Strength Training for Cross-Country Skiing: Benefits & Guide

This article explains the hows and whys of strength training for cross-country skiing, the best exercises for improving your performance on the trails, and a complete 8-week weight training program.

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When you think of cross-country skiing, what comes to mind? Smooth glides through snowy trails, breathtaking views, and a whole lot of endurance? Cross-country skiing is all that, but there’s more to it than beautiful vistas and stamina; it’s a full-body activity that demands strength, power, and stability.

To become a stronger and more stable skier, you’ve got to hit the weights. Whether you’re climbing steep hills or keeping a steady rhythm across flats, whether you’re into classic skiing or skating, building muscle mass and strength can make all the difference between a struggle and a stride.

Table of Contents

Benefits of Strength Training for Cross-Country Skiing

Cross-country or Nordic skiing has been an Olympic sport for 100 years, and recent training and equipment advances demand more strength and speed than ever.

Strength training boosts cross-country skiing performance in several ways. ¹ ² It builds muscular endurance and power, improves core stability and balance, and enhances work economy (you use less effort (and oxygen) to achieve the same performance). Plus, stronger muscles mean better injury resistance, letting you go harder and recover faster.

Here’s how lifting weights helps your skiing:

Muscular Strength

A stronger body means better performance in cross-country skiing, and there is no better way to get stronger than lifting weights. Both flat and uphill sections require plenty of lower and upper body strength.

More strength in your legs, glutes, and core means you can power up each stride, push with more power and less effort, and cover ground faster and more efficiently.
Strong shoulders, back, and arms help you drive the poles down with more force, propelling you forward and reducing the workload on your legs.

In addition, greater maximum strength will make a huge difference when you need a sudden burst of speed on flats or during a sprint to the finish line.

Muscular Endurance and Speed

Stronger muscles mean they’re more efficient. With a strength foundation from lifting weights, each glide and pole push takes less effort, so you don’t gas out as quickly and can maintain optimal performance over long distances.

And more strength = more speed. When you increase your muscle power, you’re able to generate greater force quickly. That means quicker adjustments to shifts in terrain or trail conditions, and when you need to go full-throttle to outpace someone, your body’s ready to deliver.

Core Stability and Balance

Building a strong core with strength training is like upgrading your ski gear—only it’s free and comes with zero risk of frostbite.

Cross-country skiing requires a lot of push-off power. From your legs, of course, but also from your torso and arms. A strong core connects the power from your legs up to your arms, so when you pole kick, the energy transfer is smooth, and each stride is more powerful.

Keeping your form for long distances also depends on your core. If your core is weak, you’ll likely start to slouch when you’re tired. And greater core strength means you can keep an upright, balanced position that allows for the most power when your glide ski becomes your kick ski.

Lastly, strength training—especially single-leg work, like lunges and split squats—improves your balance, stability, and proprioception (your body’s ability to sense its position, movement, and balance without looking, like knowing where your hand is even when your eyes are closed). You minimize wasted energy, avoid falls, and can handle twisty turns and tricky downhills more easily.

Injury Prevention

Cross-country skiing is a sport with few injuries. However, some parts of the body, like the lower back, shoulders, and legs, can get overused.³ That’s not a big problem if you’re skiing a few times a week for fun and exercise, but it is a thing in competitive skiing.

Skiing involves plenty of repetitive forward bending, and sometimes, the lower back can’t take the strain over time. Double-poling and diagonal strides can also cause overuse issues in the shoulders and legs.

Strength training reduces these injury risks by building up the muscles you use when skiing and prepares your body for the demands of repetitive movements. In fact, strength training the most effective countermeasure against overuse injuries, cutting them almost in half, according to research.⁴ A well-designed strength training program for cross-country skiing also prevents or minimizes muscular imbalances, further preventing indirect strains or overuse injuries.

