Resistance training for nordic skiing, spread love not hate

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi docs,

Is there a roadmap for resistance training when conditioning is the primary goal?

This winter, I’ve been training to participate in Nordic skiing events. I’ve competed in a local sprint (classic) and a 4k race (skate). In a few weeks, I’m doing a ski marathon (skate style).

Transitioning from a strength/hypertrophy focus with some occasional running events to a skiing/conditioning focus has been challenging. First, skiing is very taxing on the shoulders and lumbar spine and is overall highly fatiguing, so I’ve often had to switch programs. Second, time management has become more difficult than before — life happens, and conditioning takes a lot of time. I’m therefore glad I subscribed to the BBM app.

This winter, I’ve found that the Time Crunch programs are the best fit. I especially liked the Hypertrophy 3-day and Strength 2-day variants. Exercise-wise, I initially focused on compound lifts, but when my elbows, shoulders, and lower back started acting up, I experimented with alternative variations to reduce stress and avoid overuse issues.

I now understand why some people in the conditioning world “hate” resistance training. It’s much harder to find the right balance when conditioning is the primary goal — especially for skiing. Still, I really want to spread the gospel to the other skiers in my community about the positive effects of proper resistance training. To do that, it seems like there should be some kind of roadmap one could follow when programming resistance training for skiing or other endurance sports.

Am I onto something, or am I just kicking down open doors?

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2

Howdy,

Glad to see you back here. It sounds like you are navigating the concurrent training landscape, which can be notoriously tricky during the season.

I don’t think the solution to this issue is obvious, as evidenced by the confusion in the space and, as you’ve witnessed yourself, a lack of RT amongst your endurance-sport-focused compadres. It’s a real issue in sports science.

Most people fail here because they try to maintain an off-season powerlifting or bodybuilding program on top of their sport. When conditioning is the primary goal, resistance training needs to shift from the driver of progress to a supporter of progress.

If I had to come up with a roadmap, it’d look something like this:

Off Season

For an endurance athlete, this part of the season has the highest training load allocated to lifting, though still not as high as a strength athlete’s due to the endurance training’s demands.

I don’t typically advise people to follow powerlifting or bodybuilding programs if that’s not really their goal. For endurance athletes I typically prefer:

  • Wide variety of exercises for maximal strength
  • Cross training for endurance
  • Some power-specific training
  • Some hypertrophy-focused training
  • inclusion of unilateral work

Our Gen S/C programs would be the move here

In Season

The training load allocated to lifting will typically be 1/2 to 1/4 of the off-season depending on the sport specific training load.

Other characteristics of in-season RT programming would be:

  • reduced proximity to failure for compound lifts (lower RPE/average intensity)
  • reduced training load
  • use exercises that address performance gaps and injury risk within sport (if possible)
  • maintaining strength/power is the primary goal

Our time crunch and in-season Gen S/C programs would be the move.

The pre-season program is a blend of both in- and off season training objectives. Not quite as low volume (for lifting) as in-season, but more specific to sport re: exercise selection.

The fact that you are already using the BBM App and the Time Crunch templates puts you ahead of 90% of athletes. For your community of skiers, the “gospel” isn’t that they need to become powerlifters; it’s that strength is the floor upon which all their endurance is built.

For a deeper dive into the science of how these two interact, check out our article on Concurrent Training:

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Phew! Glad to see that my own off-, pre-, and in-season plan wasn’t that far off. I’ve been planning to set up such a three-phase model for my PE students and my local sports team, and I’m feeling more confident about doing so now. I really liked the “strength is the foundation” metaphor. Thanks!

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