In the second part of our "Fit for winter" special, Phil tells you how to get your basic endurance in shape: because in order to bring your trained strength to the snow in winter, you not only have to lift weights in the weight room, but it is also essential to train your basic endurance. You need this so that you can easily survive short to long ascents and thus conjure up your line with the necessary power in the snow.
A well-trained basic endurance also helps you to recover more quickly after a strenuous day in the snow. If you are on the move a lot, your body will also recover more quickly from the stresses and strains of traveling, e.g. jet lag.
If endurance is poor, concentration also suffers, which increases the risk of falling when fatigued; injuries are possible consequences.
Now the question naturally arises, how do I best improve my basic endurance?
There are several training areas in endurance training. The most important are basic endurance 1 (GLA 1 lasts longer and is in the medium intensity range) and basic endurance 2 (GLA 2 is shorter and is in the higher intensity range). These two areas differ in terms of intensity and duration. It is best to start with 3 - 4 GLA 1 units per week. You move in the lower heart rate range so that your heart work becomes more economical. The duration should be around 30 minutes at the beginning (if you haven't done much recently). After a few weeks, you can then slowly increase the training time. You can do anything (running, cycling, swimming, mountain walking, ... ) where you can stay in the same heart rate zone for a longer period of time. It also makes sense to alternate sports, as this puts different stresses on your muscles. Cycling allows you to train for a longer period of time as it is not as strenuous and puts less strain on your muscles than running, for example. At the beginning, choose routes on forest floors or soft surfaces so that your ligaments, tendons and joints can slowly get used to the training and the strain. After approx. 3-4 weeks, take a regeneration week, but this does not mean that you do nothing at all during this week. You simply reduce the duration and do fewer sessions. In addition to this training, you should stretch the muscles you are using every day. After this cycle, you can slowly start to increase the intensity. In other words, shorter training sessions with higher intensity. An example of a training week could look like this: Monday you train in the GLA 2 range for 30 minutes (+ 10 min warm-up and warm-down, e.g.: mountain runs, ...) on Tuesday you then train in the GLA 1 range for 60 minutes, Wednesday in the GLA 2, Thursday and Friday then GLA 1 range again.
A final tip: up to a certain level, endurance can be trained very well in summer and fall, but it is also very important to build up ski or snowboard-specific endurance. This can be practiced during your first runs in the snow. It is best to ski very long runs at the beginning without stopping. You should be really ready by the last 10 turns. This teaches your body to work economically when it is "blue" and, once you have practiced this method, you will still have strength for the last few turns. A few tips before you start training:
- If you're not feeling well (cold), skip the session
- Make sure you drink enough fluids
- Training only makes sense if you train continuously over the long term
- Don't forget to stretch
- Listen to your body
Have fun training...
