Training

Light and strong

Nordic combined athletes must have a very high strength-to-weight ratio. Athletes must be light in order to maximize aerodynamics and flying distance while at the same time maintaining a high level of endurance capacity for the cross-country discipline. Because of the competing demands of light weight and heavy physical exertion, proper nutrition is of the utmost importance.

Strength training for Nordic Combined athletes must be performed in a way that maximizes power and minimizes muscle mass. This requires closely monitored training loads and repetitions, much of which revolves around plyometric or bounding activities.

Focus

Mental focus is another important area for Nordic combined athletes. For ski jumping, split second mental focus and technical execution need to be perfect at the jump’s takeoff. This focus makes or breaks the jump. For cross-country skiing, a high level of focus must be maintained for the duration of the race while pushing through the pain of exertion.

When practicing ski jumping, the athletes will sometimes rely on “force platforms” to determine the direction, speed and total application of force. Force platforms are composed of a series of sensors placed under the ski jump ramp. They are also used in a laboratory setting for simulated jumps.

While Olympic Winter Games-bound athletes focus on the 10-kilometre cross-country ski race, they will often train two or three times that distance during practices. Athletes put in a large amount of training distance in cross-country skiing; but as race day approaches, distance tapers as they sharpen their speed and technique.

Summer training

The majority of training occurs in the summer months while the winter is primarily focused on competition. Over the summer athletes will make more than 600 jumps on ski jumps equipped with a porcelain in-run tracks and a plastic landing surface. These jumps allow for an experience that is almost identical to winter jumping, providing a high level of training quality. Additionally, athletes will spend much of the summer achieving a high volume of aerobic training through running, cycling, roller skiing and glacier skiing. Cross-training with gymastics, soccer, trampoline, hiking and climbing are also a significant component of summer training.

Training

Luge sliders are also in the weight room several times a week, and can often be found running sprints. 

Off-season training consists of aerobic exercise such as swimming and speed skating. Luge sliders can also dryland train in a luge sled outfitted with wheels in order to stay sharp with their paddling technique and speed work. In the weight room, luge athletes perform high repetition exercises to raise their heart rate and work their sprinting muscles.

Luge athletes tend to come from backgrounds such as skateboarding, snowboard and gymnastics — sports that are “reactive” as every race has a different sensation and rhythm requiring sliders to be reactive and flexible to change. Luge takes a strong mental effort to maintain a clean and efficient line down the track while battling G-forces.

Olympic Training

Peak condition

Come race time, alpine skiers rely on the long hours of summer training they devoted to building strong legs and abdominal muscles to help them hold and maintain a fast aggressive line. Like many winter sports, the alpine skiing off-season is spent doing large volumes of strength work and conditioning such as biking, hiking, weights and glacier skiing. And while some national alpine ski teams travel to snowy destinations, other teams might be fortunate enough to have a glacier only a short distance from home.

In the weight room

Nothing beats training on the slopes but alpine skiers also need to hit the weight room to build the muscles essential to helping hold their form. As a result, 75 per cent of training is focused on lower body; alpine skiers work mostly the legs doing squat lifts, power cleans and jumping exercises. They also have a regimen of flexibility exercises to prevent knee and hip injuries. Upper body work such as chin-ups and push-ups help for a good push out of the gate, but those arm muscles are also an added psychological advantage.

The total amount of training time varies from team to team and athlete to athlete, but generally, a high-performance alpine skier practices up to twice a day with each session lasting between two to four hours. Immediately following any type of intense training session, cool downs are equally essential. Some teams travel with stationary bikes which provide a convenient cool down with little strain on the joints.

Mental fitness

Alpine skiing requires a strong body and a good line. But most of all, a strong competitive appetite is needed for success. It’s the fearless mentality and confidence to be aggressive that makes a technically good skier into a champion skier. When they’re not working their bodies and their form, alpine skiers are sharpening their confidence and constantly looking to improve their mental game.

 Our Athletic Training Team motto in Norwell, Massachusetts is, “You will Never know greatness until you train for it.” Remember that the next time you start to lose motivation… it could be the difference between a Silver and a Gold.

*Veteran Training is taking the night off to watch the U.S.A Olympic Team with their friends and family around the television this week.

What is Alpine Skiing?

About the Sport
Alpine skiing has been practiced in the European Alps for at least 150 years. In addition to adapting cross-country techniques to suit their steeper slopes, alpine skiers also found they needed slightly wider skis to go downhill safely, and developed different ways to use their poles and new turning techniques to match the more vertical terrain of the high mountains.

The sport became increasingly popular through the early 20th century with the development of T-bars, tows and ski lifts, as alpine skiers no longer had to climb up a slope before skiing down.

Alpine skiing for both men and women debuted as an Olympic sport in 1936 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. In 1948, separate downhill and slalom races were added. From that time, super combined was not contested at an Olympic Winter Games until 1988, in Calgary. The giant slalom was added in 1952, and the super-G in 1988.

How It Works

In alpine skiing, racers can reach speeds of more than 130 kilometres an hour, travelling down a vertical drop that ranges from 180 metres (slalom) to 1,100 metres (downhill) for men and 140 metres (slalom) to 800 metres (downhill) for women. The vertical drop is made even more difficult because of a series of gates the skiers must pass through. Skiers who miss a gate must then climb back up and go through the missed gate or be disqualified.

Downhill

The downhill event features the longest course and the highest speeds in alpine skiing. Each skier makes a single run down a single course. The fastest time determines the winner.

Super-G

Super-G, for super giant slalom, combines the speed of downhill with the more precise turns of giant slalom. The course is shorter than downhill but longer than the giant slalom course. Each skier makes one run down a single course. The fastest time determines the winner.

Giant Slalom

Giant slalom is similar to the slalom, with fewer, wider and smoother turns. Each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day. Usually the first run is held in the morning and the second in the afternoon. The times for both runs are then combined with the fastest total time determining the winner.

Slalom

Slalom features the shortest course and the quickest turns. As in the giant slalom, each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Super Combined

The combined event consists of one downhill run followed by one slalom run using a shorter course. The times are added together. The fastest total time determines the winner.

Competition Events
Men’s Downhill
Ladies’ Downhill
Men’s Super-G
Ladies’ Super-G
Men’s Giant Slalom
Ladies’ Giant Slalom
Men’s Slalom
Ladies’ Slalom
Men’s Super Combined
Ladies’ Super Combined