Andreas Nygaard, World’s Most Unusual Marathon Winner

Andreas Nygaard, World’s Most Unusual Marathon Winner

Leaders, Newsfeed
If you ever wanted proof that today's cross country skiing is not your dad's skiing – look no further than the towering figure of Andreas Nygaard. This 26-year-old Norwegian made a bit of history this month – making redundant a lot of preconceived notions about skiing. Standing at an impressive 1.93cm (6 ft 3 in) and weighing in at 92kg (205 lb), Nygaard hardly looks like a marathoner - yet it was him who was the first to cross the finish line at the most challenging skiing marathon of them all – the Red Bull Nordenskiöldsloppet. It took Nygaard a whopping 11 hours, 45 minutes and 07 seconds to ski 220 km through Arctic wilderness , beating the other 240 participants from 15 nations at Jokkmokk, Sweden, that lies beyond…
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Train Your Balance Like a Boss

Train Your Balance Like a Boss

Gear News, Newsfeed
The body balance is, likely, the most important single factor in cross country skiing – unless you happen to be a dedicated double-poler, in which case read no further. For those of us, however, who practice either old good diagonal classic stride or skating, a balance training is a must. Naturally, there are dozens of devices and gadgets designed to aid – starting with simplest of all, a plastic bottle filled with water, all the way to fancy professional machines for $$$$$. The Austrian company MFT has turned the balance training into a form of computer gaming. The MFT Challenge Disc 2.0 connects to you phone or tablet via Bluetooth – et voila, instead of counting seconds, you now actively swing your lower limbs achieving corresponding gaming action on your…
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