Street G M
Human Performance Laboratory, St. Cloud State University, MN 56301.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1992 Sep;24(9):1048-54.
Nordic skiing has a long history dating back to at least 2500 B.C. It is not surprising then that skiing equipment has undergone many changes. Today's skis, poles, and boots use the latest in space-age synthetics including carbon and Kevlar fibers, which has resulted in an unprecedented advance in ski equipment technology, producing ultralight yet strong equipment. These changes have played an important role in bringing about an improvement in racing performance with today's skiers being able to ski a course in half the amount of time that it would have taken just 60 yr ago. Estimates indicate the change in mass of racing equipment accounts for a relatively small amount (12%) of the improvement in race performance with changes in the functional characteristics of equipment, track preparation, and training practices being responsible for the remaining 88%. In addition to improvements in ski equipment, advances are being made in developing laboratory equipment used to assess an athlete's upper body power and endurance capacities. Lab testing with an arm ergometer showed its utility when it exposed a glaring deficiency in upper body power among a group of U.S. developmental skiers. Further improvement in ski equipment and lab testing tools are expected in the future as the worldwide technological revolution continues and Olympic Teams and sports science groups continue to work cooperatively.
北欧滑雪有着悠久的历史，至少可以追溯到公元前2500年。因此，滑雪装备经历了许多变化也就不足为奇了。如今的滑雪板、滑雪杖和滑雪靴采用了包括碳纤维和凯夫拉纤维在内的最新太空时代合成材料，这带来了滑雪装备技术前所未有的进步，生产出了超轻但坚固的装备。这些变化在提高比赛成绩方面发挥了重要作用，如今的滑雪者能够在仅60年前所需时间的一半内滑完一条赛道。据估计，比赛装备质量的变化在比赛成绩提高中所占比例相对较小（12%），装备功能特性、赛道准备和训练方法的变化则占其余的88%。除了滑雪装备的改进，用于评估运动员上身力量和耐力的实验室设备也在不断发展。使用手臂测力计进行的实验室测试显示出了其效用，它揭示了一组美国发展中滑雪运动员在上身力量方面的明显不足。随着全球技术革命的持续以及奥运代表队和体育科学团队继续合作，预计未来滑雪装备和实验室测试工具将进一步改进。