Efficient Technique

It has been known for many decades that strength training fine-tunes the neuromuscular pathways that control your movements.⁵

For a skier, including skiing-specific movements with heavy weights translates to being able to activate the muscles you’re using more effectively, resulting in a smoother and more efficient skiing technique in which every stride is coordinated, and you waste less energy on small, unnecessary movements.

Improved Lactate Threshold

Strength training improves your body’s lactate threshold (the exercise intensity at which lactic acid starts to accumulate in the blood faster than your body can clear it, leading to muscle fatigue and “burn”).⁶

The result? You improve endurance performance independently of any changes in Vo2Max.

Adaptation to Cold Conditions

Outdoors skiing means dealing with cold.

Body fat is well-known for insulting and protecting the body from cold temperatures. Like a seal. 🦭

However, recent research shows that muscle mass is even more important for preventing heat loss. In addition, more muscle mass means you don’t feel the cold as much, even more so than body fat.⁷ ⁸

In other words, gaining some muscle will allow you to generate and retain body heat more efficiently and withstand cold temperatures more effectively.

Key Areas to Focus On

Cross-country skiing requires a mix of endurance, strength, power, and technique. Lifting weights improves all of the above.

Traditional strength training exercises build the strength and stability you need to excel in the trails. That means both basic movements that improve your overall strength as well as exercises that contain ski-specific elements. Overly complicated exercises that have you balancing on stability balls while performing complex movements might look fancy but rarely offer anything that the basics don’t.

Most of the training should be high-intensity work with heavy weights and low reps, plus explosive strength training.¹ High-rep training using light loads is not as effective. You already have the ultimate endurance-training exercise in skiing; focus on maximal strength training in the gym.

Here are key areas a cross-country skier should focus on:

Upper Body Strength and Endurance

A strong upper body is important for skiing power, particularly for optimal double-poling economy.

Exercises like pull-ups, lat pulldowns, and rows build strength and endurance in the upper back, lats, and shoulders and help you maintain your form over longer distances.

Pushing movements like bench presses or dips strengthen your triceps and shoulders for pole planting to maintain a strong double-pole motion.

Lower Body Strength and Power

Skiers rely on leg power for uphill climbs and stable descents. Quad, glute, and hamstring strength are essential for all parts of skiing, and calf strength helps with the push-off.

Squats (front and back), lunges, step-ups, deadlifts, and single-leg exercises build both strength and balance, and exercises like box jumps and kettlebell swings improve your explosiveness for when you need quick, powerful movements to navigate uneven terrain.

Core Strength, Stability, and Rotation

Every time you shift weight or push off on one leg, your core helps you stay upright and keeps your skis tracking straight, even on uneven snow or during quick turns. Without your core as an internal stabilizer, your skis would be heading in opposite directions faster than you can say “faceplant.”

Your core muscles also transfer power from the upper body to the poles. A strong core ensures that every ounce of energy you generate from your legs and arms transfers smoothly into forward momentum.

It’s a good idea to include both straight ab exercises like leg raises and crunches and rotational exercises like wood chops.

Balance and Coordination

Good balance is essential for stability on skis, particularly on uneven or icy surfaces, and strength training improves both balance and muscle coordination.

Balance exercises do not necessarily mean doing your weight training standing on one leg on a Bosu ball. Exercises like single-leg deadlifts, step-ups, lunges, and split squats are great for developing the balance and stability you need on the trails.

Explosive Strength

Explosive strength training increases your ability to produce quick force for sprints and uphill sections.

To optimize speed and acceleration, power-based exercises such as kettlebell swings, medicine ball throws, and plyometrics can help you maximize energy output during sprints or uphill climbs.

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A well-designed strength training program for cross-country skiing includes elements from all of the above areas. Just like the one you find in this article and in the StrengthLog workout log app. Psst! It’s called Strength Training Program for Cross-Country Skiers in the app.

How Often Should Cross-Country Skiers Strength Train?

