Strength Training Integration in Elite Cross-Country Skiers: A Retrospective Analysis of Real-World Training...

To investigate how world-class cross-country skiers integrate strength training into day-to-day endurance training during a successful season.

Seventeen Olympic/World Championship/World Cup medalists (10 males and 7 females; 28.4 [2.7] y) provided detailed training logs of their best season. Training volume, frequency, and sequencing of endurance and strength sessions (categorized as core, heavy, or specific strength) were analyzed.

Strength training comprised ∼ 6% of annual training time (∼50 h·y-1) and was performed about every 5 days (∼76 sessions·y-1) on average. Athletes predominantly engaged in core and heavy strength exercises, and female skiers accumulated significantly more heavy strength training (∼20 h·y-1) than males. Strength sessions occurred on days with reduced endurance load. Nearly 90% of the strength workouts were combined with an endurance session (on average 44 min of low-intensity exercise). High-intensity endurance sessions were seldom conducted on the same day as strength training, and almost never within the same workout. Endurance training volume and load on strength-training days were significantly lower compared with the preceding and following days.

World-class skiers incorporate strength training strategically once or twice per microcycle, pairing these sessions primarily with low-load endurance sessions and spacing them to avoid overlap with high-intensity endurance workouts. This pattern of concurrent training reflects practical strategies intended to maximize temporal spacing between training forms and to support the maintenance of overall training quality.