Station 1 of 8 · 1,000 m · Updated for the 2026/27 season
SkiErg
The SkiErg opens the race: 1,000 meters of double-pole work straight off your first kilometer run. It rewards rhythm and full-body sequencing, and it quietly punishes anyone who tries to win the race in the first four minutes.
Technique
- Drive the handles down with your lats and core, not just your arms — think a controlled crunch, hinging at the hips.
- Finish each pull past your hips with straight-ish arms, then let the recovery bring you tall again.
- Keep a stroke rate you could hold for 2,000 m; most athletes race between 38–45 spm.
- Legs matter: a slight knee bend and re-extension each stroke shares the load with your lower body.
Common mistakes
- Sprinting the first 200 m — the fastest 1k splits come from even pacing.
- Arms-only pulling, which torches your grip and shoulders before the sled push.
- Standing too upright with no hip hinge, cutting stroke length badly.
Race pacing
Target roughly your 5–10 seconds-per-500m slower than an all-out 1k erg test. You should step off feeling like you did work but able to run within 20–30 seconds.
How the program trains it
In the program: SkiErg appears from Week 4 technique day onward and in compromised sessions from Week 5 (e.g. 5 × 1 km run + 250 m ski).