Thomas Losnegard

• Professor
• Norwegian School of Sport Sciences

Understanding the pacing strategies employed by the most successful skiers may provide insight into the most desirable pacing approach in cross-country skiing. This study examined the pacing strategies adopted by male and female cross-country skiers of different performance standards during 10/15 km races in World Cup, World Championship and Olympi...

Purpose: In the double poling cross-country skiing technique, the propulsive forces are transferred solely through the poles. The aim of the present study was to investigate how pole length influences double poling performance, O2-cost and kinematics during treadmill roller skiing. Methods: Nine male competitive cross-country skiers (24±3 yrs, 180±...

Energy system contribution during cross-country (XC) skiing races is dependent on several factors, including the race duration, track profile, and sub-techniques applied, and their subsequent effects on the use of the upper and lower body. This review provides a scientific synopsis of the interactions of energy system contributions from a physiolog...

Although placebo and nocebo effects of ergogenic aids are acknowledged as significant for sports performance, little is known about the effects of sports equipment. Therefore, we examined how athletes’ belief about their sports equipment affected roller skiing performance in a short time trial. In a crossover design trial, 21 junior cross‐country s...

Background and Purpose : Cross-country skiing, biathlon, and Nordic combined are Winter Olympics sports that involve cross-country skiing in undulating terrain, characterized by various subtechniques and repeated intensity fluctuations. The stochastic interval profile of these sports necessitates the continuous regulation of work and energy expendi...

Purpose To evaluate the precision and accuracy in measured blood lactate concentrations among four commonly used handheld lactate analyzers compared to two stationary analyzers. Methods Venous blood samples were taken at exercise intensities ranging from low to high. The blood lactate concentration was measured simultaneously with four pairs of ha...

Purpose To measure oxygen demand, uptake, and deficits in competitive cross-country skiers during outdoor roller skiing at different competition durations, ranging from the endurance domain to the sprint domain. Methods Ten competitive cross-country skiers (6 males; V˙\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepack...

Skilled performers need skillful and adaptive movement strategies to solve tasks effectively. Typically, performers learn these strategies with instruction-based teaching methods where coaches offer performers a correct solution. Inspired by recent evidence from decision neuroscience, we asked whether skilled performers learn strategy choices bette...

Purpose : To investigate performance-determining variables of an on-snow sprint cross-country skiing competition and the evolvement in their relationship with performance as the competition progresses from the individual time trial (TT) to the final. Methods : Sixteen national-level male junior skiers (mean [SD] age, 18.6 [0.8] y; peak oxygen uptak...

Purpose To investigate performance, physiological, and perceptual responses of an entire sprint cross-country skiing competition in the skating style. Methods Eighteen national-level male junior skiers participated in a simulated competition comprising an individual time trial (TT), followed by three heats (quarterfinals [QF], semifinals [SF], and...

Purpose: In sprint biathlon, a J-shaped pacing pattern is commonly used. We investigated whether biathletes with a fast-start pacing pattern increase time-trial skiing and shooting performance by pacing more evenly. Methods: Thirty-eight highly trained biathletes (∼21 y, 27 men) performed an individual 7.5 (3 × 2.5 km for women) or 10-km (3 × 3....

Purpose: To investigate differences in time to exhaustion (TTE), O2 uptake (V˙O2), and accumulated O2 deficit (O2def) between competitive and recreational cross-country (XC) skiers during an intermittent-interval protocol standardized for maximal aerobic power (MAP). Methods: Twelve competitive (maximal V˙O2 [V˙O2max]=76.5±3.8 mL·kg-1·min-1) and...

Purpose To compare performance, physiological and biomechanical responses between double poling (DP) and diagonal stride (DIA) during treadmill roller skiing in elite male cross-country skiers. Method Twelve skiers (VO2peak DIAup; 74.7 ± 3.7 ml kg⁻¹ min⁻¹) performed two DP conditions at 1° (DPflat) and 8° (DPup) incline, and one DIA condition, 8°...

Purpose Pacing profiles differ substantially in endurance sports with short competition duration (2–4 min). Herein, we investigated the effect of a fast start (FS) versus a conservative start (CS) pacing strategy on sprint time-trial performance in competitive junior cross-country skiers. Methods Sixteen females (~ 17 years old) performed two indi...

