Premium
General strength and kinetics: fundamental to sprinting faster in cross country skiing?
Author(s) -
Stöggl T.,
Müller E.,
Ainegren M.,
Holmberg H.C.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2009.01078.x
Subject(s) - kinematics , isometric exercise , stride , mathematics , jump , squat , physical medicine and rehabilitation , diagonal , treadmill , physical therapy , physics , medicine , geometry , classical mechanics , quantum mechanics
To determine relationships between general strength, maximal skiing speed ( V max ), pole and leg kinetics and kinematics, 16 male elite skiers underwent three V max tests in double poling, diagonal stride and V2 on a treadmill. The analyzed skiing speeds and leg and arm kinetics were among the highest ever recorded. Relationships between general strength exercises and V max were technique dependent. Power output in bench press and bench pull were related to V max in DP and diagonal stride, whereas each 1 repetition maximum was related to V2. Isometric squats were not associated with V max in all three techniques, whereas jump height and rate of force development during squat jump were. Analysis of kinetics and kinematics revealed that it was not exclusively the magnitude of applied forces during skiing, but the timing and proper instant of force application were major factors discriminating between faster and slower skiers. For all techniques, the faster skiers used different skiing strategies when approaching V max when compared with the slower skiers. General strength and power per se seem not to be major determinants of performance in elite skiers, whereas coordination of these capacities within the different and complex skiing movements seems to be the discriminating factor.