SkiErg Muscles Worked: Anatomy

Muscles in a coordinated movement

Concept2 describes standing double-poling as whole-body work. Its guidance includes leading with the trunk and using the lats and arms, with the lower body participating. Describing SkiErg as an arm-only movement misses that coordination.

The SkiErg is not a test that isolates one muscle. Avoid treating a list of “primary” and “secondary” muscles as a measured ranking of their contributions for every technique and intensity.

Concept2 · SkiErg Technique · Torvik et al. (2022) · methods / EMG results

What the research actually measures

Torvik’s 2022 treadmill double-poling study measured activity in muscles including latissimus dorsi, triceps, rectus abdominis and biceps femoris. It studied cross-country skiers, not HYROX^® racers, and does not establish fixed individual-muscle force shares on a SkiErg.

Bucher’s experiment with 16 trained male skiers found lower three-minute ergometer power after a trunk-fatiguing protocol. That supports a role for trunk fatigue under those conditions; it does not demonstrate that adding a trunk-flexion cue increases every athlete’s stroke power by 15–20%.

These findings do not identify the latissimus as everyone’s power ceiling, diagnose triceps weakness from a slow split, or show that deeper hip flexion always creates more useful force.

Torvik et al. (2022) · methods / EMG results · Bucher et al. (2018) · abstract

Apply the movement guidance

Use Concept2’s demonstration as a technique reference: start with bent arms, lead the movement from the trunk and coordinate the hips, knees and handles. Practise the complete sequence rather than trying to isolate the lats on each stroke.

The original instruction to reach the highest possible handle position with straight arms does not match the manufacturer’s current starting cue. Nor does the manufacturer prescribe progressively deeper hinging as an unlimited route to more power. Follow the demonstration without inventing a fixed force gain.

Concept2 · SkiErg Technique

HYROX^® context and training choices

In Singles 26/27, SkiErg is station 1 after run 1 and requires 1,000 metres. It does not follow Sled Push and Sled Pull. Those are stations 2 and 3, with runs between them; rowing is station 5. The article’s original explanation of leg relief after the sleds therefore described the wrong race sequence.

For training, choose exercises within your full preparation and record what you want to practise. Pulldowns, triceps exercises and trunk exercises are options, not a source-validated recipe guaranteeing faster HYROX^® SkiErg splits. The cited studies do not validate 15–20 repetitions of the listed assistance exercises as the optimum transfer dose.

If the aim is to learn the competition movement, practise on the Concept2 SkiErg when available. Review technique and effort together; do not infer which muscle needs more training from one station time alone.

HYROX^® Singles 26/27 · §1 / §8.1 · Concept2 · SkiErg Technique · Torvik et al. (2022) · methods / EMG results · Bucher et al. (2018) · abstract

FAQ

Is SkiErg a push or pull exercise?

The handles are pulled down in double-poling, but the complete movement involves more than the arms. The label “pull” should not be read as a measured ranking of muscles or a reason to omit the trunk and legs.

Concept2 · SkiErg Technique

Which muscle is most important for SkiErg performance?

These sources do not identify a single muscle that sets every athlete’s performance limit. Use the whole movement as the starting point rather than treating the latissimus as a universal power ceiling.

Torvik et al. (2022) · methods / EMG results · Bucher et al. (2018) · abstract

Does SkiErg use the legs?

Yes. Concept2 describes standing double-poling as whole-body work. That does not establish one fixed percentage of force for the legs across all athletes and conditions.

Concept2 · SkiErg Technique

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