Tips & technique for cross country skiing beginners

What is even more effective in terms of calorie burning than exercise in the fresh air? Exactly: exercise in the fresh air during the cold season. This not only strengthens the immune system, our body also raises its heat output when it is cold. Your pulse increases, which conveniently keeps you from freezing. You pay the increased "heating costs" in the currency of excess pounds. 

If there is one winter sport that is considered a fountain of youth, it is cross-country skiing. During this comprehensive endurance training, muscles and joints are fascinatingly strengthened and protected at the same time. What other sports use 600 muscles in parallel? Most of the work is done by the glutes, leg and arm muscles. But your abdominal and back muscles do not get off scot-free. Your lungs and heart are happy about the healthy effort, while the risk of injury is very low. 
Even just the vastness, the good air and the peace of mind do more than good. Keeping your distance is easy on the trail. Reflect and stay fit without having to go to the gym.

What do you think of when you close your eyes and imagine a cross-country skier? Perhaps a dynamic body with slender muscles. And rightly so. The whole-body workout has an extremely defining effect, especially on the legs and glutes. Posture also benefits from regular cross-country miles. Today, the optimised appearance is "framed" by sleek cross-country ski fashion – body-hugging trousers, casual shorts and relaxed hooded sweatshirts find their way onto the cross-country runway.

Cross-country skiing is relatively complex, but the basics can be learned quickly enough so that you soon enjoy the specific movement. Depending on the temperature, wrapped up warm and cuddly or relatively airy on the go, you will glide through white fairy-tale forests. Feel your own heartbeat, see your warm breath. It glitters, crunches, the movements are automated and unfold a meditative effect. With every use of the poles, stress falls away from you, gets lost in the cross-country track. A single blessing for the soul.

It's hard to get your doses of dopamine, serotonin and endorphins this quickly anywhere else. A cross-country skiing session can be short and sharp if required. Effective muscle and circulation training can be achieved in under an hour. For a quick session after work, it is best to find the track you trust, declare it a home track and visit it regularly – don't forget your head torch!

Cross-country skiing is the opposite of boredom. As a beginner, you have a steep learning curve to conquer, but even more experienced skiers have the chance to refine their technique, to learn more and to improve their performance. Modern cross-country skiing trails are demanding in the sense that they require a varied repertoire of movements. Sometimes they go up, sometimes down. Sometimes they are flat over long distances and you can push your personal best, then they are steep again and you are challenged to use your energy sensibly. The two basic techniques, "skating" and "classic style", have their respective particularities – challenge yourself by switching from your usual style to a new one for a change. 

Cross-country skiing also has great potential as a family activity. A shared experience in the great outdoors, which can be arranged according to taste, from a leisurely glide in single file to a family competition. The intuitively performed movements and the playful learning of the basic techniques are suitable for most children. As with all sports: the earlier you start, the easier it is to get your head around it – and your feet.