«Melkesyre opp til øra», «stiv av melkesyre», «kjenne på melkesyra» og «det gjelder å kvitte seg med melkesyra» er uttrykk vi stadig hører under sportssendinger. Men hva er egentlig melkesyre? Les artikkelen her: https://www.nih.no/om-nih/aktuelt/nih-bloggen/paulsen-goran/myter-om-melkesyre/

Purpose: To investigate the performance effects of video- and sensor-based feedback for implementing a terrain-specific micropacing strategy in cross-country (XC) skiing. Methods: Following a simulated 10-km skating time trial (Race1) on snow, 26 national-level male XC skiers were randomly allocated into an intervention (n = 14) or control group...

Purpose Roller skiing is the primary sport-specific training and testing mode during pre-competition periods for cross-country skiers, biathletes, and Nordic combined athletes. The present study aimed to compare the kinematics between uphill roller skiing and on-snow skiing using the V2 sub-technique. Methods In a cross-over design, nine well-trai...

Purpose: To compare sex differences in physiological determinants of skiing performance in elite adolescent, junior, and senior cross-country skiers matched for within-age-group performance level. Methods: Eight male and 12 female adolescent (15 [1] y), 8 male and 7 female junior (18 [1] y), and 7 male and 6 female senior (28 [5] y) skiers parti...

Purpose: To explore the anthropometrical and physiological determinants of laboratory and on-snow performance in competitive adolescent cross-country skiers. Methods: Fifty-two adolescent (25 girls) (14.8 ± 0.6 years) skiers performed an uphill treadmill rollerski session using the G2 ski skating technique. Gross efficiency (GE) was calculated from...

Purpose: To investigate whether skiers with a fast-start pacing pattern increase time-trial performance by use of a more even pacing strategy. Methods: Thirty-four skiers (∼17 y, 16 male) performed an individual 7.5 (3 × 2.5) km free-technique race on snow with a self-selected pacing strategy (day 1). Based on the starting pace the first ∼2 minu...

Speed in WC, Wch and olympics. Average speed from Top 3 from each race.

Data from the average of top 3 skiers in each race from WC, Wch and Olympics

Purpose: To establish the relation between pacing pattern and performance, within sex, and number of crew members, at the very highest performance level in World class rowing. Methods: Pacing profiles based on official 500 m split times in 106 A-finals with six contesting boat crews ( n = 636 crews), in recent World (2017–2019) and European (2017–2...

We studied the effect of peer‐ and self‐observational feedback versus coaching feedback during technique training on performance in competitive adolescent cross‐country skiers. Fifty‐four skiers (14.3±0.6 years) were divided into a control group and three intervention groups (dyad practice, video or coaching feedback), which practiced in the asymme...

Objective: To examine the power profiles and pacing patterns in relation to critical power (CP) and maximal aerobic power (MAP) output during a cross-country Olympic (XCO) mountain bike race. Methods: Five male and two female national competitive XCO cyclists completed a UCI Cat. 1 XCO race. The races were 19 km and 23 km and contained five (female...

Purpose: Preconditioning exercise is a widely used strategy believed to enhance performance later the same day. The authors examined the influence of preconditioning exercises 6 hours prior to a time-to-exhaustion (TTE) test during treadmill running. Methods: Ten male competitive runners (age = 26 [3] y, height = 184 [8] cm, weight = 73 [9] kg,...

Purpose: We tested whether a single session of heavy-load resistance priming conducted in the morning improved double-poling (DP) performance in the afternoon. Methods: Eight national-level male cross-country skiers (mean [SD]: 23 [3] y, 184 [6] cm, 73 [7] kg, maximum oxygen consumption = 69 [6] mL·kg-1·min-1) carried out 2 days of afternoon per...

The present study describes differences in pacing patterns and sub‐technique selection in young compared to adult competitive cross‐country skiers. Eleven young male skiers (YOS) (14.4±0.5 years, V̇O2peak 63.9±2.8 mL∙kg‐1∙min‐1) and eight adult male skiers (ADS) (22.6±4.3 years, V̇O2peak 77.4±4.4 mL∙kg‐1∙min‐1) performed a free technique rollerski...

The purpose of this study was to compare speed, sub-technique selection and temporal patterns between world-class male and female cross-country (XC) skiers and to examine the combined associations of sex and speed on sub-technique selection. Thirty-three XC skiers performed an international 10-km (women; n = 8) and 15-km (men; n = 25) time-trial co...

