Cross

Some general statements about cross country.

From the WSC Oslo 2011

Personally we think cross country is perhaps the finest endurance sport that exists. Some of the reason for this is that skiing takes place in the woods, far from traffic and buildings. This provides the opportunity for variety and adventure. Cross country is a gentle sport for the body, especially the classic cross country skiing. There has not all nations (G-forces) in the legs, as they have in the running.

What suggests that free technique is not as good, in particular the stress of the back much more asymmetric and uneven. Cross country is a technical exercise and it is a "local" sports that only serious run of a few nations (of natural, climatic reasons), in contrast to the more global sports like running, soccer or cycling. It may therefore be difficult to compare performance in these sports with achievements in sports run by many more. Performance in cross country also measured only relative, ie it is measured at the time of competition. A cross-country performance, however, depends on quite a number of factors other than the person on top of the ski. We're talking about equipment, skis and poles (number, type, stiffness, etc.), the structure of the processing of the ski and we talk about lubrication of skis, both sliding zone and Classic party zone. In addition, the performance depends on the support services that are available to care equipment and running. We think of materials management, lubrication, second call, trainer, physiotherapist, physiologist, doctor, diet experts, cook, meteorologists, etc.

Here is the total amount of stamina. From the Sports Gala.

Requirement and the level of these services concern us greatly, as all these other factors outside the performer plays a more central role in performance. (And only a few have the resources to do so) It's been too little person on the ski determines a cross-country performance today. There is no limit to what you have to do to improve performance, and the signal effect of children and adolescents are becoming more and more confusing. Are cross-country sport in the process of destroying itself, we just ask?!

Being cross-country runner.

It takes time to get cross-country runner. So far, no juniors managed to compete in World Championships or Olympics. The strain in cross country is not even, as we see in the example. ground running. Pulse curve of a cross-country running is like a toothed saw, it goes in deep valleys and high peaks. Cross country requires a great aerobic capacity with high threshold and the ability to remove lactic acid when it turns into the uphill. Cross does not make such strict requirements as to how one is built, tall, long, easy or something heavier. These are issues that turn out much stronger in the example. running. Cross-country skiers have predominance of enduring and late muscle cells, called type I in the bones, about 66% (runners have more slow muscle cells, 78-79%) the rest are fast, persistent cells of type (IIa) There is less data about the conditions in the body cross-country skiers, but it seems that most people have more fast muscle cells. The frequency of the body armtak is greater than in the legs, so this seems natural.

Also from the WSC Oslo 2011

The main difference between good and bad skiers first and foremost on the length of the glide phase, and not at the rate of the legs. The upper body has the better skiers higher frequency than the stakes lower. A peculiar feature of the cross is the speed of the race. For a marathon runner, the average speed of approx. 19% lower than for a 5000m, for comparison, a 50 km cross-country average of only 5-7% lower in speed than 10 km. Girls on average 14-15% lower rate of cross-country than men, this is also a greater difference than the one we see in the example. running. Skiers have high maximal oxygen uptake (VO2) in relation to other sports, the value is often around 80-90 ml / kg / min for elite men. It seems that the heart's pumping capacity is still "bottleneck" in the oxygen supply or VO2 max, and not the working muscles' ability to take up and metabolize oxygen. Those, however, has the highest oxygen uptake, up to 90 ml / kg / min appear to have limitations in the lungs of oxygen uptake capacity.

Cross uses both arms and legs in the same manner as such. swimming and rowing. One would expect that the heart was a lot harder when several overloaded kg muscles screaming for oxygen. It turns out that this is not true, the heart stuff, at least not to reach much higher VO2 max when using both arms and legs. What happens is that the more active muscle ensures that blood pressure drops, it regulates itself so that all the muscles simply get less blood, the more muscles that asks for oxygen. The body regulates itself to distribute what there is of pump capacity. Cross therefore offers a good cardiovascular workout of both pump volume and pump pressure. The upper body contributes about 10% of the power of ski-diagonal, and by 100% in dobbeltak without propulsion. In skating uphill helps the body approx. 50% and more. Ability to use all available oxygen in the body appears to vary widely between good and bad skiers. Untrained able to use 60% of VO2 max in the upper body (while the legs are passive), for turløpere the values ​​between 70-85%, for the elite, the values ​​between 90-95%. Many endurance athletes have less endurance and strength in the upper body. Typical features of cross-country skiers is that VO2 max for the whole body often reaches its highest level early in the season, while VO2 max for upper body often comes when you really achieve his top form, and this is usually a little out of season.

Here are some "mature" skiers together. They were called Junior Jentutn - here with coach Ingrid Wigernæs No. 2 from the left.

