This
innovative piece of cross-country ski equipment
has the potential
to provide you with some of the most powerful
cardiovascular
workouts you'll ever experience in your life.
One
of the best all-around physical activities for
improving your health and fitness just got better.
What activity am I talking about? It's cross-country
skiing!
However,
what I'm about to tell you could change the
way you look at cross-country skiing forever...
[Note:
if you're not into cross-country skiing, but
have friends or family who are, please pass
this information on to them - it has the potential
to dramatically improve their skiing and they
will have you to thank for turning them onto
it!]
If
you've ever tried cross-country skiing, you
know exactly what I mean when I say it's one
of the best all-around physical activities for
improving your health and fitness. It's truly
one of the most effective ways to get your body
into shape quickly. Not only does it work practically
every muscle in your body, burning large amounts
of calories in short periods of time, it is
one of the absolute best forms of exercise for
developing your cardiovascular system.
I
think we all agree that cross-country skiing
is a great form of exercise, but what do you
do when there's no snow on the ground? What
if you live where there is no snow? What if
you do if you have snow but there are no trails
close to you?
Enter:
the CAT Ski.
(http://www.catskier.com)
"CAT
Ski" stands for "Classic All-Terrain
Ski" and its goal is to allow you to cross-country
ski on any terrain on almost any surface in
any season! Does the CAT Ski achieve this goal?
You're going to find out...
Recently,
I met the inventor of the CAT Ski, Dale Niggemann,
at his manufacturing facility in Wisconsin.
After touring the facility and learning how
the skis are made, I took a pair of CAT Skis
out for a "test drive."
How The CAT Ski Works:
The
construction of the CAT Ski is deceptively simple.
At first glance, it appears to be a fairly regular
ski complete with a sliding foot plate with
strategically-placed bungees attached to it.
It
can be tricky to visualize just through a written
description alone but, basically, you plant
the ski on the ground and your foot slides forward
on the ski, stretching the bungees. Then you
do the same thing with the other foot. While
you are doing it with the other foot, you lift
the ski off the ground, removing your bodyweight
from the ski and the bungees pull the slider
back into the start position where you can go
again from there.
In
essence, the ski itself isn't actually sliding
- you are sliding on top of the ski, using the
top surface of the ski itself as snow instead
of sliding on the ground.
Click
here to see a video demo of how the CAT Ski
works.
Sliding
on the ski rather than the ground is an extremely
powerful and useful concept - the bottom surface
of the CAT Ski is basically just a stable surface
upon which you slide. You can place this stable
surface on practically ANY other surface, from
pavement to sand to grass to gravel and still
be able to slide freely on top of the ski itself.
The ski doesn't slide on the ground - you slide
on the ski!
Is It Effective?
In
a nutshell, yes. The CAT Ski is extremely effective
in terms of not only mimicking the "Classic"
style of cross-country skiing (the diagonal
style you normally associate with cross-country
skiing, as opposed to the "skating"
style), but also in terms of cardiovascular
benefits.
Cross-country
skiing holds undeniable benefits to the person
interested in improving their cardio capacity
and losing bodyfat. CAT Skiing, in my experience
after testing the CAT Ski as compared to many
years of cross-country skiing on snow, is actually
MORE challenging to the cardiovascular system
than regular snow skiing. And, you can do it
anywhere, any season!
You
will know you've done a workout when you get
done with a CAT Ski session! It does get easier
as you develop your technique and get more comfortable
on the CAT Skis, but the challenge is definitely
still there as are the tremendous cardiovascular
benefits.
I've
also found the CAT Ski to be an excellent piece
of equipment for teaching better, more efficient
cross-country skiing technique. Let me put it
this way...as a former cross-country ski racer
myself, I felt I had reasonably good skiing
technique. After using the CAT Skis for only
half an hour, I could feel EXACTLY how my technique
could be improved to dramatically increase my
skiing efficiency and speed.
It
wasn't something that could be easily explained
or demonstrated with standard teaching methods
- the "feel" of the CAT Ski and how
it operated actually taught me how to better
transfer power and improve my stride.
Who Is The CAT Ski Appropriate For?
The
CAT Ski will work best for you if you are already
comfortable with basic cross-country skiing
technique. The more experienced a skier you
are, the easier the technique for the CAT Ski
will come to you.
Unfortunately,
it's not a piece of equipment that you will
be able to jump on and immediately start skiing
down a dirt road like it was snow. You can definitely
achieve that level of skill but it does require
some practice.
The
first session is not going to be easy. In fact,
you will get a great workout just learning the
basic technique! Once you've started picking
up the technique, improvements come quickly,
though, and those who are more recreational
skiers will certainly be able to benefit greatly
from the CAT Ski.
If
you have never cross-country skied before, however,
this is honestly probably not the equipment
for you.
But
if you are an avid cross-country skier, interested
in improving your skiing technique, you're going
to LOVE the CAT Ski. It is an extremely powerful
piece of training equipment that can help you
dramatically improve your technique in a very
short amount of time.
It
will also help you get in and stay in amazing
shape for skiing year-round! When you hit the
ski trails in the winter, you'll already be
at the top of your game.
Conclusion:
Is
the CAT Ski a useful piece of training equipment?
Absolutely. Is the CAT Ski for everyone? Probably
not. But if you're familiar with cross-country
skiing and looking to make rapid improvements
in both technique and cardiovascular capacity,
the CAT Ski could be one of the most powerful
training tools you have at your disposal.
To
learn more about the CAT Ski, how it works and
where you can get a pair, please visit (http://www.catskier.com)
now!
The inventor of the CAT Ski, Dale Niggemann,
can be contacted at:
Sisu
Co.
8057 Lake Rd.
Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 54481
1-800-380-8412
sales@planetxc.com
http://www.catskier.com
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