[hafjell]

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.)

Topic

[Scott Johnston]

Scott Johnston on November 29, 2020 at 2:18 pm #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

[Jason Shumaker]

Jason Shumaker on November 30, 2020 at 8:47 am #47634

More legs, less arms.

[Scott Semple]

Scott Semple on December 9, 2020 at 7:06 am #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?

[tomC]

tomC on October 28, 2021 at 8:13 am #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.

[dcgm]

dcgm on November 4, 2021 at 7:18 pm #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?