Enhance your cycling by cross-training with another low-impact activity. Substitute a day of cycling with cross country skiing on a Nordic Track ski machine to burn more calories and reduce injuries from overuse. Daily cycling uses your body in the same motion. You are seated and rotating your hips in a circle. On the Nordic Track skier, you are standing and moving your legs in a front-to-back motion. This reduces the strain on your hips while at the same time improving your posture and providing an upper-body workout from the arm motions. The addition of arm movements, plus the upright body position, burns more calories than cycling. More calories burned equals less body weight. Less body weight leads to better performance on the bike.
Step 1
Place your feet onto the skis of the Nordic Track ski machine. Hold a handle in each hand.
Step 2
Slide your feet and arms forward and backward to perform the cross country ski movement.
Step 3
Replace your cycling workout with a 20-minute cross country ski workout once a week for the first two to three weeks. Add another day of 20 minutes of cross country skiing to your weekly workouts as your endurance level on the Nordic Track improves. Increase the amount of time on the Nordic Track as your hip strength and cardiovascular endurance improve.
Step 4
Add a short cross country ski workout to your daily cycling routine. Cycle in the morning and ski in the evening to burn an increased number of calories and reduce the strain on your body.
Step 5
Ski 15 minutes for every 20 minutes cycling to burn the same amount of calories. Increase your ski time to burn more calories, as 20 minutes of skiing burns approximately 50 more calories than 20 minutes of cycling.
Things You'll Need
- Nordic Track ski machine
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