CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING BY LOPPET OR LOOP IS CRAZY GOOD FOR YOU
At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Mary Ormsby of the Toronto Star took one look at the fit, spandex-laden forms of the crosscountry skiers and declared: “I have found my new sport.”
Ormsby wasn’t a typical outof-shape scribe. She had been an all-American volleyball player at Ohio State, so she knew athletics from both sides.
There are dozens of reasons to agree with Ormsby’s assertion 30 years ago at the beautiful Canmore Nordic centre course, and not just because the men and women who ski at an elite level look so good.
It turns out, cross-country skiing is crazy good for you, too.
Numerous scientific studies have extolled the health benefits of cross-country skiing, even for those who fall far short of qualifying for the Olympic races.
“Eighty could be the new 40,” was the tabloid-worthy catchline of a 2013 study at Ball State University comparing Swedish cross-country athletes to non-skiers from Indiana. The study found that cross-country athletes in their 80s had superior aerobic capacity compared to untrained men in their 40s.
One 91-year-old skier had the aerobic capacity of a man who was 50 years younger but did not exercise regularly.
“To our knowledge, the VO2 max (a person’s maximal oxygen uptake) of the lifelong endurance athletes was the highest recorded in humans in this age group, and comparable to non-endurance-trained men 40 years younger,” said Scott Trappe, director of Ball State’s Human Performance Laboratory.
Scientists look to a person’s VO2 readings as a predictor of mortality.
“We also analyzed the aerobic capacity of their muscles by examining biopsies taken from thigh muscles, and found it was about double that of typical men ... it was absolutely astounding.”
What makes Nordic skiing so beneficial is the full body nature of the workout. Because skiers use poles to help propel them on the trail, large muscle groups of the upper and lower body go to work. These muscles need blood supply and oxygen, and the heart and lungs work to provide it.
A study in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine in 2016 determined that twoand-a-half hours of alpine skiing were necessary to reach the same energy expenditure as one hour of cross-country skiing or indoor cycling.
“Cross-country skiing can be regarded as the gold standard wintertime aerobic exercise mode, with a high percentage of muscles in the whole body being activated,” the study’s author said.
Former Olympic and World Cup skier Lise Meloche and her partner, Dave McMahon, a former Canadian biathlon champion, have created a TV and video empire around skiing and endurance sport (xczone. com) as well as a “natural fitness lab” for outdoor athletes.
They coach and train endurance athletes in Gatineau Park, one of many ski programs available. Kanata Nordic and Chelsea Nordiq offer lessons for all abilities.
To McMahon, skiing provides a “total training dynamic.”
“In terms of fitness, it is a concentrated total-body workout, which develops power-endurance, agility, balance and core strength to degrees that you just cannot easily achieve indoors,” McMahon said. “It is the practical application of all of your core strength and conditioning.”
As longtime competitive skiers, Meloche and McMahon may be biased, but science is on his side when McMahon calls Olympic skiers “the best conditioned athletes on the planet, measuring the highest cardiovascular fitness levels and top power endurance results.”
McMahon adds that the variety of terrain, pace and stride technique also develop mental fitness.
This is where common sense and life experience kick in. As part of the recreational brigade over at Gatineau Park for the past 30 years, my family and I appreciate getting outdoors to exercise, regardless of what the scientists say.
Nothing makes winter more tolerable than a ski, a skate or a snowshoe trek.
Freida Hjartarson, 71, skis two to three times per week in Gatineau Park, usually around 15 kilometres. Often, she will pack a picnic lunch and enjoy it off trail.
“Skiing keeps me happy — breathing fresh air, staying flexible and most importantly enjoying winter with my friends,” Hjartarson said. Next week, she plans an overnight at Brown Lake Cabin in Gatineau Park with a ski group that is part of the Canadian Federation of University Women.
“Lots of skiing, followed by good food and laughter,” she said.
Hjartarson grew up skiing on the west coast of Newfoundland and since moving to this region has done sections of the Canadian Ski Marathon.
Ottawa and Gatineau are blessed with ample cycling routes and green space that become white space for skiing in winter. In recent years, community efforts have brought about cross-country ski trails in many neighbourhoods, including along the Ottawa River, in the south end and west in Wesley Clover Parks and Fitzroy Provincial Park.
The celebrated course is Gatineau Park with its vast trail system and hilly terrain. This weekend, the park plays host to the annual Gatineau Loppet, a mass participation event with races for all. Saturday features classic technique races of 51km, 27km, 15km and 5km distances as well as fatbike races of 40km, 20km and 10km.
Sunday has free technique races of 51km, 27km, 10km and 2km along with snowshoe races of 10km, 5km and 2km.