Biathlon is skated only: learn the push-off, the glide phase and the two gears that matter most — and save time exactly where most of it is lost.
Biathlon is raced exclusively in the free technique — that means skating [1]. The basic stride is quickly explained: you angle the ski slightly outwards, push off over the inside edge like an ice skater and glide on the other ski while both poles push along.
Why this is your most valuable investment: pure skiing time accounts for around 86 percent of your total race time [5]. On the range you win seconds — on the course you lose minutes.
Skating is a whole-body drive; legs and upper body work at the same time [1]. That is exactly why the world's best reach a maximal oxygen uptake of around 72 ml/kg/min [3] — among the highest values ever measured in sport. For you that means: every minute you invest in clean technique also makes you fitter.
And the reassuring news: at the start you learn skating completely without a rifle. First comes the stride, then comes the gun [6].
Tuck the poles under your arm or leave them behind and roll on your legs only: skis in a slight V, push over the inside edge, weight fully onto the gliding ski. If you can stand three seconds on one ski without wobbling, you have the foundation. Everything else builds on that single-leg balance.
The V1 gear is your climbing gear and it is asymmetric: you place one double-pole push on every second leg push [2]. One side is the "pole side", the other runs along without arm work. You use it uphill and whenever the snow is slow [2]. It is the gear that first really moves you forward.
In V2 there is one double-pole push for every leg push [2] — symmetric, rhythmic, efficient on flat terrain. It runs with a longer cycle length at a lower cycle rate [2]; in plain words: fewer strides, more metres per stride. This is the gear in which skating suddenly looks effortless.
At low speed you control your pace mainly through cycle length; only at high speed does cycle rate take over [2]. For beginners that means: gliding longer beats shuffling faster.
The arms are not decoration here. Peak pole forces in skating sit at roughly 19 to 32 percent of your body weight [2] — at 75 kilos that is the equivalent of pressing a good 14 to 24 kilograms into the snow with every push. You will feel it in your trunk the next day.
Once the movement holds up, add the load. And it arrives by itself: even easy sessions in rolling terrain swing hard in power output and heart rate [4] — uphill your pulse spikes no matter how "calm" the session looks on paper.
Skate training without a rifle is harmless; the risk sits in the equipment and the terrain. On roller skis: helmet on, never take a descent you cannot control by braking, and stay off public roads with traffic. Roller skis have no brake — the point beginners underestimate most often.
The moment the rifle joins in, the frame changes completely: it is carried unloaded and on safe at all times, loading happens only on the shooting mat under supervision, and shooting only takes place at supervised ranges [6].
And on principle: this guide explains and motivates — it never replaces training with a club and a coach.
Film yourself from the side, 30 seconds is enough. Watch one single thing: how long do you actually stand on one ski? With beginners the weight almost always tips back before the gliding ski has run out.
Extend the glide phase by just half a second per stride and you save hundreds of strides over five kilometres — at identical heart rate.
Through balance, not through strength. Ski your first sessions without poles and practise transferring fully onto one ski. Then learn V1 for uphills and V2 for the flats [2]. One technique day at a club takes you further than ten solo outings.
No, you learn it in parallel. Biathlon is raced entirely in the free technique [1] — so you need exactly one technique instead of two. Many clubs start adults directly with skating plus an air rifle, and in summer you can even begin without snow at all [1].
Two are enough. V1, with one double-pole push on every second leg push, carries you uphill and through slow snow; V2, with one pole push per leg push, handles the flats [2]. The rest comes later on its own.
Fitter than it looks — arms and legs work simultaneously [1]. The world's best reach oxygen uptake values around 72 ml/kg/min [3], among the highest in all of sport. You need none of that to start: if you can hike briskly for 45 minutes, you will survive a first skating session.
The Prone Position: How to Shoot Calm and Stable at 50 Metres