Monday, January 22, 2007
Nordic Walking - Ski Readiness Training Program ( Week 8)
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I am very grateful to Stuart Montgomery for putting together this training course.
As well as being a fellow INWA Nordic Walking Instructor Stuart is a Director of Tour Operator XCuk Ltd http://www.xcuk.com the company who are providing the Nordic Walking News cross-country skiing holiday to Norway this coming February.
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Welcome to Week 8 of our 10-week course.
It is intended mainly for those joining our February cross-country skiing holiday in Norway. Snow conditions are excellent in Norway right now, with over a metre of snow and more falling, and a great time is promised. (For details of the holiday see http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm
But the course will also benefit anyone who wants to improve their fitness.
The course is progressive. So if you missed the last seven weeks, please go back to our posting of 4 December where you will find the overall rationale, as well as an explanation of the three “categories” that we refer to below. Please also remember that in earlier postings we have described mobilisation exercises for you to do before every workout, and muscle stretches for you to do after every workout.
Nordic Walking
In recent weeks we have been increasing the intensity of your Nordic walking sessions. First we added some speed work. Then we introduced a little hill-work. Then we increased the duration of your sessions. Finally, last week we asked you to add still more speed work. So it has grown into a fairly challenging workout – congratulations on keeping it up!
This week we will not ask you to work any harder. We want you to do the same pattern of Nordic walking sessions as last week. But we will ask you to experiment with a different technique: double poling. We’ll talk more about that in a minute. First, here are the session plans once again:
CATEGORY A
This week do three Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus two sessions of 65 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in each of the three 35-minute sessions.
In addition, do some hill-work in one of the 65-minute sessions. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat ten times.
CATEGORY B
This week do two Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus one session of 65 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in each of the 35-minute sessions.
In addition, do some hill-work in the 65-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat eight times.
CATEGORY C
This week do one Nordic walking session of 35 minutes plus one session of 50 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in the 35-minute session.
In addition, do some hill-work in your 50-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat five times.
Introducing Double-Poling
Standard NW uses alternate arm poling, but for a slightly different workout you can do some double poling, in which you plant both poles at the same time and use them to push yourself forward on to your next stride. You will need to experiment with the number of strides between each double pole plant, and find out what suits you...
...Some people take two strides, some three, and some four. You will probably find that if you pole hard you will take more strides, and walk more slowly, than if you pole lightly. Double-poling with two strides will therefore tend to boost your speed. Double-poling with three or four strides will tend on the other hand to favour muscle endurance and strength.
Experiment a little. Then when you have found your own style, add a two-minute double-poling session to each of your 35-minute walks.
Double poling can feel quite hard on the shoulders and upper back, so do take it easy to begin with.
Muscle Toning
As usual we continue to work on mini-squats, which are great for toning the legs.
This week, like last, we want you to do three sets of 12 repetitions of this exercise in the course of the week:
CATEGORY A
Hold each mini-squat for a count of ten.
CATEGORY B
Hold each mini-squat for a count of five.
CATEGORY C
Hold each mini-squat for a count of three.
Muscle Toning and Balance
Throughout this course we have been using mini-squats to help our ski-balance as well as tone our muscles. Recently we added a few more moves to our sequence of balance exercises, to make it a very effective sequence of nine positions. Here is the sequence once again. (Remember to hold on to the back of a chair if you feel unsteady during this exercise.)
1 Squat slowly down into the basic position. Hold it for a count of five.
2 Without standing up, shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the left foot. (In moving across, you mainly pivot at the ANKLES.) You should achieve a position in which your left foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
3 Now shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the right foot. In doing this, you achieve a position in which your right foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
4 Now shift your body weight a little forward, over the balls of your feet. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
5 Now shift your body weight a little backward, over your heels. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
6 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the left, over the ball of your left foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
7 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the right, over the ball of your right foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
8 In the second last movement of the sequence, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the left - over your left heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
9 Finally, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the right - over your right heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position and then stand up. And take a well-earned rest
Try to find time to do this routine five times during the course of the week.
Happy training!
Stuart Montgomery (Director - XCuk Ltd)
=====================================================================================
Have you booked your place on our cross-country skiing holiday? With less than two weeks to go there is still a chance that we may be able to accept your booking but don't delay visit the website today:
http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm
=====================================================================================
=====================================================================================
I am very grateful to Stuart Montgomery for putting together this training course.