When you combine cross-country skiing with strength training, you must keep in mind that both are demanding activities that take a lot out of your body.

You’re essentially forcing your body to adapt to two different forms of exercise—aerobic and anaerobic training—simultaneously. It can be done, but you have to balance your workload and pay attention to recovery and nutrition. If you keep adding to your training load, sooner or later you’ll get overwhelmed.

For maximum benefits, most cross-country skiers benefit from strength training two to three times per week, with different frequencies for different phases of the training season.

Many different types of training splits can be successful, but upper/lower splits and full-body routines are great and allow for a neat combination of training frequency, volume, and recovery.

Off-Season (Preparatory Phase)

During the off-season, you can devote more time and energy to other types of training that will benefit you later during the ski season.

At this point, two to three strength sessions are the sweet spot. Your primary goal is to build a good strength base, working on upper and lower body strength as well as your core.

Your workouts should focus on heavier lifting and strength development, which you can then maintain and adapt during the competitive season.

Pre-Season

Pre-season means winter is coming, and it’s time to prepare for skiing. One strength session can be enough, but two is likely optimal. If you’ve been doing heavy strength work three times weekly, it can be a good idea to shift to two sessions per week at this point.

During pre-season, you’ll maintain (although gaining is a welcome bonus) the strength base you’ve established during the off-season but integrate more sport-specific endurance and power work. It’s a good idea to include more dynamic, explosive movements that mimic skiing action during this phase.

Competitive Season

When competitive season (or simply skiing season if you’re a recreational skier) is in high gear, it’s likely not the best idea to do high-volume, high-frequency lifting at the same time.

Scaling back to 1–2 sessions per week helps maintain strength without interfering with skiing. At this stage, you’re looking to maintain strength without overwhelming your body with fatigue.

Your workouts should focus on lower volume but higher intensity (heavy weights) and explosive strength exercises to support power without overloading.

Time Your Workouts with Recovery in Mind

Regardless of season, schedule your strength workouts on days you’re not doing an exhaustive skiing session or on days off from skiing. If you do both on the same day, try to split your sessions up as much as possible. For example, ski in the morning and lift later in the day or vice versa.

Don’t do weight training for the same muscle groups several days in a row, and try to leave at least one full day each week for either active recovery or complete rest to allow your body to adapt and recover.

Monitor Fatigue, Recovery, and Nutrition

Pay attention to signs of overtraining, like feeling sluggish instead of energized when it’s time to train, decreases in performance, muscle soreness that won’t go away, or lack of motivation. Adjust your training intensity or take a rest day or two if you notice you’re not recovering properly.

Good nutrition is also essential when balancing high levels of physical activity.

Cross-country skiing is one of the most calorie-burning things you can do, and strength training, while not as demanding in the calorie department, increases the requirements for other nutrients, like protein, for best results.

That means that you likely have to shovel down a lot of high-quality food to maintain high performance level and give your body the nutrients it needs to adapt and become a better skier with more speed, strength, and stamina.

Strength Training Program for Cross-Country Skiers

This is a training program for cross-country skiers who want to build their muscular strength and endurance and improve their work economy to boost performance and reduce injury risk in the trails.

Program Overview

Frequency: 2 workouts per week.
Duration: 8 weeks, with progression in sets, reps, or weight every two weeks.
Focus: Full-body strength with emphasis on legs, core, and upper body strength endurance to complement the demands of skiing.

You can train on whichever days best suit your schedule. Just take one day off from lifting between each training session.

Try to add weight or do one more rep each workout. When you can do the designated number of reps for each set, increase the load the next time you hit the gym.

Follow This Training Program in StrengthLog

This program and many more are in the StrengthLog workout tracker app. The app is free to use, forever, with no ads. This program, however, is a premium program (it offers built-in progression and advanced periodization), which means it requires a premium subscription.

We offer all new users a free 14-day premium trial. You can activate it in the app without any strings attached.

