Multiple ski medalist Krista Pärmäkoski, 31, came across his old test results in the spring and winter while going through his post-moving stuff. Pärmäkoski understood that they could be valuable information and also give future athletes a perspective on the fact that no one is born directly to be a top skier. That’s why he decided to publish the results on social media.
Pärmäkoski’s treadmill test was done with an upward load and it measured, among other things, oxygen consumption, heart rate and lactate. Based on the test results, the oxygen uptake capacity is very good for the 15-year-old Pärmäkoski, as the reading of 69 ml/kg/min corresponds to the readings of an adult international skier.
In the pole walking test, the results are often better than in the roller skiing test, where keeping the skiing technique together taxes endurance and thus the maximum result.
However, Pärmäkoski admits that he was surprised by the result.
– I didn’t understand anything about those values at the time, but the test result shows that there was a certain kind of talent for this cross-country or endurance sport, he states.
– Maximal oxygen intake has been good, but doing aerobic and SME training at an ok level, by no means top class.
No one is automatically a prize medalist
By publishing the test results of his youth, Pärmäkoski wants to show those who dream of becoming a skier that no one is automatically a prize medalist. His results have also changed a lot from what they were in his teenage years.
– In any name, a 15-year-old cannot be completely ready. With practice, you can do a lot and develop in those things.
For Pärmäkoski, the test results gave more motivation. He noticed from them that basic endurance training was not his strength and knew that it should be improved.
As an adult, Pärmäkoski’s test results have varied a lot during the training season.
Pärmäkoski often conducts a so-called baseline test in June, and development has been monitored in the August test. If there has been no development, then Pärmäkoski thinks you should be worried.
– In a way, you have to remember to reflect on what has been done and which features have been able to develop. Because the qualities cannot be developed if they are not practiced.
However, the results have not always been correlated with the success of the season, because based on the test results, Pärmäkoski has been able to Matti Haaviston with to react to the situation.
– In a certain way, the (early autumn) test has told that you have to be at a certain level. If I’ve gotten significantly worse, then I know that it’s not going to be a good season. But it hasn’t completely told the final result that many times I’ve been in the World Cup.
Pärmäkoski: Many could say that I have been fat
Sports expert Kalle Lassilan according to Krista Pärmäkoski, the most important thing in the test results is a good maximum oxygen uptake capacity, because it is an essential thing in endurance sports. In his opinion, the composition of the body is also at a good level, and the test results – the anaerobic threshold – provide guidelines for speed capacity as well. Although the result is good, there is room for improvement.
– From the results, you can see that the height, weight, fat percentage are on a healthy, good basis for that age, and there is some muscle. And when the oxygen uptake capacity relative to the weight is good, it would indicate that there is potential for the development of skiing speed for the coming years.
Instead, as Pärmäkoski himself said, there is still room for improvement in basic endurance, i.e. aerobic threshold. According to Lassila, however, this is not a concern, as he is only a 15-year-old athlete.
– It usually takes years of practice for that section to start to rise.
According to the tests, Pärmäkoski’s body fat percentage is 24.4, and this reading is one of the reasons why he wanted to publish his test results. Pärmäkoski remembers that the health nurse at school said that he should think about what he eats.
– Many could say that I have been fat. I’ve always liked to eat, and I didn’t live a social life when I was young. The situation could have escalated to the second in this time. But a 15-year-old’s body cannot be that of an adult athlete. A young athlete cannot optimize weight, but as an adult you can, Pärmäkoski reminds.
He also has bad experiences when he tried to lower his body fat percentage.
– The body got confused and didn’t work and the mat test was left unfinished. There were certainly other reasons, but that was one factor.
According to Lassila, Pärmäkoski’s fat percentage is normal for that age, and he reminds us that it is good to keep the fat percentage at a safe level, especially for a young athlete.
– Maximum miles are measured proportionally per kilogram of weight, so when the body composition is at a healthy, strong and powerful level, measuring oxygen uptake is honest. It would be good not to try to improve oxygen intake when you are young to reduce or keep your body weight low, says Lassila.
– In the longer term, it exposes you to the fact that it will be difficult to develop speed capacity and muscle development. And it’s not easy to pick up that speed later.
Although Pärmäkoski’s results, especially in maximum oxygen uptake, are good even for adults and excellent for young people, in Lassila’s opinion, the test results should not be compared with others, at least not with top skiers. Comparisons should only be made with the athlete’s own test results.
– From Krista’s maximum reading, you could not necessarily have directly predicted such a value competition career, Lassila reminds.
– Test results can have big differences and fluctuations between tests. For young people, it is more important to follow the medium-term trend. You don’t have to make a record in every test, and you don’t have to improve in every area, but the trend should go in a better direction.
Pärmäkoski wants to set an example
The tests are also talked about a lot in public, despite the fact that their results are published extremely rarely, if ever. Training diaries and test results are big state secrets, and they remain hidden because they tell quite directly about the skier’s characteristics – about what aids each can use to make the result.
That’s why Lassila thinks it’s good that Pärmäkoski has made an exception.
– Krista has had a long, successful racing career. I hope that the details of the test results will send a message to young people that it is not a place where there is nothing to do. Today’s best skiers have also started somewhere. They haven’t always been kings and queens.
Pärmäkoski himself does not know why the test results are not made public more. He does not feel that they are secret information and thus wants to act as an example for young people as well.
– I also have values there that are definitely not super good. However, there has been success and I have been skiing well. If someone would get something from these, a comparison and thus more motivation, he would justify the publication of the results.
Pärmäkoski plans to present other results in the future as well.
– Maximum oxygen intake is related to body weight. Krista Pärmäkoski’s maximum oxygen uptake value at the age of 15 was 69 ml/kg/min.
– The maximum oxygen uptake readings of elite endurance athletes are usually between 80-90 and 70-80 for women.
– The maximum oxygen uptake measures how much of the inhaled oxygen the body has been able to use for energy production, when the test is performed at the maximum level.
– Oxygen consumption is considered maximal when, when increasing the work output, oxygen consumption no longer increases
– Anaerobic threshold is a speed that already feels bad and that makes you gasp a lot, but the so-called acidification does not get out of hand yet. Anaerobic threshold and its testing is an essential threshold for endurance athletes.
– Aerobic threshold is the so-called upper limit of jogging pace. It tells you how well you can cope and be able to move at a pace where you are not yet out of breath.
– Hkr or hematocrit is the relative share of red blood cells in the volume of the whole blood
– Good lactate removal ability is a key factor affecting endurance performance. It is accentuated in interval-type performances and competitions with a short recovery time, for example in sprint skiing. Krista Pärmäkoski’s reading of 0.57 is quite a normal value.