UPPER BODY POWER COMPARISONS BETWEEN GROUPS OF CROSS - COUNTRY SKIERS AND RUNNERS.

Abstract

922 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between upper body power and cross country ski skating race velocity (RV) in a cross sectional representation of cross country skiers and compare body mass adjusted maximal upper body power (UBP/kg) of cross country skiers with that of distance runners. 158 high school and adult cross country ski racers and 37 high school cross country runners were tested on a Street Arm Ergometer for UBP using a ramped maximal UBP test simulating a double poling motion. A strong relationship (r =.845) between UBP/kg and RV in skiers was determined. High school skiers were separated into slow and fast groups based on reported RV. A difference (p<.001) in both UBP/kg and RV was found between slow and fast groups in both male and female high school skiers. Although there were sex-related differences (p<.01) in UBP/kg, when participants were grouped by UBP/kg there was no sex by upper body power interaction. These results indicate that UBP/kg is an effective partial predictor of success independent of sex. The cross country runners were evaluated to provide a comparison group. Average UBP/kg for the cross country runners was 46% of the average for the cross country skiers. On a sex grouped basis, the runners were able to generate only about 35% of the average UBP/kg of the fast high school or adult skiers and about 75% of the slow high school skiers. With UBP contributing substantially to performance in cross country ski racing, combined with the importance of the adolescent period of years for the development of strength, it is recommended that young cross country skiers focus a significant portion of their training on the development of that fitness factor.