Download StrengthLog and start tracking your workouts today:

Download StrengthLog Workout Log on App Store Bodybuilding Blitz

Download StrengthLog Workout Log on Google Play Store Bodybuilding Blitz

Workout 1

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Squat	3	6
Pull-Up	3	10
Dips	3	10
Romanian Deadlift	3	8
Cable Crunch	3	10
Wood Chop	3	10
Box Jump	3	10

Workout 2

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Trap Bar Deadlift	3	6
Seated Cable Row	3	8
Bulgarian Split Squat	3	8
Push Press	3	6
Tricep Pushdown	3	10
Hanging Leg Raise	3	12
Ball Slam	3	15

The exact set and rep details (the above are snapshots of a single week) along with the planned intensity and volume progression route, are available in your StrengthLog workout tracker app.

Strength Training Exercises for Cross-Country Skiing

Here are detailed descriptions of all the exercises in the Strength Training for Cross-Country Skiers program in the order they appear.

Squat

The king of athletic strength training exercises, the barbell squat hits all the major muscle groups in the lower body used in skiing: quads, adductors, and glutes. It also works the lower back and core muscles, stabilizing you on uneven surfaces.

The strength you gain from squatting translates directly into better control and more powerful pushes against the ground for forward propulsion.

Also, cross-country skiing has a lot of huff-and-puff uphill climbs. Squats give you strength you can use to explode through these climbs with more power and less fatigue.

How to Squat

Place the bar on your upper back with your shoulders blades squeezed together. Inhale and brace your core slightly, and unrack the bar.
Take two steps back, and adjust your foot position.
Squat as deep as possible with proper form.
With control, stop and reverse the movement, extending your hips and legs again.
Exhale on the way up or exchange air in the top position.
Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Pull-Up

The pull-up is a great exercise for your back (primarily the lats), biceps, and rear delts, giving you more power behind every pole push.

The continuous, rhythmic motion of double-poling (the push-off movement in skiing) relies heavily on the muscles you use when you do pull-ups. In addition, the upper back and shoulder strength and stability you gain from doing pull-ups reduces injury risk and provides you with greater control in each stroke.

Add weight if you can do more than 6–10 reps. To increase the load in pull-ups, strap on a weight belt, hold a dumbbell between your legs, or wear a backpack with something suitably heavy, like a weight plate.

Conversely, if you struggle to do enough pull-ups, you can use a resistance band for a helping hand or an assisted pull-up machine.

How to Do Pull-Ups

Stand beneath a pull-up bar and reach up to grasp it with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you). Ensure your grip is secure and comfortable, your hands lightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
Hang freely from the bar, fully extending your arms. Your feet should be off the ground.
Engage your core muscles by squeezing your abs and glutes.
Inhale and initiate the movement by pulling yourself up towards the bar by bending your elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Focus on using your back muscles rather than relying on your upper arms.
Continue pulling yourself up until your chin reaches or clears the bar. Keep your torso upright and avoid excessive swinging or kicking with your legs.
Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position while maintaining control and stability, fully extending your arms.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of pull ups.

Dips

Bar dips deliver on upper body power, strength and stability, making them worthy of the “upper-body squat” title. They are amazing for building the triceps, shoulders, and chest, which are crucial for the poling motion in cross-country skiing. More specifically, your triceps are essential for strong, powerful pushes, your chest gives extra oomph in the poling motion, and your delts help keep your shoulders sturdy and stable.

Like with pull-ups, if you can do more than 10 dips, wear a weight belt or a backpack with some added resistance.

How to Do Bar Dips

Grip a dip station about shoulder-width apart, and climb or jump to get into the starting position.
Lower your body weight with control until your shoulder is below your elbow, or as deep as you comfortably can.
Reverse the motion and return to the starting position.
Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is a hip-dominant exercise that focuses on the posterior chain, meaning all the juicy muscles running along the backside of your body: hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. It’s different from a regular deadlift because you only keep a slight bend in the knees and emphasize a slow, controlled lowering motion.

