Weak upper body

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #47584
    hafjell
    Participant

    Went for the first skin of the season yesterday and was pleased that the off-season running program helped me shave a few minutes off of my go-to 2,000′ local loop. Conditions weren’t perfect either so I think I avoided over-training.
    The one drawback: I was getting very tired from poling even at a nose-breathing pace. What can I do now that I’m in-season to improve my poling strength?
    Thanks for all the wisdom here and the podcasts. Just listened to the intro to skimo podcast and wonder if a similar one is in the works for ski mountaineering (slower pace, lower cadence, heavier pack, etc.)

Posted In: Ski Mountaineering

  • Spectator
    Scott Johnston on #47588

    It is probably not a strength issue.

    Arm endurance training is challenging for most people due to the lack of equipment. First choice: Get out often skiing, both touring and XC classic skiing will help this. Next: Concept 2 Skierg. Next: An old Nordic Track. Often found at garage sales at give away prices. I have even bought just the poling/arm trainer from a NT off eBay for something less than $20 and mounted it on a wall for poling simulation. Next summer and especially fall take you poles on your mountain runs and use your arms too to get you up the hills.

    No plans for a ski mountaineering pod cast but the principles of training for all these uphill sports are similar that hopefully you got some useful info from that one.

    Scott

    Participant
    Jason Shumaker on #47634

    More legs, less arms.

    Moderator
    Scott Semple on #48032

    Mmm… I have to disagree with “more legs, less arms.”

    More legs, more arms would be better. If you can be quadripedal, why not take advantage of it?

    Participant
    tomC on #58538

    This might sound silly, but one thing I’ve started doing on my longer runs/ Z1 work is finding a couple fist sized rocks and carrying them in my hands and moving my arms as if they have poles in them. I figure it’s a bit heavier than actual poles and I can toss them when I don’t want them.

    Participant
    dcgm on #58831

    Semi off topic, how do you guys rate the C2 skierg as a low-impact cross-training modality for running/hiking/scrambling relative to e.g. the rower, C2 bike erg, or Airdyne bikes?

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