Piotr Bednarski has proven success at coaching athletes at all levels and is uniquely qualified to provide physical training, technique and racing advice to athletes of all ages and experience levels.
- 17 years of experience coaching athletes in cross-country skiing and biathlon, from novices to Olympians.
- Piotr’s athletes have competed successfully at innumerable national and international-level competitions, including World Cups, World University Games and the Olympics.
- Accumulated several years of graduate level education in exercise physiology and biomechanics, and continues to educate himself on the newest techniques and theories in endurance training.
- A current successful masters level competitor in cross-country skiing (both skate and classical techniques), distance running, biathlon and mountain biking.
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Piotr stays on top of current developments and theories in endurance sport, physiology, training and ski techniques. His close relationships with endurance coaches around the world and his participation in coaching symposia and clinics keeps him on top of his game as a coach.
Piotr can help you maximize your efforts by periodizing your training to get the most out of your hours, and giving you new, focused training exercises to build the specific strength and endurance that you need to take the next step in your sport. In addition to physical training, Piotr’s considerable expertise in skate and classical ski technique and racing strategy in several sports can give you the edge you need to squeeze out the competition, or take you to the comfort level you need to compete in your first race.
To get to know Piotr better, scroll down to read more about his personal experience and coaching philosophy. Download Curriculum Vitae
Coach Piotr Bednarski’s Personal Statement and Coaching Philosophy
Like most enthusiastic athletes, I learned the hard way: train smarter, not harder.
Through most of high school, and through all of my college skiing and running career, I trained hard. I did what my coaches told me, and often did more. I was surprised and deeply disappointed when so much hard work did not pay off in the results that I knew I could achieve.
It was these college athletic disappointments that motivated me to become a coach. I wanted to be the best coach, to help athletes reach success with all of their efforts, rather than disappointment, and that there must be something I could add beyond the sweat of hours of training.
I attended my first coaching seminar in [year] at the Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Michigan. The seminar was led by Steve Gaskill, Head National Team Coach for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. This seminar changed my life. This is what I wanted to do! There was a way to help athletes achieve their goals through well planned and monitored training, and I wanted to make that happen.
After coaching at Cornell University for 2 years, I attended a master’s program at St. Cloud State University in biomechanics and exercise physiology. Over those three years I gained much of the technical and scientific background that I needed to really understand the physiological basis of training.
I was fortunate enough to restart my coaching career under the guidance of Steve Gaskill, a world class coach, who was then beginning his PhD program in Exercise Physiology. I spent two years working with Steve coaching national-level cross country skiers and biathletes. We spent a great deal of time doing physical and physiological testing of athletes in the lab and in the field. I base much of the blood lactate testing that I do on the protocols and theories that Steve brought to endurance training.
I have spent the last 10 years coaching biathletes and cross country skiers at a local and national level. I have been lucky to coach some of the most talented skiers and biathletes in the nation, including 1998 Olympian Andy Erickson, 2002 Olympians Dan Campbell and Andrea Nahrgang, and World Championship Team athletes Jill Krause, Jacob Beste, and Grant Ernhart. Coaching athletes on the national and international level has enabled me to travel extensively and meet coaches from all over the world. This informal “coaches’ education,� combined with coaching seminars and a lot of reading, has kept me current with the newest trends and theories in endurance training.
Although I continue to coach high-level athletes in cross country skiing and biathlon, I look forward to working with athletes of all ages in abilities who may have more modest goals. A less-trained athlete often shows dramatic improvements in skills and physical conditioning which are greatly satisfying to both the athlete and the coach!
I continue to compete in cross country skiing, biathlon, distance running, and my newest love, mountain biking. I look forward to helping you achieve your athletic goals.
