Principles of Training 2

SPURIOUS BENEFITS OF AUXILIARY TRAINING IN ELITE SKIERS

Rusko, H. K., Paavolainen, L. M., Vahasoyrinki, P., & Vaananen, I. (1997). Effect of increased training quality on response to ski training on snow in elite cross-country skiers. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 29(5), Supplement abstract 1266.

The effect of increased training quality on the training response to cross-country ski training when the volume of training was highest was investigated.

Male elite skiers (N = 25) were divided into a control (N = 17) and quality (N = 8) groups. The quality group replaced 2.3 of an average 17 hours of training with "dry-land training" (running, circuit training, swimming, stretching, and ball games).

The quality group's VO2max and maximal running treadmill performances improved significantly whereas the control group's did not. Neither group changed in resting testosterone, cortisol, creatine kinase, or myglobin concentration.

It was concluded that:

". . . maximal anaerobic running power was related to the volume of 'dry-land training' (r = .49) and circuit training (r = .7) and the decrease in resting myoglobin concentration was related to the volume of 'dry-land training' (r = .6) and circuit training (r = .75). . . . the effects of ski training on snow can be improved by replacing a small part of it by nonspecific dry-land exercises to avoid muscular overload."

This study needs to be considered further. The following are obvious.

Testing for cross-country skiers was performed using non-specific running. Given that elite training is specific, it is unlikely that a running test will differentiate between skiing performances.
The quality group did perform running as part of its "dry-land" training. That meant it could improve its running performances because it was doing some running. The control group did no running and so it is unreasonable to expect it to improve in an activity they was not done. So the results of improved running performances are a specific training effect that is corroborated by these results.
The implication that improvements in running performances will transfer to skiing, which is the gist of the conclusion, is spurious at best. There are no data presented which support this notion.
The only value in non-specific training could be that it stops skiers from doing too much specific training that would result in overreaching or overtraining. It is incorrect to infer that training benefits from "dry-land" training will transfer to ski racing. It could be possible that the introduction of non-specific work maintains a skier's work ethic and prevents excessive amounts of training. Better skiing performances would result not from doing the "dry-land" work, but from not doing too much skiing.

Implication. This investigation endorsed the specificity of training principle in elite male skiers. When running activities were performed, running performances improved whereas those who only skied did not change in running performances. The conclusions of the study are misleading and unwarranted.

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