A relevant question for the upper body is then, what if I strength train. Will this improve endurance and stamina in the upper body. It turns out that skiers do not have any significant greater maximum strength in the legs than the untrained, but if you do, say, 50 repetitions, yes, when skiers are superior to the untrained. This implies that there is no relationship between maximum strength and endurance. So do not do cross-country skiers any particular strength of the legs. The upper body is in fact a different story. It turns out that an intensive training program for upper body improves the oxygen capacity of the body. The explanation is that the body is not a bottleneck for the heart VO2, simply because the number of active muscles not nearly make as many kilos as in the legs. Therefore, you exercise the upper body muscles with plenty of oxygen available, then the training of the muscles much more effective. If you do a maximum test with only the upper body, it turns out that you are not going as high up in the pulse that when, for example, only uses the legs, maximum heart rate is about 10-20 strokes less. In cross-range work, the style and technique all the time when the terrain changed in a set. One gets, therefore, almost never smooth working in cross country (steady state, eg. Ground running) Average load is approx. as for running and cycling, but the variation of strain is much larger in cross country. You come up often in the maximum load on the top of the worst hills, and then perhaps to get total rest for a few seconds. It turns out that the best cross country runners win the uphill. The threshold load for the elite is around 85% of VO2 max. Cross-country skiers are so high lactic acid values ​​in a race, and this should probably be trained in the sessions of anaerobic performances. Tests on the untrained skiers showed that they were high in lactic acid, while well trained were able to push themselves to high values. Source: Stephen Sailer, The Physiology of Cross Country Skiing.

A little about cross-training:

Long trips

There was a lot of people and proper celebration.

Longer forms the main base for endurance training. Long trips are characterized by high volumes of low to moderate intensity. The main purpose of these sessions is to develop the working muscles, including the main muscle - the heart. The most important thing that happens in the muscles is an increase in mitokondrionene (cells where combustion takes place), there is an increase of the small blood vessels to the muscles (capillaries) and the enzymes in the muscles increases (improves working conditions in the cells) adaptations or adaptation is achieved with this training is the one who needs the longest time, talking about training over several years. The consolation is that this adaptation or training it also takes longer to tape if one is damaged over a period of time. It is important that you manage to keep moderate intensity on long trips. If the intensity of the large, one is quickly worn out (due to much quantity), with consequent lack of energy to take in when to start, namely the interval / playing with fast sessions, recommended an average of 1.5 to 2 times. week including competition.

Interval

The purpose of training with the dragon and the breaks are to be visited more load than it does by a long drive, so you can simulate the competitive impact, but without having to be completely worn out as one often does with having to carry all the competitions. As a rule of thumb will be from the junior age, and there is an active coach - have on average 1.5 to 2 harder interval / playing with fast (including competition) sessions a week. Interval training allows faster training effect than long trips, but this effect is lost even faster if you are injured or have a training camp. Interval training has a positive effect on the heart of the cylinder volume increases. During the breaks, the blood pressure falling rapidly, the heart changes, therefore, between the pressure of work in the hills and volume of work during the breaks. All 4 cardiac chambers increases in volume during the workout. To charge the heart effectively should be gone more than 2 minutes, and up to 8 min duration. (If less than 2 min dragon makes the body to use VO2 reserve in myoglobin (in muscles) and the circulatory system has a certain inertia before it responds effectively) Interval training also provides for increasing our blood volume. 20-40 minutes total drag is often enough 75% and up to 100% of VO2 max is the load range NB! 100% and more strain can be counterproductive

Tempo training

Here the purpose is to accelerate the anaerobic engines, you should get enough exercise in such competitions, this is in fact very high risk training. High intensity of 105-120% of VO2 max. Drag for 30 sec to 2 min Short breaks between the dragons Lactic acid Collection will occur for each breath, feeling of pain and discomfort. The training has an effect that works fast, but that does not last that long. Should not do this type of training more often than once a year. 10 sessions, and then only in the last preparation weeks before the competition starts. This is a form of exercise that can quickly lead to the opposite of what one wants, namely formtap. Ingrid has not driven tempo training at all.

General training

Training forms a long trip and interval / playing with fast complementary and both are needed. One can achieve a short-term gains in increasing the proportion of harder types of interval training / playing with fast, but this is training that will not "sit" as good as when it is done in good balance with the amount of training. More intensive training without the required amount is a real game of chance, where the danger of tipping over is very much larger than similar training with much amount on the bottom. Cross training also includes upper body and armtrening in relation to, for example. running and cycling. Arm and upper body training has become more and more important after the introduction of free technique and new equipment and techniques. Roller Exercise is an important form of exercise that tests to simulate ski-. This training will never be as good as the original, which cross the snow. It is our impression that skiers have become poorer runners in recent years, they may at times have gone a little too much on the roller. Roller Exercise may have the effect that it is unable to activate a sufficient kg muscle, so that the central system, the heart, not big enough challenges (load after overload principle) The heart is and remains the bottleneck for all endurance sports, it is important that there are enough challenges in a training set of the year. News, results, etc. The snow conditions for cross-country can be found here: www.langrenn.com