Cross Country Skiing is Super

The view over the side is even better! Cross-Country Skiing is about the best workout you can do in terms of cardiovascular conditioning, functional core training, balance, coordination, muscle endurance, low-injury risk, and general return on investment. Are you impressed yet?? It’s also about the only way to access the most remote and beautiful vistas of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.

Cardiovascular Man Cardiovascular conditioning is defined by many variables. For the purpose of this article, the “cardio” portion of that term is most notably defined by heart function— the strength of your heart to pump more blood with fewer beats. The “vascular” portion of the term refers to your ability to transport blood and oxygen. As you get in better shape you build a greater framework of capillaries (tiny arteries) that transport blood and oxygen to the deeper crevices of your trained muscles. The harder you work the greater the cardiovascular demand and therefore

the greater the benefit. But there’s a catch: injury risk increases with exercise intensity. Going “fast” is hard on your joints, connective tissues, muscles, bones, and energy system. That is true in any sport. Fortunately, Cross-Country Skiing is mostly muscular (i.e., there’s little joint pounding going on, only moderate bone stress), and is very fluid—if done correctly J. The reason this matters to you is because you get to work your system more without pounding your body into the ground! Here’s a video that showcases Cross-Country Skiing’s graceful movements.

Now. . . let’s compare Cross-Country Skiing with other great sports. In regards to return-on-investment, cycling and swimming rank right up there, and even incur relatively low injury risk. However, cycling only works half your body and swimming isn’t weight bearing; both have their strengths, but their weaknesses keep them from taking podium positions. Running, on the other hand, comes in as a close second to Cross-Country Skiing. But the risk of injury is relatively high for impatient athletes and/or beginners who tend to over-train (in other words, they take a sport that would otherwise be low-risk and make it unhealthy). For more information on this topic checkout a previous article I wrote titled, “Running is Good for You, Yes You”.

There is one downside to Cross-Country Skiing – access. It requires gear and snow! Fortunately the gear is pretty cheap. But, snow may be hard to come by. As a great alternative, modern athletic clubs (like The DAC) carry Nordic Cross-Country Skiing machines. If you try it, you may just love it. And if that’s the case, try training for The Birkie!! You’ll have a blast!