Purpose: Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is a widely used tool to assess subjective perception of effort during exercise. The authors investigated between-subject variation and effect of exercise mode and sex on Borg RPE (6-20) in relation to heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (VO2), and capillary blood lactate concentrations. Methods: A total of...

Purpose: Previous studies have found an acute performance improvement with longer pole lengths in double poling (DP) at low-to-moderate speeds. We investigated the influence of pole lengths (PL) on O2-cost, 3D kinematics, and performance in DP at moderate-to-high speeds before (Pre) and after (Post) eight training sessions with long poles on a rol...

Purpose: To quantify the repeated oxygen deficits attained during intermittent enduranceexercise by measuring oxygen consumption O2) and oxygen demand O2 dem) throughout a simulated roller ski race. Methods: Eight male elite cross-country skiers O2,peak 77.4 ± 4.4 mL∙min-1∙kg-1) raced a 13.5 km roller ski time-trial on a World Cup course. On two ad...

Purpose:: Long-distance cross-country skiers specialize to compete in races >50km predominantly using double poling (DP). This emphasize the need for highly developed upper-body endurance capacities and an efficient DP-technique. Our aim was to investigate potential effects of specialization; by comparing physiological capacities and kinematics in...

This chapter provides an updated synopsis of the importance of strength abilities for performance in high-level cross-country skiers, with a focus on the upper body. It also provides an overview of the effect of training models in enhancing upper-body power, with a special emphasis on heavy strength training. In addition, the effect of alternative...

Purpose: To investigate how self-selected pole length (PL) of ∼84% (PL84%) compared with ∼90% (PL90%) of body height influenced performance during a 700-m time trial with undulating terrain on snow. Methods: Twenty-one cross-country skiers, 7 of whom were women, performed 4 trials at a maximal effort in a counterbalanced fashion with PL84% and P...

Cross-country skiing is an endurance sport that requires extremely high maximal aerobic power. Due to downhill sections where the athletes can recover, skiers must also have the ability to perform repeated efforts where metabolic power substantially exceeds maximal aerobic power. Since the duration of these supra-aerobic efforts is often in the ord...

Purpose: In this study wearable global navigation satellite system units were used on athletes to investigate pacing patterns by describing exercise intensities in flat and uphill terrain during a simulated cross-country ski race. Methods: Eight well-trained male skiers (age: 23.0 ± 4.8 years, height: 183.8 ± 6.8 cm, weight: 77.1 ± 6.1 kg, VO2peak:...

PurposeIn elite cross-country skiing, double poling is used in different terrain. This study compared O2-cost and kinematics during double poling with four different pole lengths [self-selected (SS), SS − 5 cm, SS + 5 cm, SS + 10 cm] at Low versus Moderate incline. Methods Thirteen highly trained male cross-country skiers (mean ± SD 23 ± 3 years; 1...

This study investigated the effect of muscular endurance training on O2-cost and performance in double poling (DP) on a rollerski treadmill. Twenty-two well-trained cross-country skiers (31 ± 4 years, 77 ± 9 kg, 181 ± 8 cm, VO2max running: 64 ± 5 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) were counter-balanced to either a combined muscular endurance and running interval train...

Purpose: Investigate variability, predictability and smallest worthwhile performance enhancement in elite biathlon sprint events. In addition, the effects of race factors on performance were assessed. Methods: Data from 2005-2015 including >10,000 and >1000 observations for each sex for all athletes and annual top-10 athletes were included, resp...

The present study investigated the contribution of performance on uphill, flat, and downhill sections to overall performance in an international 10-km classical time-trial in elite female cross-country skiers, as well as the relationships between performance on snow and laboratory-measured physiological variables in the double poling (DP) and diago...

To characterise timing of movements and evaluate performance effects of technique alterations in V2 ski skating, 13 elite male cross-country skiers (age, 23 ± 2 years; stature, 182 ± 6 cm; body mass, 76 ± 8 kg; V2 V̇O2max, 79.3 ± 4.4 mL · kg−1 · min−1) were tested four times during the preparation and competition phase on a roller ski treadmill. Ea...

Purpose: To compare the physiological capacity and training characteristics of the world's six highest ranked female cross-country skiers (WC) with those of six competitors of national class (NC). Methods: Immediately before the start of the competition season, all skiers performed three 5-min submaximal stages of roller skiing on a treadmill fo...

