Improve your cross-country skiing skills with Anders Aukland
Do you want to enhance your cross-country skiing technique or simply improve your balance? Learn what our coach Anders Aukland has to say when it comes to becoming a better cross-country skier.
Published 24. January 2022 by Mentra by SATS
Make training simple, but hard! What you really want to be better at, will improve.
Anders is a true xc-ski legend. He has won the gold medal in Olympic Games and has five World Cup victories. In addition he has won several of the world's most demanding cross-country skiing competitions and became the second Norwegian to win the prestgious Vasaloppet in 2004.
Through 27 years at the very top he has experienced the hard way what his body can endure and how to successfully fit training in with a hectic everyday life.
Quite a few underestimate the importance of strength and balance training to improve your skiing abilities. To Anders it is obvious that by doing specific cross-country skiing exercises in addition to skiing, you'll soon feel the benefit in the trail.
– If you want to progress as a skier, it's paramount to go skiing, but having good cooridination and balance is vital to make the strength of your body work to a maximum on snow.
The former OL winner stresses that it's not about being very advanced in what you're doing, it's far more important doing a few but simple exercises a couple of times each week, which will make a big difference in the long run.
– To me continuity while training is the most important thing. It's far better to exercise 20 minutes three times a week for longer spells than doing it irregularly. It will also make it easier to make training fit in with your everyday schedule, a smiling Anders explains.
Work out at home with Anders Aukland
In the videos below Anders supplies you with some good tips and offers you a sample of exercises to enhance your skiing abilities. These exercises are perfect before you go skiing as they activate your muscles. Watch and learn four simple but very efficient exercises to improve your balance that can be easily performed at home.
Lunges variation
Squat variation
Skate jumps
Single leg jump
With the interactivce fitness mirror Rflex from Mentra by SATS you may watch Ander's eight-week-long program in order to better your cross-country skiing skills. If you're curious and wish to learn more about what Anders and other Mentra coaches have to offer, create your account and download the Mentra by SATS app for iOS and Android, and get a glimpse of the future of at-home training.