Quest to Sub 50 second 300 meter ski Erg

SKI ERG DOMINATION

Why the ski erg and why sub 50 seconds? 

1. Practical and spatially econoomic. The ski erg is a great non impact piece of cardio equipment.  It's light weight and fits in most homes. 

2. Efficient.  You can train several different energy zones using this piece of equipment.  It's great at building aerobic efficiency, anaerobic efficiency, power endurance, speed and improving max heart capability in a non impact enviornment. 

3.  Quick learning curve.  There's basically one  movement to this piece of equipment. Triple extension (ankles, knees and hips) up and triple flexion down.  You can probably find some ways to get creative with this, but you'll also probably end up Barstools Instagram page looking like an idiot.  Don't be that guy.

4. Killer workout.  It doesn't take much time before this beast of a machine will have your heart rate jacked up.  When you maximize your form you will even get some serious fatigue in the lower body despite this being visually upper body dominant exercise. 

​5. Sub 50 seconds because 300 meters on the ski erg at a fairly competitive level sits right at the beginning of ones lactic thresh hold and that's what I'm trying to improve right now.  I want to maximize that energy zone and improve my bodies ability buffer acidity in the blood.  It also is a great way to improve my downward pulling power and is a full body movement that measures my complete ability to transfer energy efficiently. 

Below I've given you vehicle to drive your ski erg times to competitive levels, but also to get you fitter than your tightest guinea t-shirt.  Have fun and follow me as I complete my quest to epic ski erg dominance. 

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Modality 1: To increase aerobic ability of fast twitch muscle fibers. Deliver high power for longer. 

Sets: 10-20mins of...
10 second Max Effort
50 second moderate recovery
Progressions: Decrease recovery time by 5-10% each week
​Frequency: 1-2x a week

Modality 2: To increase overall aerobic capacity.  Aerobic capacity improves your overall work capacity and recovery.  This helps with maintain skills and get work in on days were you need to dial it down as well.  Can't go 100% all the time.  Nothing fancy here. 

Sets: 10-60mins of....
Aerobic Threshold. Continuous activity. Hard, but not hard enough that you can't talk to someone and hold a conversation.  (minimum 10 mins at a time with 1-2min rest periods). 
Progressions: Improve distance each time. Progress total by 10% each work. Record heart rate average each time. Lower heart rate with equal distance or greater is the goal. 
Frequency: 1-3x a week

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Modality 3: Lactic Intervals.   Improve your ability to tolerate max anaerobic work loads.  Most specific to the 300m ski erg when performing at around 60 seconds or under.

Sets: 2-5 of 40-60 seconds at maximal intensity.
3-5mins rest
Progressions: Record distance each week. Could shorten recovery by 10% each week.  Also, monitor heart rate recover during rest period (especially first minute). Use this a marker for improvement.  Quicker your heart drops, the better. 
Frequency: 1-2 a week

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Modality 4: Explosive Repeat Method.  Similar to modality 1, but more rest to maximize the power output. This method can be maximized when combining same method with two other exercises (i.e. med ball slam and squat jumps). Here I'm just focusing on the ski erg for simplicity. 

Sets: 10-20sets of 10-12 seconds of maximum effort.  Everything you got.  Watch and record watts for each round. 60sec total rest doing nothing. Sit Down or walk around.  Try to match your watt total from round to round. 
Progression: measure average watts from total workout and try to beat it.
Frequency: 1-2x a week