Norwegian text: Ingebor Scheve, English text/re-write: Teemu Virtanen, Picture: One Way/Emil Iversen

Emil Iversen became the World Champion in the 50 km race last winter when Johannes Høsflot Klæbo was disqualified due to the dramatic crash with Alexander Bolshunov at the finish line. Iversen is now preparing himself for the upcoming Olympics, and his favorite workout is the one that Olympic Champion Frode Estil taught him to do.

Our affiliate Langrenn Pluss talked to Iversen about his summer training, and much like Hans Christer Holund (an article published yesterday) he keeps pushing hard. He is counting on some traditional methods that are certainly familiar to our Pro Team athletes as well.

“Actually, I have no favorite workout sessions. All training hurts, and I do not like to train,” says the 29-year-old from Meråker sounding like a used car salesman whose word is not to be trusted.

After a moment, Iversen gets serious and re-considers his answer. He says that a three-hour run in the wetlands is one of his favorite workouts.

“I live in Meråker, which means that this session is very natural to me. I learned it from Frode Estil. It’s a great training because you can go for a long time without getting injuries on your legs because you run on a wet ground.”

When asked about the benefits of the workout, he states that it develops physical and mental stamina.

“It’s a simple workout. You just take your running shoes and go out for hours. I have a regular round that I use, and it takes three hours to complete. I usually do this workout once a week.”

When it comes to the interval training, Iversen trusts proven concepts. He likes to do intervals running up a steep hill with poles, so called Elghufs-workout in Norwegian.

“Running hard on an uphill is my thing! I usually do 6 x 5 minutes with a 2-3 minute recovery. It’s a tough session! I grew up with this workout, but I can’t remember the first time I did it. It’s an effective exercise that can be done almost anywhere if you find a suitable hill.”

Iversen continues saying that it’s quite close to diagonal striding on climbs, and it develops the maximum capacity and increases VO2 max, both much needed for skiing fast in the winter.

“I start the training with a 30-minute warm-up and make sure that I end it at the bottom of a suitable hill. Then, I do those six intervals and I have a 2-3 minute recovery in-between. I do the runs very hard, close to my maximum capacity. To finish up, I do a 35-minute easy cool-off. I tend to do this once a week, particularly in the fall.”