NTS Periodized Strength

Our aerobic training and daily training plans are periodized to ensure athletes continue to improve throughout the preparation period. This is essentially what periodization is all about. Periodized training plans allow an athlete to become more fit though stress, recovery, and training adaptations. Training without periodization (aka every week looks the same) will eventually cause an athlete to plateau and improvement can be suppressed. 

With this in mind, we can see the importance of periodized strength training as well. The two biggest mistakes skiers make in the gym are: 1.) Doing too much of the same exercises week after week 2.) Doing exercises that are too sport specific, and that do not strengthen weak areas. 

Why do we plan strength routines the way we do? Before I can answer that question we need to clarify what our end goal is. We know what proper ski technique LOOKS like, but why is it good? 

The answer: Body position. A skier's body position is what makes ski technique good or bad. 

What makes a body position good or bad? THE TWO M's

MUSCLE RECRUITMENT and FORWARD MOMENTUM is what makes a body position effective. 

We strive for a certain body position in skiing because this position allows us to utilize the best muscle groups to execute a powerful and efficient pushing and poling motion. 

Good technique = good body position

Good body position =  proper mechanics, muscle recruitment, and effective ground contact

The point being: Strength should be structured so our end goal is improving the power and efficiency of our body position on skis. 

You can see from the photo above that proper skiing body positions have changed slightly over the past 40 years as skiing become a more power-based endurance sport. More upright body positions allow skiers to utilize more powerful muscle groups in the legs and core. This is why here at NTS we teach a mechanics-based approach to technique (i.e. lots of running based drills) to improve a skiers mechanics, which in turn will improve their muscle recruitment and body position on skis. 

In order to ski in certain 'powerful' body positions a skier needs to have a certain level of strength. I always like to say "you can't make a wet noodle go fast". Meaning, I could take the most efficient, slow-twitch Nordic skier I could find and have them do sprints every day but they might not get any faster. Why? Their speed is limited by their strength, power, and agility = Athleticism.  

Athleticism is defined by an individuals ability to move with speed, power, and agility. There are lots of FIT nordic skiers out there, but their racing speed has plateaued because their athleticism is a limiting factor.

OUR GOAL WITH STRENGTH TRAINING: IMPROVE A SKIER'S ATHLETICISM AND MUSCLE RECRUITMENT

If moving athletically on skis in the end goal. How do we get there? Through periodized strength training. You can't expect a skier to move with power and agility on their skis if they can't do so on their feet. You can't expect a skier to move with power and agility on their feet without adequate levels of strength. This is why here at NTS we use a variation of linear periodization using the following strength phases: 

Each of these strength mesocycles is meant to build off of one another, which is why this is referred to as linear periodization. Here at NTS we follow two cycles of strength periodization in the off-season. Each phase consisting of a 4-6 week block. 

May – General Strength (Hypertrophy if a skier needs to build muscle mass) 

June – General / Max strength 

July – Max strength  

August – Power

September – Power / velocity 

October – Max Strength phase 2 

November – Power phase 2

December – Velocity phase 2

January through the end of the season is typically dominated by maintenance strength with short mesocycles of max strength, power, and velocity mixed in depending on an athlete’s schedule and which races are most important. 

Each one of these strength phases will include a lot of core strength. Core strength, as with our gym sessions themselves, should fluctuate and cycle throughout the prep-season to incorporating different sessions that focus on endurance core strength and power core strength. 

Below is a simple breakdown of each strength phase and what makes each phase unique. 

General Strength / Hypertrophy Strength: Goal is to build muscle fibers.

Reps in the 10-15 range and often a mix of body weigh and weighted exercises. Secondary goal is to balance out the body after a long season of skiing. This is why at NTS we use a lot of single arm, single leg exercises, external rotation work, and eccentric loading. 

Max Strength: The goal is to teach our bodies to recruit more muscle fibers. Reps in the 1-5 range. A common myth is that max strength breaks down and builds a lot of muscle mass. This is not the case. What max strength does is it teaches our body to recruit more muscles for a given motion. For example: think about a body weighted pull up (a skier might use their shoulder, lats, traps, to pull themselves up) versus a weighted pull up ( a skier is forced to use their abs, all the back muscles, traps, lats, biceps, and many more). Teaching our bodies to recruit more muscle fibers for a given motion is a crucial stepping stone to building power. 

Power Strength: The goal is to begin to move weight quickly and improve muscle recruitment in more ski specific motions. Reps in the 5-10 range. Take a step back in total weight from a max strength phase but perform exercises with good technique precise movements and incorporate super sets. A super-set is a weighted exercises followed directly with a lightly weighted or plyometric exercise.  The process allows us to recruit more muscle fibers into our ski specific upper body and lower body movements. 

Velocity Strength: Often with a focus on explosive exercises with body weight. Goal is to train absolute quickness. Circuits are common and can incorporate 4-5 dynamic exercises in a row. Reps in the 4-12 range.  This is where we dial in a skiers ground contact and engrain proper body positions. 

Maintenance Strength: Goal is to maintain the strength you have worked so hard to build throughout the season. Focus can be on general, power, max and velocity strength exercises often all built into one plan. NTS will prescribe certain maintenance strength routines depending specific race schedules or peaking plans.