within the same week as their major competition. Within 7-4 days of competition training hours and intensity are cut substantially, letting the athlete recover and feel strong on race day. 

Some athletes perform well with crash tapers, while others are left with a slightly flat feeling on race day due to the blast of recovery right before the event. Feeling flat on race day can translate to sluggish feelings in the body, suppressed heart rates, and an inability to push to max capacity.

When an athlete can implement a longer taper phase, they are able to implement sharpening sessions into the plan to prevent these flat feelings. Our NTS Birkie taper this year was designed to have a moderately long taper phase with the goal of utilizing sharpening workouts. 

For additional resources on various tapering plans and information about the difference between tapering and sharpening check out these articles. 

I have tried both crash tapers and longer taper phases with sharpening sessions. While I do think both can be successful, using a taper/sharpening plan feels less risky if the athlete has time to build in a proper training block.

How are sharpening sessions unique? 

These intensity sessions should be done with intent and target the terrain and technique of your championship races. Recovery time between intervals is often increased during sharpening session so we can prioritize quality technique and energy during each interval. Taking extra recovery time between each interval is totally fine in a sharpening session. Instead of thinking about going ‘hard’ think about skiing ‘well’. 

Below is one of my favorite sharpening workouts and our recommendation for this week. 

Warm up

30 min L1

5 min L2 

5 min dynamic stretching 

Intervals:

5 x 4 min w/ 4 min recovery (see pacing breakdown below) 

Interval 1 – 4 min L3

Interval 2 – 3 min L3, 1 min L4

Interval 3 - 2 min L3, 2 min L4

Interval 4 – 2 min L3, 2 min L4 

Interval 5 – 1 min L3, 3 min L4

(Some athletes might want to add an additional 6^th interval but only do so if you are feeling amazing. In general, I think it’s better to err on the side of caution.)

I like to do this session on consistent uphill terrain, and I think it’s super important to think about skiing well rather than just hard. The pacing levels are secondary to simply trying to ski the uphill better and better each interval. Skiing HARD does not help you in racing scenarios. But skiing well does. 

From a physiological standpoint these intervals are great for firing up the aerobic and anaerobic engines which can really help illicit small fitness gains which will help athletes peak on race day.