Vit Prindis | Sportscene - If you train in areas with year-round snow cover, you shouldn’t miss cross-country skiing out of your training plan. It doesn’t matter whether you use a classic or skate technique, or whether you are beginner or advanced skier, cross-country skiing has many health benefits which definitely improve your paddling skills.

A large number of professional paddlers from slalom, downriver, sprint and other disciplines spend many hours in the gym over the winter training period as well as jogging, paddling, swimming and also cross-country skiing. Paddlers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany, Italy, France, Canada and other countries improve their physical skills using cross-country skiing.

Cross-country skiing has long been known as one of the most healthy and beneficial sports for people of all abilities and ages. Professional paddlers practise cross-country skiing because it is total body workout, where you use your upper and lower parts of the body, cross-country skiing is ultimate calorie burner and of course a great way to enjoy nature and clear your head. Equally important is the development of an overall body coordination in pursuit of the perfect cross-country skiers’ glide.

Slalom paddlers from the university sport club in Prague, national team members and organizers of slalom world cup 2014 use cross-country skiing every winter as a great additional sport. They organise one-day trips and also week-long training camps. This year all young paddlers and their older colleagues spent one week in the Sumava National Park, close to the German border where the source of Czech Republic’s longest river, the Vltava is found.

Do you use Cross-country skiing during winter training or another sport?