The posterior chain muscles are crucial for stabilizing the hips and knees, which is gold for keeping your skis steady. Romanian deadlifts challenge your balance, too, which improves coordination and prevents slipping and sliding when you least expect it.

In addition, they strengthen the lower back, helping with posture, maintaining a strong position, and reducing fatigue during long ski sessions.

How to Do Romanian Deadlifts

Get into the starting position by deadlifting a barbell off the floor or by unracking it from a barbell rack. Stand feet hip-width, inhale, and brace your core slightly.
Lean forward by hinging in your hips. Keep your knees almost completely extended.
Lean forward as far as possible with good form (no rounding your back). You don’t have to touch the barbell to the floor, although it is OK if you do.
Reverse the movement and return to the standing position. Exhale on the way up.
Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Note: The dumbbell Romanian deadlift is a viable alternative to the barbell variant.

Cable Crunch

The cable crunch trains your rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscles) while also working the transverse abdominis and obliques, which are essential for core stability.

In cross-country skiing, your core is responsible for keeping you upright and balanced, providing oomph for your pole pushes, and maintaining rhythm on both flat terrain and slopes.

Cable crunches directly translate to the double pole movement in both classical and skating. That means you’ll get more force into each pole push, boosting speed.

How to Do Cable Crunches

Fasten a rope handle in the upper position on a cable pulley. Sit down on your knees a few feet away, facing the pulley.
Bend your upper body forward by contracting your abs. Hold the ropes on either side of your head throughout the movement.
Reverse the motion and return to the starting position with control.
Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.

Wood Chop

If you’re looking for an exercise that boosts the core strength, stability, and rotation of cross country skiing in one move, look no further than the wood chop. It is an underutilized but excellent exercise for your core, particularly the obliques and transverse abdominis, and trains rotational power and core stability in ways that ordinary crunches and leg raises just can’t.

Cross-country skiing involves a lot of movement across planes—gliding forward, stabilizing laterally, and rotating the torso with each pole drive. With wood chops, you’re training those same movements so that your core becomes the rock-solid force you need for propulsion and balance.

Note: you can do this exercise with either a resistance band (like in the video demonstration above) or a cable pulley system.

How to Do Horizontal Wood Chops

Fasten an elastic band at shoulder height. Grip the band with both hands, step away, and stand sideways to the band’s anchor point.
With almost straight arms, make a sweeping, horizontal movement to your other side.
Return to the starting position in a controlled manner.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Box Jump

Box jumps give you a full lower body workout, hitting your quads and hamstrings (for those powerful kicks and pushes), your glutes (a power hub for propulsion, especially for uphill climbs), and your calves (adding stability and bounce).

Not only do they work your legs like nobody’s business, but they also improve your balance, coordination, and explosiveness, which are all things your body will thank you for when you’re pushing yourself up hills and kicking through long, powerful strides.

How to Do Box Jumps

Select a box that is appropriate for your fitness level and jumping ability.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, a few inches away from the box. Your knees should be slightly bent, and your hips pushed back in an athletic stance, like a mini squat.
Engage your core and swing your arms back to generate momentum. Keep your chest up, and your weight balanced evenly across your feet.
Push through the balls of your feet, extending your hips, knees, and ankles as you jump up. Swing your arms forward and upward to help propel yourself onto the box. Jump with both feet leaving the ground at the same time.
As you land on the box, aim to have both feet hit the surface at the same time. Bend your knees slightly to absorb the impact, keeping your chest up and back straight.
Once you’ve landed on the box, stand up tall, extending your hips completely to finish the jump.
Step off the box one foot at a time, and reset your stance before attempting the next jump.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of jumps.

Trap Bar Deadlift

Deadlifting is one of the best things you can do to build strength, stability, and explosiveness all throughout your body.

