(video above from a recent L4 Pyramid. A particularly tough session to do classic skiing with no tracks but good practice for herringbone and trying to ski fast without thrashing)
One of our favorite sessions to do once athletes have had at least a week of on-snow skiing is a L4 pyramid. This session is designed to get skiers more comfortable moving quickly on skis. As the race season gets underway for many of us it can be a common feeling to get ‘stuck’ in L3 or in a comfortable pace. This feeling is often a result of athletes being too tense on their skis when their balance and coordination is tested.
This session is designed to get skiers more comfortable with the uncomfortable:)
Session:
L4 pyramid:
1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 4 min, 5 min, 4 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min
Terrain: Ski trails or gradual rolling uphill terrain
Warm Up:
15 minutes easy
5 minutes L2
5 minutes easy
5 minutes L3
5 minutes easy
(It’s important to get a good warm up for these intervals!)
Intervals:
Pyramid from 1,2,3,4,3,2,1 – Equal recovery
Goals:
Fine tuning ski fitness is all about ‘quality’ on-time, or in other words logging interval time where the athlete is skiing fast and within their target heart rate and effort zone. This interval set is designed to do exactly that by starting with short intervals and building into longer duration L4. This session also has longer rest built in compared to some other L4 intervals to make sure each effort is a high-quality interval.
Lactate goal – 5-8 mmol
