Topic - Off-snow training:
hill work with poles
Date first posted on eCommunity - 25
June 2006
Hill work with poles has been used for decades by
XC racers and is universally accepted as an essential element of any
programme of "dryland training" for serious skiers. However it has
tended to be spurned by recreational skiers, who see it as just too hard
for them.
Nordic walking's increasing popularity may change that view. The new
sport is attracting a wide range of people, not all of whom are - by any
means - super-fit. Yet in parks and open spaces throughout Britain they
regularly and without complaint include hill work in their training.
Of course, they are taking things easier than the athletic skiers. And
in doing so they are demonstrating that hill work can be appropriate for
people at different levels of fitness.
There are many hills to climb, and many ways to climb them.
When faced with an uphill slope, standard nordic walking technique calls
for you to lean into the hill a little, to pole firmly, and to lengthen
your stride. You are still walking, in the sense that you always have at
least one foot on the ground at all times. Because you have lengthened
your stride, the hamstring and calf muscles are worked and developed.
And because you are poling firmly, the muscles of your arms, shoulders
and back are also worked and developed. Finally, because your heart rate
will rise to quite a high level (you do need to be careful, and a heart
rate monitor is useful) stamina is improved. Providing you choose a hill
with a good, even surface the risk of injury to muscles or joints is
low.
If you simply want to improve your overall fitness then including one or
two weekly hill sessions like this can be of great benefit.
However if you want to develop your classic skiing technique you can
shorten your stride, quicken your tempo, and jog up the hill. In this
variant you are not walking, for at times you will have both feet off
the ground. If you put a spring in your step and concentrate on
transferring your body weight from one foot to the other – rocking a
little from side to side with each stride - you will simulate the action
of flattening your skis down on to the snow
to make your wax grip. But even though you may be aiming primarily for a
technical benefit - an improvement in skiing skills - the fitness
benefit is also very clear, and both stamina and muscle endurance are
promoted. However the risk of muscle strain or joint injury is higher
than in the walking variant.
If now - to consider a third variant - you climb the hill by taking
longer, more explosive strides and pushing harder with your poles, you
move into "ski bounding". You can still use nordic walking poles for
this, though athletic skiers would probably prefer longer poles -
perhaps 10cm shorter than their usual classic skiing ones. The benefits
are in respect of stamina, muscle endurance and muscle strength. This
variant is very strenuous and the risk of muscle strain or joint injury
is commensurably high.
You have yet another option - moose hoofs. This term is a translation of
the Norwegian word "elghufs", which is used to suggest the kind of
shuffling gait of a moose (or elk). In this
variant you keep your stride length fairly short and keep your speed up.
The stride is somewhere between walking and running - at times both feet
are off the ground, but only very briefly. And you do not lift your feet
very high off the ground at any time. The idea is to
reduce the muscle strength component and maximise the stamina benefit.
Whichever variant you choose (and you can make up your own variant to
suit your own fitness goals) you need to choose your hill with care. The
surface should be as even as possible, free from potholes and tussocks.
And of course the steepness of the hill should be appropriate to your
current level of fitness. My own nordic walking groups use a very, very
gentle slope in a public park. It is so gentle that most park users
probably don't notice it at all, but it gives us a good enough workout.
We take about 50 double-strides to get from bottom to top. We usually
start with five up-and-down repetitions, then build up gradually to ten.
Usually we employ the standard nordic walking technique, but with a fit
group I will do
some moose hoofs.
To consider the other extreme: the training programme of the Norwegian
men's XC team includes moose hoofs in 5 x 5-minutes intervals at a
perceived intensity level of 4-5 (hard) with short recovery times.
My nordic walkers have the Norwegian programme as a goal, of course, but
it is for the long term . . .
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