Unlike the regular straight-bar deadlift, the trap bar deadlift keeps the load closer to your center of mass. This positioning will benefit your skiing, not just because it increases general strength but also because it creates a balanced, natural movement that feels like the lowered position you use when skiing downhill with your weight centered over the ball of your foot.

It can also be safer for your lower back, works the quads more (which will help your leg-dominant cross-country strides), and recruits muscles that are key to the power you need on slopes.

How to Do Trap Bar Deadlifts

Step into the bar’s opening so that the handles are in line with the middle of your feet.
Inhale, bend down and grip the handles.
Hold your breath, brace your core slightly, and lift the bar.
Lift the bar with a straight back, until you are standing straight.
Lower the bar back to the ground with control.
Take another breath, and repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Seated Cable Row

Cable Close Grip Seated Row exercise — Cable Seated Row

The seated cable row trains your back to endure long days going up and down the skiing trails so your form and power stay in tip-top shape. It’s one of the simplest, most effective ways to keep your ski posture solid and ready for action.

Cross-country skiing relies a lot on your back, shoulders, and core to maintain posture, rhythm, and power with each push and pull. The seated cable row targets the muscles responsible for a strong, stable upper body, including your lats for powerful arm swings, your rhomboids and middle traps for a solid posture, and your rear delts and biceps to control the movement and give you that extra oomph with each pole plant.

How to Do Cable Seated Rows

Sit on the seated row bench, facing the cable machine. Your feet should be flat on the footrest, knees slightly bent, and your torso upright with your chest out, shoulders back, and core engaged.
Grab the handle with a neutral grip (palms facing together). Ensure your arms are fully extended and your back straight in the starting position.
Pull the handle towards your abdomen by retracting your shoulder blades (squeezing them together). Focus on driving your elbows backward and keeping them close to your body.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together and contract your lats before extending your arms and leaning forward again. Maintain a controlled motion throughout the movement and avoid using excessive momentum.
Stretch your lats out without letting your shoulders slump forward, then repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Bulgarian Split Squat

The Bulgarian split squat is like a one-stop shop for leg and glute strength.. But it also has bonus benefits for balance and stability—two must-haves for skiing.

Bulgarian split squats work your quads and adductors, which power through pushes on the ski poles and stabilize your downhill descents, and your glutes, the engine for almost every part of your ski stride.

The split squat isolates each leg, building individual leg strength and eliminating imbalances. That’s great for cross-country skiing since you often push off one leg at a time. Also, you don’t end up favoring one side (pretty common in cross-country skiing, as most of us are not symmetrical in lower body strength).

It’s also excellent for flexibility. With a nice stretch on your rear leg’s hip flexor, it’s a two-for-one move. Greater hip mobility means a better stride length and smoother skiing form.

How to Do Bulgarian Split Squats

Place a bar on your upper back or hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands.
Stand with your back turned against a bench, which should be about knee height. Stand about one long step in front of the bench.
Place your right foot on the bench behind you.
Inhale, look forward, and squat down with control until right before your right knee touches the floor.
Reverse the movement and extend your front leg again, while exhaling. Your back foot should only act as support.
Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions, then switch side and repeat with your right leg forward and your left foot on the bench.

Push Press

The push press is a power-focused lift that works your deltoids, triceps, and upper chest. It combines a classic overhead press with a little extra boost from your legs. Unlike a strict shoulder press, where you only rely on your upper body, the push press has you dip slightly at the knees and then drive through your legs to press the barbell overhead.

Cross-country skiing requires strength endurance and explosive power from the upper body, your arms, shoulders, and core in particular. The push press strengthens the major muscle groups in the arm-drive movement that propels you forward on your skis. But it also adds that extra pop from the legs, building a full-body power transfer that mirrors the force and rhythm of skiing and translating directly to a stronger, more efficient poling motion.

