Transitioning Back to Ski Training from Fall Sports

November 4, 2022
Transitioning Back to Ski Training from Fall Sports


So, the cross country or soccer or field hockey season is over, and you’re itching to get back to ski practice. But, you’re tired -- you’ve had a lot of meets and games in the past few months -- and you’re not sure if you should take a rest first, and for how long. Sound familiar?

At the end of fall sport season, it’s common to feel confused about how to make a transition back into ski training. There are a lot of different ideas out there and it can be hard to figure out what’s right for you.

Step 1: Health

Do you have any lingering injuries from the season? Some sniffles you’ve been ignoring for the past few weeks? If you aren’t 100% healthy right now, your number one goal should be to get healthy again. If it’s a cold, take some time off until you feel better. If it’s an injury, get in to see a PT, and talk to your point coach about how it might affect your training.

Step 2: Time OFF

Take a few days COMPLETELY off. This doesn’t need to be, and probably shouldn't be, a full week, but if you’ve been competing a lot it should be 3-4 days. Make sure to get a lot of rest, catch up on homework, and get outside each day to go for a walk, etc.

Step 3: Point Coach Meeting

Set up a meeting with your point coach to work together to make a plan. If you haven't been keeping a training log, spend some time before your meeting thinking through a rough outline what you've been doing each week. This doesn't need to be exact, but it's hard for your coaches to help you without understanding where you're coming from!

Step 4: Return to Ski Training

Now that you’re healthy, you’ve had a few days off, and are hopefully all up to date on your homework and other responsibilities, it’s time to think about training. In returning from fall sports, you’re going to have a slightly modified schedule for the next 2-3 weeks-- you can still go to practice, but your workouts will vary slightly from those who didn’t play a fall sport.

So, what should I do next?

  • How Hard? Spend 1-2 weeks focusing almost exclusively on L1 workouts, especially rollerskiing or on snow. You should incorporate speeds into these workouts 1x / wk. Soccer players and other field sport athletes do not need to do speeds, but should do one L3 workout your second week back, and two L3 workouts per week each week thereafter until the end of the first week of December. These should ideally be one on foot and one on skis. These L3 workouts should be long in duration -- at least 10 min per interval, with short recovery time (2 min). Goal being to transfer fitness into ability to pace well over longer duration intervals.

  • How Much? Total volume should start off at the same number of hours you were doing in-season for XC, or at the 350 - 400 hr plan if you played a field sport. You can then start increasing your hours by about 1-2 hrs / wk until you are back in line with your annual hour goals on the EMXC plan.

  • What Mode? If you have been rollerskiing 1x/wk, you can increase skiing to 3x / wk. If you have not been rollerskiing at all, or much at all, should start with 2x /wk.

  • What about strength? You can follow a general strength plan 2-3x / wk in the first 3 wks out of season, or until the end of first week of December, whichever comes first. After the first week of December, you should transition back to the EMXC strength plan.

Sample Transition for Fall Athlete:

1st Wk After Season Ends:

DAYWORKOUTTIMEMODEINTENSITY

Mon

OFF


Tues

OFF




Weds

OFF




Thurs

Easy distance on skis

Same as team plan

RS

Lev 1

Fri

Strength & Run w/ team

Same as team plan

Strength

Strength

Sat

Easy distance RS w/ team

¾ of plan

RS

Lev 1

Sun

Easy distance RS w/ team

⅔ of plan

RS

Lev 1


2nd Wk After Season Ends:

Day Workout Time Mode Intensity

DAY

WORKOUT

TIMEMODEINTENSITY

Mon

OFF




Tues

Strength & Run w/ team

Same as team plan

Strength

Strength

Weds

Easy distance & speeds w/ team

Same as team plan

RS

Speed

Thurs

Bounding intensity w/ team, focusing on L3 (even if team is doing L4)

3/4 of team plan

Bound

L3

Fri

Strength & Run w/ team

Same as team plan

Strength

Strength

Sat

Easy distance RS w/ team

2/3 - 3/4 of plan

RS

Lev 1

Sun

Easy distance RS w/ team

3/4 of plan

RS

Lev 1

The biggest thing to remember in returning to EMXC training from fall sports is that you can't rush the transition. Diving into a different mode of training head first is a likely recipe for injury, especially when your body is tired from a season of competition. So, be patient, and listen to your body.