News from Schreck's waxing bench

Jan 2023 Why do I get so tired (high heart rate) and out of breath every time I ski Schreck?

Hi Skiers,

Philip asked me why XC Skiing seems to always cause him to have a very high heart rate while his other exercises don't? He said I could share his question with you:

"Great question Philip and one I sometimes struggle with as well. I am guessing that like me, one or more of the following conditions may contribute to being in high intensity, level 4/5 (on a 5 point scale), which is above your lactic threshold and that causes you to feel out of breath. So you only want to be up at that high heart rate around 10% and no more than 20% of your ski time:

1. Snow is soft or slow. Increased resistance = higher HR.
2. Trying to hold too high of pace.
3. Climbing like say Mt. Amabilis but also a hilly course like the Viking Loop.
4. Skate skiing, particularly if not extremely efficient can cause higher HR than Classic skiing.

You are correct, we try to minimize training in Level 3. It's too low for much improvement but it tires you out for your HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). A better training goal is to go easier on your easy days so you are rested for your hard days!

So Level 4/5 HIIT should be short, 30 seconds at first to start, building up to maybe 3-5 minutes max with equal time to recover. That is 10% of your total ski time . The rest should be level 1/2 so that you can/could carry a conversation build endurance and efficiency in your technique.

So for 90% of our ski mileage, we need to be conversational and below Level 3. Some suggestions.

1. Wear a HR monitor. Have it beep when above Level 2. Stop, recover, start once well below.
2. Classic ski. Much easier to keep within your easy days' HR goal.
3. The P2C Trail is your friend for low intensity training as flat!
4. Good opportunity to ski with slower skiers.
5. Emphasize impeccable form at a slower pace.

Thanks for your question!"

Schreckski.com

let's bike if we can't ski!

Schreck

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