May Intervals – Cross training Threshold
By
Andy Newell
Before we jump into May’s interval recommendation lets briefly touch on why cross training is important for skiers. XC skiing is a low impact sport and one that (thanks to rollerskis) we can literally do all year round. So why don’t we just ski 100 percent of the time?
Even if you are someone who has the mental endurance to train in a ski specific mode every single day it still might not be in your best interest. To succeed in any sport we need a certain amount of muscular balance so we can continue to improve and prevent injuries, furthermore cross training can help elicit a better training adaptation and improve overall fitness.
From an aerobic standpoint there are many benefits of cross training modes. If our goal is to stress the body, recover, and adapt it’s obvious that within certain periods of the training year we should look for ways to stress our body in non ski specific modes to further improve our fitness while skiing. Increasing power and efficiency in a variety of training mores (i.e. Running, cycling) will also help a skier perform at a higher level while utilizing those modes for distance and over-distance sessions.
Cross Training Threshold
4 – 7 x 6 minutes L3 (long distance race pace)
3 minutes recovery
Non ski specific mode (running, rowing, swimming, cycling)
Warm Up:
20 minutes L1
5 minutes easy skiing with 5x 20 second accelerations
5 minutes L2
Dynamic Stretching
Interval:
Your terrain choice might change depending on your mode. If you would like to work on efficiency within that mode try to find rolling faster terrain. For more of a power/muscular focus chose steeper uphills but be careful not to bump out of level 3.
Goal:
Improve fitness and general efficiency in our cross training modes early on in the summer to get the most out of our cross training distance sessions in the months to come. I personally don’t focus on running too much but it is a big part of my off-season training in the form of time trials, occasional races, and lots of running distance. Because of this I try to get in a few cross training interval sessions early on in the training year where I focus on faster flatter L3 running.