Preparing for Cross country Skiing - Skating technique

Part 2 in this series is designed to help you become a better cross country skate skier. The 1st video workout takes less than 10mins, which means it should be possible to squeeze it into even the busiest schedules. Follow along with the videos below and let me know what you think.

Seeing yourself in a full length mirror is an advantage, so that you can see if you are keeping your hips and shoulders level, but it's not essential. You'll need a slippy surface to slide on, I use a couple of buffs under my feet to help the slide. Ideally you’ll also need a resistance band, a yoga block or solid book/step you don't mind standing on. A bouncy ball is also handy to practice timing of arms with the legs.

Main workout suitable for all levels

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/bcb1af_2e1f4d1d709c4ca2b9068c229c892dda/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

This video takes you through a brief warm up followed by progressively harder, sport specific movements that switch on the muscles so that when you put your skis on, your body and mind are ready to slide more effectively. I encourage you, after a few run throughs, to make the workout your own by doubling down on any of the exercises that particularly resonate with you. If like me you have stiff ankles or particularly creaky joints do do more warm up than I've allowed for here.

A big thank you goes out to Tania Noakes who is a hugely experienced cross country coach, BASI Trainer and former member of Team GB. Her input was invaluable. You can find out more about Tania here: https://www.instagram.com/tania.noakes/

Here's Tania with a better demo and progression of the last exercise

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/bcb1af_01ac2690c58248cc9bbe11e0c2a48446/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

The biggest challenge is to maintain the knee of the leg standing on the block tracking over the 2nd and 3rd toes throughout, whilst also pushing the heel of the leg that goes out to the side. Practice those 2 elements first before adding the arm movements

This last advanced exercise is designed to help intermediate skiers move up a level. The lower leg (ankle and knee) is locked into a flexed position whilst the glute muscles drive the lift of the hips up and more importantly forward onto the gliding ski (simulated by the yoga block).

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/bcb1af_a2c092721a0c40eb917071ab92aeb02a/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

It’s important to try and ensure the knee doesn’t drift backwards and you are moving forward not just up and down. The foot not on the block can be used to help with balance until you've perfected this drill.

Of course to reap the substantial benefits of these exercises, they need to be done frequently during the short cross country season, especially in the month before a holiday. Ambitious skiers might want to repeat the workout several times to reap the sport specific strength gains. If I was to only do one strength exercise during the summer to help my XC skiing I’d pick Kettlebell swings. The rhythm matches skiing better than most strength exercises and I like how the swing encourages a strong explosive glute and hip action to pull out of the deadlift. Having this as a very familiar movement pattern in your repertoire should reduce the chances of you leaving your hips behind in skiing, a common intermediate pattern.