New to NTS? Were do I start?

Are you new to NTS? Have you been a member, but other responsibilities have kept you from consistent training? I’m here to tell you, that it's OK! At one point or another we are bound to take a long break from training due to injury, sickness, school, or work and it can feel like we’re starting over. 

In scenarios like this it can be helpful to modify our NTS daily training plans to suit your re-entry into the training world. 

Our NTS training plans are great guides for skiers of all ages and abilities from part-time skiers to World Cup level athletes. Our plans are designed to suit a variety of needs based on a year-round training periodization. What does that mean? It means the weeks and months of the training plan build on one another progressing in both training volume and intensity during various parts of the year. 

The training year starts on May 1^st which means our training plans have been slowly building over the past several months. If you’re jumping in right now and the training plan feels overwhelming that’s normal! You are entering into a progression that has been months in the making. Again, I’ll emphasis that it’s no big deal! NTS yearly periodization is designed to have skiers feeling their best by mid-winter competitions. 

Even if your training was non-existent during the first 4 months of the training year you will still benefit from the various training phases still to come in our calendar. We will still have various base-building weeks and intensity weeks planned in such a way that your fitness will improve despite your starting point. There are however a few adjustments you can make if you are starting from scratch. 

If you are new to daily training here are some ways you can adjust our daily recommendations.

Eliminate intensity. Think of interval days as the icing on the cake. Meaning it's the fancy part, but not always good for you. It should always be the first thing to go for athletes who are new to structured ski training. 

Psychologists agree that productive endurance sport training starts with consistent low intensity training.  This means making sure your body is accustomed to getting out the door 4-6 times per week for exercise before you think about adding interval days. 

For those of you who are new to NTS training I recommend you start with 7-10 days of only easy distance training. Start with 30min to 60 min sessions consistently then increase the total duration of your sessions until you feel comfortable going for 90 minutes without being fatigued and can do so in L1/L2. After 7-10 days of this adjusted approach you would be fine to jump into the current NTS training schedule. 

The simple way of thinking about this is that intervals do not do you much good if you do not have a training base in that specific movement. I almost never swim for training. Therefore, swimming would not be a good way for me to log intensity.  I definitely should not start swimming x2 days per week and immediately have them be my interval days. These would be unproductive and low-quality intervals. 

This is a useful comparison for folks who have not yet done any rollerski training this summer. Athletes need to build a base first through easy distance rollerskiing and over-distance rollerski training to make intervals productive. 

My advice is to get out the door 2-3 times per week for easy distance rollerski sessions for 7-14 days before doing rollerski intensity. Feel free to adjust our NTS interval recommendations so that easy distance days are rollerskiing and interval days are in a cross-training modality (running, cycling) until you get settled into the plan. Then switch over to more ski specific intensity. 

We realize that not everyone rollerskis as much as the NTS plans recommend. These plans are designed to be a best-case training scenario for athletes. If you prefer not to rollerski in the summer you can replace rollerski sessions with cross-training modalities. If improving your skiing is a primary goal for you then I would strongly consider giving rollerski training a try. 

World cup skiers rollerski almost every day and add the most cross-training in May and June. I know this approach is not realistic for most folks, however for a large portion of masters and juniors, ski control, balance, technique, and specific strength is their primary limiting factor, not fitness. An example: I can take the fittest marathon runner in the world and put them on skis and they will struggle to go anywhere fast. Why? Their fitness is limited by the modality. Just because you are fit in one thing doesn't mean you can go fast doing another thing. For a lot of intermediate skiers, fitness is not a limiting factor in their racing. Being able to ski well is. This is why roller skiing is so important. And someone can make very large ski gains by simply rollerskiing 3-4 times per week instead of 1. 

If you are new to rollerski training start with 2 session per week in a controlled environment. Start in a flat parking lot and get comfortable on your skis. Even if it feels like you would be getting a better cardiovascular workout running or cycling, these technique-based rollerski session will help you make major speed gains in the winter. 

Our NTS strength plans follow a specific periodization as well. Similar to our aerobic training, we will still cycle through several phases between now and the ski season, so even if you are new to gym training you are in good hands.

If someone has not done much strength training this year I recommend they start with 2-3 weeks of general strength x2 sessions per week. Then they can join back in with whatever is recommended on the website and slot into the NTS periodization. Members can scroll back through pervious training entries or click the Strength Training tab to view previously posted workouts. 

Life is busy, I get it. We all need to adjust and prioritize our time in different ways. 

If someone is short on time and cannot complete all the daily training recommendations on a weekly basis it might make sense to adjust the plan. 

First, think about what your strengths and weaknesses are. 

Do you have a strong cardiovascular base from a lot of cross-training? Prioritize ski-specific training and specific strength sessions like double poling, single stick, and no pole skating.

Do you need to improve strength? Make sure not to eliminate strength sessions if you need to cut out weekly sessions. Consider adding a 3^rd strength bases gym session each week for 2-3 weeks. 

Is increasing your aerobic fitness the top priority? Make sure to allow yourself time to do longer endurance sessions. I recommend taking 2 off days per week if needed and allow yourself time for a 2+ hour workout two times per week. Prioritize a few longer sessions each week and cut back on strength hours. 

As always members can email me any time with questions about how to individualize the training plan to suit their needs. I look forward to hearing from you!