As well as being a fellow INWA Nordic Walking Instructor Stuart is a Director of Tour Operator XCuk Ltd http://www.xcuk.com the company who are providing the Nordic Walking News cross-country skiing holiday to Norway this coming February.
=====================================================================================
Welcome to Week 8 of our 10-week course.
It is intended mainly for those joining our February cross-country skiing holiday in Norway. Snow conditions are excellent in Norway right now, with over a metre of snow and more falling, and a great time is promised. (For details of the holiday see http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm
But the course will also benefit anyone who wants to improve their fitness.
The course is progressive. So if you missed the last seven weeks, please go back to our posting of 4 December where you will find the overall rationale, as well as an explanation of the three “categories” that we refer to below. Please also remember that in earlier postings we have described mobilisation exercises for you to do before every workout, and muscle stretches for you to do after every workout.
Nordic Walking
In recent weeks we have been increasing the intensity of your Nordic walking sessions. First we added some speed work. Then we introduced a little hill-work. Then we increased the duration of your sessions. Finally, last week we asked you to add still more speed work. So it has grown into a fairly challenging workout – congratulations on keeping it up!
This week we will not ask you to work any harder. We want you to do the same pattern of Nordic walking sessions as last week. But we will ask you to experiment with a different technique: double poling. We’ll talk more about that in a minute. First, here are the session plans once again:
CATEGORY A
This week do three Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus two sessions of 65 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in each of the three 35-minute sessions.
In addition, do some hill-work in one of the 65-minute sessions. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat ten times.
CATEGORY B
This week do two Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus one session of 65 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in each of the 35-minute sessions.
In addition, do some hill-work in the 65-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat eight times.
CATEGORY C
This week do one Nordic walking session of 35 minutes plus one session of 50 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in the 35-minute session.
In addition, do some hill-work in your 50-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat five times.
Introducing Double-Poling
Standard NW uses alternate arm poling, but for a slightly different workout you can do some double poling, in which you plant both poles at the same time and use them to push yourself forward on to your next stride. You will need to experiment with the number of strides between each double pole plant, and find out what suits you...
...Some people take two strides, some three, and some four. You will probably find that if you pole hard you will take more strides, and walk more slowly, than if you pole lightly. Double-poling with two strides will therefore tend to boost your speed. Double-poling with three or four strides will tend on the other hand to favour muscle endurance and strength.
Experiment a little. Then when you have found your own style, add a two-minute double-poling session to each of your 35-minute walks.
Double poling can feel quite hard on the shoulders and upper back, so do take it easy to begin with.
Muscle Toning
As usual we continue to work on mini-squats, which are great for toning the legs.
This week, like last, we want you to do three sets of 12 repetitions of this exercise in the course of the week:
CATEGORY A
Hold each mini-squat for a count of ten.
CATEGORY B
Hold each mini-squat for a count of five.
CATEGORY C
Hold each mini-squat for a count of three.
Muscle Toning and Balance
Throughout this course we have been using mini-squats to help our ski-balance as well as tone our muscles. Recently we added a few more moves to our sequence of balance exercises, to make it a very effective sequence of nine positions. Here is the sequence once again. (Remember to hold on to the back of a chair if you feel unsteady during this exercise.)
1 Squat slowly down into the basic position. Hold it for a count of five.
2 Without standing up, shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the left foot. (In moving across, you mainly pivot at the ANKLES.) You should achieve a position in which your left foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
3 Now shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the right foot. In doing this, you achieve a position in which your right foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
4 Now shift your body weight a little forward, over the balls of your feet. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
5 Now shift your body weight a little backward, over your heels. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
6 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the left, over the ball of your left foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
7 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the right, over the ball of your right foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
8 In the second last movement of the sequence, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the left - over your left heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.
9 Finally, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the right - over your right heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position and then stand up. And take a well-earned rest
Try to find time to do this routine five times during the course of the week.
Happy training!
Stuart Montgomery (Director - XCuk Ltd)
=====================================================================================
Have you booked your place on our cross-country skiing holiday? With less than two weeks to go there is still a chance that we may be able to accept your booking but don't delay visit the website today:
http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm
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