Canadians find speed in the gym

Alpine Canada athletes have traded in ski boots for running shoes and are busy in the gym finding strength and endurance for the season ahead. Many of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team athletes have descended upon Calgary for a dryland training block centralized in the Calgary Sport Institute at the Canada Olympic Park.

The team has been working hard to make gains that will translate into shaving hundredths of a second off their times as well as ensuring they are in peak physical and mental shape to prevent injuries during the long season ahead.

The athletes are under the close observation and instruction from Alpine Canada’s elite Integrated Sport Team (IST) that is led by Matt Jordan, director of sport science. Joining the athletes for this heavy block of dryland training, are many of the teams’ IST staff including strength and conditioning coaches, physiotherapists, mental performance staff, team coaches and doctors. This powerhouse team has worked closely with each individual athlete to identify opportunities and build a personalized program to enhance their overall preparation as well as working better together as a cohesive group during on and off snow camps.

With the camp wrapping up, Jordan was happy with the physical progress of the team, as well as how they bonded as a group.

“I’m really pleased with how hard everyone has worked,” he said. “We have made great gains in fitness and strength. The activities have been challenging mentally and physically. The group has made amazing strides over our month together. We had some huge training days, and we often had three sessions per day that added up to four to six hours of training. The group is truly becoming a stronger and more cohesive unit; I love the energy, the teamwork between the men and the women, and overall I can see that the past four weeks has brought many of you close together.”

Over the past month, the athletes have had focused training and attention on team event start development, off-snow ski skills acquisition, nutrition, recovery, knee injury prevention and developing physical work capacity with multi-sport activities that transfer to alpine skiing.

The men’s and women’s alpine teams including development team athletes spent the past month in the gym lifting weights, on the track working on endurance, in the boxing studio, at the velodrome cycling, mountain and road biking, at the pump track and a combination of other activities aimed at maximizing peak physical and mental strength.

“The integration of athletes and the IST was really beneficial,” said Courtney Brown, sports chiropractor with the men’s combi team. “It was nice to have everyone work together and work with all the strength and conditioning staff, so that we can work better together during the season when everyone is on the road. Having a team back in Calgary that understands all the athletes’ biomechanical issues will be helpful when we are managing physical issues over the phones this winter. I also saw huge strides from the athletes who were pushed by athletes on other teams. The friendly competition drew amazing results from the athletes.”

Release courtesy of Alpine Canada