We investigated the effects of adding heavy strength training to a high volume of endurance training on performance and related physiological determinants in junior female cross-country skiers. Sixteen well-trained athletes (17 ± 1 years, 60 ± 6 kg, 169 ± 6 cm, VO2max running: 60 ± 5 mL/kg/min) were assigned either to an intervention group (INT; n...

Investigate the effects of an active and a passive recovery protocol on physiological responses and performance between two heats in sprint cross-country skiing. Ten elite male skiers (22 ± 3 yrs, 184 ± 4 cm, 79 ± 7 kg) undertook two experimental test sessions which both consisted of two heats with 25 min between start of the first and second heat....

Aim: Cross-country skiers' VO2max is often measured during treadmill running. However, VO2max during treadmill skiing with the diagonal stride technique is higher, whereas it is lower during double poling, another classical style technique. How these values compare to VO2max during ski skating in elite cross country skiers is not known. Therefore,...

Substantial inter-individual variations in exercise economy exist even in highly trained endurance athletes. The variation is believed to be determined partly by intrinsic factors. Therefore, in the present study, we compared exercise economy in V2-skating, double poling, and uphill running. Ten highly trained male cross-country skiers (23 ± 3 year...

Purpose: Sprint- (≤1.8 km) and distance-skiing (≥15 km) performance rely heavily on aerobic capacity. However, in sprint skiing, due to the ~20% higher speed, anaerobic capacity contributes significantly. This study aimed to identify the possible anthropometric and physiological differences between elite male sprint and distance skiers. Methods:...

The aims of the study were to describe the differences between the ski skating techniques V1 and V2 and evaluate reproducibility in complex cyclic hip movements measured by accelerometers. Fourteen elite senior male cross-country skiers rollerskied twice for 1 min (V1 and V2) at 4° inclination and 3 m/s. Tests were repeated after 20 min and again 4...

Analyses of elite competitive performance provide useful information for research and practical applications. Here we have analyzed performance times of cross-country skiers at international competitions (World Cup, World Championship and Olympics) in classical and free styles of women's and men's distance and sprint events, each with a total of 41...

This thesis consists of four studies with additional unpublished results, in which the main objective was to examine factors that determine performance in modern elite cross-country (XC) skiing. Thirty-two elite male XC skiers volunteered to participate, with some subjects participating in several studies. Maximal aerobic power, maximal anaerobic c...

Long term effects of training are important information for athletes, coaches and scientists when associating changes in physiological indices with changes in performance. Therefore, this study monitored changes in aerobic and anaerobic capacities and performance in a group of elite cross-country skiers during a full sport season. Thirteen male (ag...

Elite crosscountry skiers use both the V1 and V2 techniques on moderate and steep inclines despite previous studies suggesting that the V1 technique is superior in terms of lower O2-cost and better performance on these inclines. However, this has not been studied in elite athletes, and therefore, the aim of this study was to compare O2-cost in thes...

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of supplemental heavy strength training on muscle thickness and determinants of performance in well-trained Nordic Combined athletes. Seventeen well-trained Nordic Combined athletes were assigned to either usual training supplemented with heavy strength training (STR; n = 8) or to usual...

As cross-country sprint competitions rely on maximal-effort durations of ∼3 min, a significant anaerobic energy contribution is expected. Anaerobic energy production during supramaximal exercise has been estimated in different sports from the accumulated oxygen deficit (ΣO₂ deficit) but, to date, not in cross-country skiing. Therefore, this study i...

Due to the complexity of movement in cross-country skiing (XCS), the muscle activation patterns are not well elucidated. Previous studies have applied surface electromyography (SEMG); however, recent gains in three-dimensional (3D) imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) have rendered an alternative approach to investigate mus...

We investigated the hypothesis that longer and shorter poles would be faster and slower, respectively, than poles of self-selected length in all-out double poling. Eight elite cross-country skiers performed 80m all-out double poling on snow performed from a standing start. Three trials with each of the pole lengths: self-selected, 7.5cm shorter, an...

Aim: To investigate the effect of supplementing high-volume endurance training with heavy strength training on muscle adaptations and physical performance in elite cross country skiers. Eleven male (18-26 years) and eight female (18-27 years) were assigned to either a strength group (STR) (n=9) or a control group (CON) (n=10). STR performed streng...