DIG DEEP 2021

Can a U10 or U19 athlete participate?

The short answer is yes! Although the program was designed for U12-U16 athletes, U10's & U19's are also welcome to participate. The U10's will be able to do every exercise, however, you may need to scale down the workouts, so they are appropriate for a younger athlete's ability and fitness level. Essentially, that will translate into less sets, reps, rounds or weight, depending on the workout. Since every athlete's fitness level varies, it will be up to the supervising parents to decide what is appropriate for their own child. The U19 athletes can scale up by adding extras reps and sets.

Are the workouts live?

There are no live scheduled workouts. We’ve set it up so the athletes can do the training whenever it is convenient for them. Everything the kids need will be recorded and waiting for them each week in the Membership portal, to be viewed at their leisure. At the beginning of each week, the kids will login to download the Weekly Training Plan and watch the instructional videos, along with any pre-recorded ZOOM chats with the World Cup and Olympic athletes. 

What are the contests all about?

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday the kids will have an option to participate in a contest by completing a “challenge" that we give them, and then submitting their entries (either photos or videos) via email by the designated deadline. The challenges might be physical or mental. For example, in the first week of May, we had the kids do the “Shark Skill Test” (an agility test) and then had them submit a video of themselves in action, completing that test. The following week, to reinforce the concept of committing to your goals, the kids were tasked with writing their own Dig Deep Pledge and sending that in. We are hoping these challenges and contests will give the program a more interactive feel and help keep the kids motivated and engaged throughout the program. Thanks to our sponsors, we have over $10,000 in prizes to give away! The contests are not all about being the fastest or strongest athlete. Depending on the challenge, we will judge the athletes' entries based on effort, attitude, skill, originality, and/or creativity.

How will you motivate and interact with the athletes?

If you believe your child would respond best to one-on-one coaching, we encourage you to hire a personal trainer or coach. Due to the volume of athletes that are registered for the Dig Deep program, we won't be able to monitor each athlete's workouts or give individual feedback. However, we will make every effort to keep the athletes engaged and motivated throughout the program!

At the beginning of each week, we will post a Weekly Welcome video, where we outline the program for the upcoming week, offer encouragement, cheer the kids on, give away prizes, and show a highlights reel of the contest entries that kids have sent in. When the kids see themselves on video or are able to see what other Dig Deep athletes are up to, we hope they will feel inspired knowing there are lots of other athletes out there following the same program, working hard and having fun. Plus, thanks to our sponsors, we have over $10,000 in prizes to give away... and who doesn't like to win prizes?!

We will also have pre-recorded ZOOM chats with Olympic and World Cup athletes. The kids will hear directly from some of the best athletes in the world! We have always found these World Cup athletes to be very generous of themselves during these interviews. They offer helpful training tips, advice on how to prepare mentally for training and competition, share stories of their World Cup experiences and reveal what the lessons they have learned on their journey to the top. Always inspiring to hear! Whenever possible, we will provide an opportunity for the kids to submit questions to these athletes in advance. The ZOOM chats will last 15-30 minutes and be posted every 2-3 weeks.

How long are the workouts?

Workouts will take approximately 30-60 minutes. They are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but if that schedule doesn't work for an athlete, they can tweak as needed. For each workout, there are recommended sets, reps and rounds for each exercise. However, athletes can scale the workouts up or down, to better suit their fitness level. We encourage all athletes to push hard, but also caution athletes to be smart. You don't want to create problems or injuries by going overboard. More is not always better!

Mondays= Power
Tuesdays= Strength
Wednesdays= Capacity

How long are the videos?

The Weekly Welcome videos will be about 5-8 minutes long. The instructional exercise videos are approximately 2-4 minutes each, and there will be 3-5 of them each week. The ZOOM chats will last 15-30 minutes, every 2-3 weeks. 

How much writing is involved?

There will be a daily journals entries for the athletes to complete. They are short and will take just a couple of minutes to complete. The idea here is simply to get the kids in the habit of journalling. The kids will also set a few goals at the beginning of each week. Depending on their age, that thought process might take 5-10 minutes. Lastly, every Tuesday is the mental skills day, so it will have a brief written exercise that takes 10-20 minutes depending on their age and how much effort they put into it. All in all, it will add up to about 30-40 minutes per week.

What if I miss a workout?

We all miss a workout now and then, so no worries! Workouts are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. If an athlete misses a workout, they can either make it up on an "off" day, or simply skip it altogether and jump back into the schedule with the rest of us when they can.

Do you have to be a Ski Racer to join?

All young athletes are welcome to join! The Dig Deep 2020 program was designed with ski racers in mind, but in reality, the program is well suited to all young athletes, regardless of their primary sport.

To create the Dig Deep workouts, we collaborated with Michael “Bing” Bingaman, MS, SCCC, CSCS. Bing is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist who works with many World Cup and Europa Cup ski racers. Here is how Bing explains it, “As an athlete ages into varsity, collegiate, or professional athletics, training becomes quite specific to the individual needs of the athlete and his or her sport. Younger, developing athletes, however, have common goals and training strategies, regardless of their favorite sport or intended competition. This particular program, built around the development of strength, power, and capacity for the young athlete, is written in such a way that it can be applied across a multitude of backgrounds and sports. Whether your chosen sport is soccer, tennis, ski racing, XC skiing, basketball, lacrosse, or beyond, this program will train and prepare you for more fun and exciting seasons to come. “