What would be the key aspects in designing a strength program for a downhill/cross country skier? Customer is 40-50’s yrs of age and a sr vice president of a major company, which are key aspects in designing his program.
Downhill and cross country are two totally different sports, think 400m compared to 5k.
For downhill I’d train them like a long sprinter with power work (stairs work great here), lactic runs and tempo. As for weights, lots of squats and lunges plus ham work to balance out the quads. The toughest thing with skiing is it’s so eccentric, specific things like timed wall sits can help.
I’ve never cross country skied but I suspect they’d train like a distance runner.
For a 50 yr. old executive looking to be in better shape for skiing I’d train them like a masters 400m runner. The biggest concern is going to be balancing volume and recovery.
After spending time with the athlete, he does both but mostly downhill, so we will tailor his program towards downhill. With the downhill athlete I’m thinking more -quasi-iso type stuff with some double-support balance work. Also I haven’t done any assessments with him so I’m not sure if he will be able to safely perform squats etc.
Yeah, if he fails basic movement analysis then just getting him functional and working GPP will go a long way. Most 50 y.o. office jockeys who ski are just plain out of shape and just getting them flexible and stronger works wonders.
Hmmmm, wonder what a programme for a Newschool Freestyle skier would look like? Would they train a lot like a gymnast? Park and pipe sure is gymnastic!!!
I think park and pipe skiing is like skateboarding or snowboarding, the sport itself is the training. There may be a few individuals that choose to train outside the activity itself but it’s mostly going to be general fitness, basic weights, flexibility, etc.
Hello, i am looking for long time in the net samples with strength training (e.g. logs) for the pre-season or in-season periods of an alpine skier, just to see how an athlete is preparing himself using weights for maximal strength stimulant.
I din’t find much and most of the infos where an outline approach.
I suppose that gpp for such an athlete should consider tha basic principles that an sprinter is using. Here is an example for a week - microcycle :
monday- fartlek for skiers focused on lactic endurance
tuesday - weight training - strength endurance
wensday - day off or tempo training
thursday - fartlek for skiers focused on plyometric stimulant
friday - weight training high intensity
saturday - day off or tempo training
Sunday - day off
any opinions ? Well , i am also wondering the content of the weight training sections. i am thinking of using the basics , squat , dead lifts , bench etc . For tuesdays moderate intensity for strength endurance , sets 3 x 12 /15reps and for fridays low volume higher intensity , e.g. 3 x 4-6 reps.
thanks for reading any advise would be wonderful - here in greece the fame of this forum is well known for thoose who loves sports science , …sorry for my english !
Although I am not familiar with alpine ski training, I don’t think these are the basic principles a sprinter would use…
You probably wright , sorry my example is errelevant with my primarily assumption !
I was thinking based on the periodicity - hope i am not wrong again , but i think a sprinter in general is following this basic concept in his trainning program : a) sport-specific b) plyometrics c) (accessorial) hight intensity weight trainning , and always firstable considering the CNS fatigue.
I see what you mean now! If your German is good, I would suggest Hermann Maier’s autobiography, which contains some samples from his training (and much more, I guess). Although now I see there is an English autobiography, too (I haven’t seen this from close).
I see the S&C coach of Alberto Tomba almost daily.
According to his S&C coach, Tomba’s main strength exercise were 10x10 jumps over hurdles.
Just for your info; I would work completely differently, but it seemed to work for Tomba…
Thanks Nikoluski for your reference , in the table of contents there is a chapter about his racing diary but i think the purpose of this biography is about the fight he gave after his accident - thank you i 'll see for more information.
Sprinterouge you are absolutely right - it seems that it worked for Tomba. I wonder though… in these athletes with that potential everything would work for them.
Yes one of his drills was 10x10 jumps over hurdles and much more plyometric training in his gpp that reminds me “track and field” , i have a small sample (only one microcycle) of his speed-strength training, and all the week he is working plyometrics and he is using in some exercises weight- belt about 6 to 5 kg … <-Ohhh Yes , i would also worked differently … :o 
Xristos,
If you want to email me that sample, I will show it to his S&C coach and let you know if it is accurate.
Thanks a lot sprinterouge for your concern. I will do that just for curiosity, by first chance i 'll send it to you.