When you can’t make it outdoors, train like a cross-country skier — and build serious cardiovascular fitness — in the Club.
Do More With is a series highlighting equipment around the Club that can help you reach your fitness goals. In this installment, we highlight the SkiErg, available on the Club floor.
It’s no surprise that the SkiErg is a valuable training tool for recreational and pro skiers.
As you can guess from the name, the piece of equipment was originally designed for cross-country skiers. By tugging its handles from your head toward the floor, you’re able to recreate the same full-body workout — and practice the same movement patterns — of the sport indoors. That means you can maintain and level up your fitness even when there’s not a snowflake in sight.
But in my opinion, the SkiErg is not used nearly as much as it should be in the Club — and you don’t have to be an aspiring winter Olympian to benefit from it.
Why Train with the SkiErg
For athletes and casual members alike, the machine is super helpful for cardiovascular conditioning, whether it’s used for short, powerful bursts of movement at the end of your training session or as the entire workout itself. Incorporating it into your routine can help improve your VO₂ max, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise — a strong indicator of cardiovascular fitness. Case in point: World-class cross-country skiers have some of the highest VO₂ max levels ever reported (though the high altitude and cold temps involved may also play a role).
The most effective way to build a stronger VO₂ max is to incorporate a blend of cardio that calls on your lower body and upper body in different capacities. To get the job done, I suggest mixing the VersaClimber, rower, fan bike, and SkiErg in your routine, the latter of which challenges your upper-body muscles the most. So when your legs are sore and need some recovery — but you still want to get in some conditioning that day — turn to the SkiErg.
The SkiErg can give you that cardiovascular training without excessive joint impact, too, as your feet will stay glued to the platform the entire workout. This makes it a useful tool for members who are recovering from a lower-body injury or procedure (e.g., a knee replacement) that limits knee mobility. It’s even accessible for athletes who have to train while seated or kneeling, as you don’t necessarily need to move your legs to complete the movement pattern.
The exact muscles worked and to what extent will depend on your technique, but generally, the SkiErg is going to train your core, which transfers the force you generate from the ground to your hip flexors, through your abdomen, to your upper body, and ultimately to your hands. That transfer is what allows you to “crack the whip” of the handle, in a sense. As you progress, you can start learning how to use your core to help create a more powerful pull, a “louder crack” so to speak. You’ll also train the muscles in your hips (which will have to flex to get you into a hinged position) and your arms, which finish the skiing motion. If you’re training seated, know the work will be slightly more taxing on the upper body, since you won’t have the same hip flexion.
It's definitely exhausting. No matter who you are, your upper body is more likely to fatigue faster than your lower body. So if you're brand new to the equipment, working 20 seconds straight is going to be pretty hard. Skiing for an hour? That’s brutal.
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How to Use the SkiErg
Before doing any SkiErg workout, set your resistance. If you’re a beginner, start with a level three out of 10, which will give you the feel of load but it won’t be so heavy your form falls to the wayside. Once you’ve practiced, play around with the resistance so it aligns with your training goals for the day. Remember, you don't need to stick to one resistance every single workout.
When it comes to conditioning on the SkiErg, there’s a full spectrum of workouts, from short-duration, low-rep, high-resistance sessions all the way to hour-plus-long bouts of continuous work at a lower resistance. You might set the timer for 20 or 30 seconds and try to get in as many reps as you can or as high of watts as possible. Alternatively, you can hop on the machine for 10 to 20 minutes and do a full, steady-state cardio workout, mimicking real-life cross-country skiing.
I also recommend using the SkiErg as a warm-up tool. You can get explosive with it and track your wattage. It’s not about moving a certain amount of weight or hitting a certain rep count — it's about moving the resistance with a high velocity. Getting in 10 reps at 300 or 400 watts is a great way to get jacked up for your workout and ready to go for heavy lifts.
Aside from regular workouts, you might use the SkiErg to benchmark your fitness. Looking to amp up your power? Set a timer for 15 seconds, set your resistance, and ski as hard and as quickly as you can until time’s up. Then, take note of your peak wattage. Or, use it to test your capacity: What wattage can you maintain for 30 seconds straight? Then there’s endurance, or how long you can work continuously before needing to rest. Just pick the metric that’s most relevant to your overall training and goals, and retest every four to six weeks to see how you’re progressing.
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On your typical training days, keep tabs on your stroke rate (i.e., how many pulls you take per minute). I often see beginners push their stroke rate a little too high. To get the most bang for your buck, you want to focus on your power output per stroke. A good rower, for example, might work for eight minutes at a 20-stroke-per-minute rate. It’s slow, but those strokes are really powerful, and they’re pulling the handle with practically every muscle in their body. You want the same experience on the SkiErg.
When you rush through your reps, you’re probably not doing as good of a job pulling power from your hips and core — which is fine if your goal is to exhaust the arms. But if you’re burning out too quickly and you’re not seeing your watts go up, make sure you’re putting your full body into each pull. Utilize the full range of motion available to you. Use the ground to help you produce more force by driving through your feet. That should increase your power output per stroke and distribute the workload a bit more throughout the body.
The bottom line: Focus on the quality of your reps over the quantity or speed, and the next time the rower or fan bike is taken, try the SkiErg. You might just find a new favorite training tool.
Ideen Chelengar is a COACH X out of Equinox Sports Club in downtown Boston and has been with Equinox for nine years. Before joining Equinox, he coached the Northeastern Hockey team and the University of Connecticut’s Men’s and Women’s soccer teams, as well as assisted in PT clinics. Chelengar holds a bachelor of science in strength and conditioning and exercise science from the University of Connecticut. He is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist and functional strength coach, with additional certifications in functional movement screening and from Precision Nutrition.