Junior Nordic Skiing Strength Exercises Stuart Kremzner and Krzysztof Mackala Core Strength and Dynamic Warm-Up Exercises Core strength, flexibility, and general strength can easily be integrated into an pre-workout warm-up called a dynamic warm-up. The goal of this is to be a quick, functional and highly productive session of exercises packed into 10-15 minutes. The same time a skier would usually spend jogging prior to a dryland session. This is great, functional, warm-up to use prior to a SPENST, hill bounding, weight training or any dry-land training session. If done twice a week many gains can be made. This type of training has long been used by track and field athletes with great success. This routine efficiently hits many areas of the skier s body to improve general, core and stability strength and flexibility necessary to maintain good body position and apply power efficiently. This will also have the added side benefits of reducing injury risk. There are a many exercises that can be used for this session. Ideally you will do two sets of two strength, flexibility, and core strength exercises. Exercises are selected and rotated in and out to achieve different group fitness goals and to keep the routine fresh and stimulating. The limit from there is the coaches imagination and creativity! Below are some basic exercises to select for a start. Pick 6-8 exercises and do two sets of 10 repetitions, after two weeks increase to 15 repetitions, then increase number of exercises. For a warm-up keep total time to 15 minutes, if you want to make this into a strength/agility workout unto it s self then do 3 sets and add in speed and agility exercises. Make sure you coach athletes in maintaining correct body position. Correct alignment is important for development of good athletic posture and correct muscle firing patterns. Key body position points are: - Keep hips scooped/ (if hips are bowl of water you want to keep them level so the water does not spill) -keep back flat and also in line with hips -keep hips in line with shoulders -dorsi-flex ankle at all times.
Dynamic Warm-up Exercises Prisoner Squat Forward/Backward Lunges Lying Side Raise Supermans Donkey Kicks
Butt Kicks Fire Hydrants Sky Divers Mountain Climbers Hip Flexor Pedestal Hamstring Bridge
Groucho Walk Reverse Lying Side Raise Key Nordic Specific Strength Exercises: Single Leg Squat Side Lunge Step-up and Press Single Leg Dead lift Hamstring Bridges/Hip Extension Roller Board (Seated) Lat Pull-Down Theraball Chest Press Dips Bridge Rows Pull-ups Calf Raises
Single Leg Squat Single Leg Deadlift Theraball Chest Press Side Lunge Bridge Row Step Up and Press Start
Step Up and Press Finish Hamstring Bridge Roll Upper Body Power-Medicine Ball Throw P1 Medicine Ball Throw P2
Junior Skier Considerations: As mentioned above athletes at different levels of development have much different needs. When training Junior athletes we must take into consideration the age sensitive periods of development. Physiologists have found that at different aged athletes are much more receptive to different types of training stimuli, i.e. you get a big bang of development if you emphasize this element at a given age. This is very important when we look at gender. Below are some key points: Table 1. Junior/Seniors are most receptive to the following elements of training(based off of Grosser, Starlshka, and Zimmerman 1983) Element Female Athlete Age Male Athlete Age Speed Strength 9-12 9-12 Strength Endurance 14-20+ 16-20+ Static Strength 10-11 10-11 Maximal Strength 16-20+ 18-20+ Strength Power 14-20+ 16-20+ -Juniors Ages 6-10 should only do strength training exercises with body weight 15 minutes 3x a week* -Juniors Ages 11-14 should focus on strength endurance (intensities no greater than 80% of max) 30 mins 3x a week.(sharkey, 1986) The exercises used for Junior training also need to take into account the demands of the other sports that they are doing. For example female athletes have a 2x higher incidence of non-contact ACL injury in soccer, given this we need to emphasize development of the hamstring muscle group, medial/lateral stabilizers, as well as the eccentric firing of the quadriceps. Given a well designed program one will be able to resist injury as well as progress much quicker in their development as a skier.