How Do World-Class Nordic Combined Athletes Differ From Specialized Cross-Country Skiers and Ski Jumpers in Sport-Specific Capacity and Training Characteristics?

Purpose: To compare sport-specific laboratory capacities and the annual training of world-class Nordic combined (NC) athletes with specialized ski jumpers (SJ) and cross-country (XC) skiers. Methods: Five world-class athletes from each sports discipline were compared. Ski jump imitations were performed on a 3-dimensional force plate in NC athletes and SJ, whereas XC skiing characteristics were obtained from submaximal and maximal roller ski skating on a treadmill in NC athletes and XC skiers. In addition, anthropometrics and annual training characteristics were determined. Results: NC athletes demonstrated 9% higher body mass and showed 17% lower vertical speed in the ski jump imitation than SJ (all P <.05). NC athletes had 12% lower body mass and showed 10% lower peak treadmill speed and 12% lower body-mass-normalized peak oxygen uptake than XC skiers (all P <.05). NC athletes performed half the number of ski-jumping-specific sessions and outdoor ski jumps compared with SJ. NC athletes performed 31% less endurance training, mainly caused by lower amounts of low- and moderate-intensity training in the classical technique, whereas high-intensity strength and speed training and endurance training in the skating technique did not differ substantially from XC skiers. Conclusions: To simultaneously optimize endurance, explosive, and technical capacities in 2 different disciplines, world-class NC athletes train approximately two-thirds of the XC skier's endurance training volume and perform one-half of the ski-jump-specific training compared with SJ. Still, the various laboratory capacities differed only 10-17% compared with SJ and XC skiers.