Im an 18-year old male training for speed skating but Ive taken a liking to the new ski-skating. As a speed skater, would I have any advantage over the ski-skaters if I switched over?
A well-trained speed skater is used to using muscles anaerobically in short bursts of speed. Anaerobic means the muscle is working so hard and so fast, it can’t get the blood supply it needs to maintain oxygen levels. Any one can exercise in this way for short periods of time. In the untrained individual, anaerobic use of muscles often results in stiff and sore muscles a day or two later. Trained athletes can exercise anaerobically for longer periods of time, but eventually the muscles will fatigue from a lack of oxygen. Human movement engineers study the body and the way it moves. They analyze strength, power, and efficiency during various activities. A recent study of ski-skaters using different body positions showed that some positions can generate greater speed, though usually at the expense of power. One of these positions is the deep crouch. Speed skaters are very used to using this position and may have an advantage in doing so. The deep crouch position cannot be sustained in sk
