The High Performance Ski racing and Training
(HiPer) team provides high intensity focused training for developing and
competitive cross-country skiers. HiPer was loosely formed 16 years ago with
the local competitive athletes within the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club getting
together to train. Over time the training team advanced to become quite
structured and very quickly adopted the name HiPer.
The program runs throughout the year and
follows general YTP (yearly training plan) macro cycles of base building and
energy systems development specific to cross country ski racing. In general,
the program begins after a short recovery period post-competition season and
moves into a progressive aerobic and core muscle base building phase throughout
the summer, coupled with increasing intensity activities. Late summer and fall
sees the program ramp-up in intensity and ski specific activities leading into
late dryland roller ski racing and early on-snow “tune-up” races. The
culmination of the training year focuses around on-snow training activities
leading up to major competitions that each individual team member will be
participating in. Individual training activities are recommended for each
athlete taking into consideration competition goals.
Many athletes participate in other sports and
activities over the summer months therefore the HiPer program remains flexible
with its training expectations and works with the individuals to tailor
activities to suit.
Coaching support is available for all team members
to help in the development of focussed training plans specific to cross country
skiing, or even as supplementary plans for cross-training with other sports.
The program provides coaching support up to but not necessarily at major
competitions. This is due to the nature of the program whereby many athletes
attend different major races depending on their goals and objectives.
Program highlights:
April – period of active rest where the athlete
is encouraged to rest and recovery after the competition season.
May – Tuesdays. Once a week sessions with
workouts focusing on core strength and general fitness on. The off-season
training begins with a fitness test (fittest #1) to establish benchmarks and
focal points for the remainder of the training year. The fitness tests occur
every fourth Tuesday throughout the summer.
June –Tuesday core fitness workouts and
start-up of trail runs on Thursdays.
July – Tuesday core fitness, Thursday trail
runs.
August – Tuesday core fitness. Thursday trail
run. Start of rollerskiing on Sunday mornings. Rollerskiing always starts with
instruction in a technique focus for the session.
September – Final fitness test (fittest #5),
then hill running with poles begins out at Cranberry flats on the Tuesday.
Thursday trail runs now move to Saturday and we start incorporating high
intensity activities such as time trialling into our Sunday roller skiing.
October, November – Tuesday hill running,
Saturday trail running, and rollerski time trialling on Sundays.
Late November, December – On snow.
Tuesday/Thursday skiing with early season technique work. Sundays start into
“Hiper Challenge” time trialling on snow.
On-snow/competition period. – Tuesdays are
reserved for the Grapefruit Cup (GC) where athletes are encouraged to
participate. GC registration costs are covered within the HiPer program
registration fee. Thursdays are focussed technique sessions and/or waxing
session when there is a weekend race. All the athletes meet and wax their own
skis with recommendations and instruction by the coaches. HiPer benches and
waxing equipment are available to be used, as well as the “wax of the day”.
We also encourage team members to share planned
activities outside of the regular scheduled sessions through posting on our
Facebook page. Sending this information to Kathy or Robin Butler will get it posted
for the team to see.
Registration for the program is though Zone 4
when signing up with the Saskatoon Nordic Ski club, and program fee is $150.
For more information contact Robin or Kathy Butler
at skirobin@sasktel.net or skikathy@sasktel.net. Checkout our
website at http://saskatoonhiper.weebly.com
and like us on Facebook at HiPer Training as well as HiPer Grapefruit Cup. All
HiPer information is posted to Facebook and the website. A schedule is made,
but is subject to change frequently, so we recommend that Facebook is used for
daily updates. Due to frequent changes we adopted a policy of posting every
workout the day before.