How to Push Press

Clean a bar to your shoulders, or lift it out from a rack.
Let the bar rest against the front of your shoulders, with your grip slightly outside your shoulders.
Inhale and lightly brace your core.
Bend your knees, and then forcefully push yourself and the bar upwards using your legs.
When your legs are extended, immediately start pressing the bar with your arms, until your arms are fully extended.
With control, lower the bar back to your shoulders.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Tricep Pushdown

The tricep pushdown is an excellent isolation exercise for the triceps. It might look like it’s mostly just an “arm day” move, but don’t let it fool you; it translates directly to your skiing performance.

Cross-country skiing requires a lot of upper-body power, including from your triceps. When you’re poling along, each push down with the poles recruits the muscles on the back of your upper arm. The more you build these guys up, the better you’ll be able to power through tough sections on the trail without your arms giving out before your legs.

How to Do Tricep Pushdowns

Stand one step away from the cable pulley and grip a bar or a rope.
Pull the handle down until your upper arms are perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position.
Push the handle down until your arms are fully extended.
With control, let the handle up again.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Hanging Leg Raise

The hanging leg raise is an exercise for the entire core—from the upper to lower abdominal muscles, obliques, and even the deep stabilizing muscles that wrap around the spine. This is excellent for cross-country skiing, where your core stabilizes you through each glide and transfers power to the poles.

It also builds the hip flexors, which is the best thing since sliced cheese for cross country skiers like you. In cross-country skiing, the hip flexors are in constant motion as you bring your legs forward. Hanging leg raises target these bad boys for a smoother, more powerful stride.

Note: if hanging leg raises are too challenging, you can do hanging knee raises instead.

How to Do Hanging Leg Raises

Grasp a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, shoulder-width apart.
Hang from the bar with your arms fully extended and your body in a straight line from your head to your heels.
Engage your core and keep your back straight.
Raise your legs towards your chest, as high as you can, keeping your back straight and your core engaged.
Slowly lower your legs back down to the starting position.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Ball Slam

You might be wondering how hurling a heavy ball into the ground repeatedly could possibly help you improve your skiing performance, but here’s the deal: the ball slam builds explosive power, core stability, and muscle endurance, all of which are essentials for cross-country skiing.

With each pole plant, you use your whole body to launch forward. The ball slam strengthens that movement by forcing you to put everything into the downward motion, simulating the same explosive upper body and core power you use with your poles.

How to Ball Slam

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, your knees and hips slightly bent, holding the ball in both hands at chest height. Engage your core, and keep a good posture.
Extend your knees and drive your hips forward while simultaneously lifting the ball. Aim for being as tall as possible, the ball overhead, arms up, hips slightly forward, and on your toes from the force of your drive.
Use your core and arms to slam the medicine ball straight down between your feet with as much force as possible. Press your hips back and bend your knees to further power the slam. Exhale as you slam the ball down.
Squat down to pick up the ball from the floor, then immediately move into the next slam by repeating the movement.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions or for the intended length of time.

Strength Training for Cross-Country Skiing: Final Words

You have reached the end of this guide to strength training for cross-country skiing.⛷️

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you have enjoyed it and learned things that will benefit your riding.

To follow the training routine in this article, download our workout log app and start tracking your workouts today:

Here’s a summary of the benefits of strength training for cross-country skiing:

Strength training builds the strength and muscle endurance you need to maintain power throughout a long distrance race.
Stronger core and leg muscles increase stability and balance on challenging terrain.
Strength work a great way to develop explosive power for powerful strides, sprints, and better uphill performance.
A strong body minimizes the likelihood of overuse injuries.
Strength training makes your muscles, brain, and nervous system communicate better with each other, which means efficient movements and conserving energy over distance.

Strength training doesn’t have to mean hours in the weight room, taking away from your skiing, or making you big, bulky, and cumbersome. On the contrary, a few strength sessions each week can make a noticeable difference, improve your skiing performance, prevent injuries, and give you an extra edge when you’re out on the snow.