Cowboy Training: The Norwegian Method Shaping The Athletes

Advertisement

Whether it’s summer games or winter sports, Norwegian athletes have been leaving their marks. Be it shining on the tracks of Paris Olympics or discovering their pathways to the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics, athletes from Norway are leaving no stone unturned. 

Advertisement

One of the reasons behind the rise of Norwegians in the field of sports is their revolutionary methods called the cowboy training. 

Cowboy Training

One of the beneficiaries of Cowboy training is Thomas Ødegaarden, one of Norway’s breakout cross-country skiing stars. 

Ødegaarden was introduced to Cowboy training by his new coach Tord Asle Gjerdalen, cross-country ski legend and 3x Olympian. The unconventional method helped him find his way to the summit of his career. 

“When I joined Tord Asle Gjerdalen’s team and started doing his ‘cowboy training,’ everything changed. His training philosophy was entirely new to me, and from there, everything just progressed,” the 25-year-old reporters.

The basic principle of this method is to push harder during intense sessions, slow down on long ones, and extend overall training time. “It lets you train longer and harder, balancing both worlds. It really worked,” he said.

In elite sports, where seconds can separate champions, that 1% edge could mean the difference between gold and silver.

After adopting this method, he won the Ski Classics Pink Youth Bib and now eyes victories in major long-distance races.

The Rise of the Norwegian Method

In Norway a crop of athletes is using data-driven methods to redefine the limits of human performance. 

The roots of this revolution can be traced back to 1998, when the Norwegian Athletics Federation, in collaboration with Olympiatoppen (OLT), launched a groundbreaking project.

The goal to revolutionize training for elite runners by using lactate measurements to control intensity, a method that could fine-tune performance with scientific precision.

This approach, pioneered by experts like Marius Bakken was initially met with skepticism but proved its worth over time. Its fundamentals soon spread beyond running to other endurance sports like cycling, triathlon, and cross-country skiing, forming the backbone of what is now called the “Norwegian Method.”

Lactate: The science behind the Norwegian method

The Norwegian Method is driven by lactate-guided threshold intervals, a strategy that prioritizes internal physiological stress, measured via blood lactate (for example: pricking your finger after a run) over external benchmarks like pace. 

Lactate, a byproduct of burning carbohydrates for energy, acts as a critical marker: training just below the point where exercise shifts from “challenging but manageable” to “this really hurts” enhances the body’s ability to clear lactate efficiently. With this athletes can train harder for longer without tipping into fatigue.

The sweet spot, maintained between Lactate Threshold 1 (LT1) and Lactate Threshold 2 (LT2) is the game changer. The emphasis on this zone makes way for both targeted and sustainable training by allowing athletes to accumulate significant time at moderate intensities.

Champions of the Method

Jakob Ingebrigtsen, a 24-year-old Olympic champion and world record holder across three different disciplines, attributes his achievements to precise lactate testing.

Triathletes Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden have also thrived under this system. The method’s meticulous intensity control has propelled them to Olympic gold and Ironman world titles.

Conclusion

The Norwegian Method has science at its core. Athletes train twice a day, coupling high-volume sessions with strict lactate monitoring to balance challenge and recovery. This precision reduces injury risk while maximizing time spent at optimal intensities. 

Also Read: Top 7 Popular Sports in Norway: A Winter Wonderland of Activity

Advertisement