Spring Cross-Training tips

Motivation levels can very during the spring but regardless of how a skier's race season went, everyone tends to be stoked to jump into cross training activities. Especially during warm spring days when temps start rising it can be easy to bite off a little more than we can chew during running, cycling, gym sessions, or any new activity. Often skiers can get away with this drastic change in training modality but many times going too big too soon can result in overuse injuries that won't even rear their heads until mid summer. 

The risk of injury is at its highest in the spring when skiers transition to new training modalities. Unfortuantly a lot of these injuries don't manifest themselves for a few weeks or even months making the preparation we do now super important for a smooth summer of training. In my experience most athletes overestimate what they can adapt to in a day or week, and underestimate what they can adapt to in a month or year. Consistency in training is what leads to success and long term fitness / strength gains. Trying to ramp up too fast can usually have the opposite effect. 

Here are some tips to make a smooth injury free transition into the dry-land training season: 

Running shouldn't hurt... it should feel good. It's important to remind ourselves of that. If you feel pain,stop:) While skiers are aerobically fit after the ski season our feet, which have been jammed in stiff ski boots, are not yet ready for large running loads. 

Overuse injuries occur when athletes increase their volume or volume of intensity (interval on-time) too quickly. We want to first build up our modality training frequency before we add the stimulus of volume and intensity. 

In practice this frequency progression can look like this: I like to use the first few weeks of April to go out for short runs every 2-3 days. Start with just 30 minutes of running during the first week. Build up to 60 minutes in week two and after 10-14 days increase to 90 minutes easy running. I know this seems like a conservative progression but your knees and legs will thank you in May when you can really send it. While I would wait two weeks or more before doing running intervals, strides are a great way to help the body adapt. I like to add in 20-30 seconds stride one to two times per week in the spring, but keep the rep count low. 

The same principles can be used for cycling. Although we don't need to worry about the strain if impact with cycling we can still develop overuse injuries on the bike, especially if the bike and pedals are not fit properly for the rider. While IT band pain is often felt running it can begin on the bike through overreaching on the pedals and over-training and cycling gait that is not ideal. I recommend taking the time to get your bike fit and tuned by the professionals in the spring. 

A lot of developing athletes want to hit the gym super hard in the spring. Sometimes we can finish the season feeling weak and tired muscularly and the thought of putting on muscle and gaining strength is enticing. Loading up too quickly can put unnecessary strain on tendons and smaller muscle groups (and once again these injuries might now show themselves until mid summer). Use a base prep strength plan like the one we recommend on NTS once or twice per week in April to help balance out the body before we hit general strength in May.

Feeling sore after an April strength session is normal but I'm always surprised how light we can lift and still feel it the next day. Start conservative and strive for consistency not epic strength days. Remember, we can accomplish more in a month than we can in the week if we train smart:) My favorite spring gym sessions include working on small muscle groups in the shoulders and hips. I like to use exercises that help balance out the overuse motions of skiing like DB single arm push press and light overhead lifts. Lower body exercises like light hamstring curls, single leg hip extensions, single leg RDL's are all great exercises to help prep for running and cycling. Remember to start light. While doing a heavy weighted back squat might seem like the best way to build leg strength, start with a body-weight single leg squat for a few weeks first.