Fossavatn SkiFit

In the fall of 2025 we started with Fossavatn SkiFit, exercises to get into cross-country ski season in a downhill position.

To begin with, Fossaþrek is weekly group classes in Stöðin health club in Ísafjörður.

Below are the group class workout schedules, which are free for everyone to use.

Weekly classes in Ísafjörður

Weekly workouts are every Sunday morning starting September 7th. To join, you must purchase access to the Center, either by purchasing a single session or a subscription card that includes group sessions. Waterfall workouts are posted on Abler a few days in advance and must be registered in advance—first come, first served.

We really want to mix people who are more advanced with those who are just starting out. There is a trainer in the classes who advises on adapting the exercises to each person's ability.

The plans are designed as a weekly workout against other exercises that people may do, such as running, push-up exercises, strength training, cycling, swimming, CrossFit or roller skiing.

Waterfall resistance training is primarily intended to strengthen what other exercises neglect when it comes to cross-country skiing. These are the abs and back, shoulders, lats, and core muscles.

The station will have three push-ups to start with, so we can have 9–12 of us at any given time.

The training will be held until there is enough snow to pave the slopes. If the snow then returns, or a storm closes the ski area, we will pick up the thread again.

Coaches are Gylfi Ólafsson, Lísbet Harðar Ólafardóttir and then substitutes as needed.

The exercises

The programs are somewhat inspired by the Crossfit philosophy in terms of setup and vocabulary.

All times are around 50 minutes, one minute for each kilometer of the Fossavatnsgangan.

The exercises start with a warm-up and then move on to one or two main exercises.

At the end there is an endurance race—Miðfellsháls—where one has to compete with oneself and others. Miðfellsháls refers to the last uphill section of the 50 and 25 k races, a real test of endurance and grit.

It is recommended that all participants do two or three 5 km ski runs during the training period. This exercise is very suitable as a measurement of skiing form, see for example in detail Eric Wickström's post which includes a predictive model of your progress in the Wasaloppet based on your time in this exercise. The exercise takes about 19–25 minutes and therefore combines strength and endurance.

Exercise plans

In the fall of 2025, we have rolled out the training plans and they are now accessible to everyone. We usually work with a certain base that is adjusted on site to the capacity and size of the group that attends each time. Everyone is free to use this as they see fit. If this is useful to you, please let Gylfi and Lísbet know, because they will be happy to receive thanks.

Here you can open a Google Sheets document with several workout plans.

The plans as they come from us assume that they are done in a gym, but we try to be rather economical in the use of equipment and gadgets. There is no direct requirement that a group be together for this, but it is now more fun. Exercises are chosen so that they are mostly scalable (to meet the abilities of each person) but it is pointed out that artificial intelligence solutions can be very good at giving good advice on weight loss. It is assumed that there are three participants on each push-up machine. In many exercises there can be up to six on each machine, in others it is possible to have traditional rowing machines or exercise bikes in addition.  

Among the laws we use are: Bring Sally Up, which tells you to go up or down. The song is very good for deadlifts and planks.

Below are the workout plans as they ended up being for each workout:

How to use a SkiErg press machine and strengthen your press muscles