People often ask me, “How do you train for Greenland?” The truth is, you don’t train for Greenland by just skiing.
You train for Greenland by building a body and mind capable of handling repeated hard days, heavy loads, discomfort, poor weather, sleep deprivation and the ability to keep moving when things start unravelling.
Greenland isn’t a race. It’s an exercise in durability.
At E3Coach, whether I’m preparing someone for Greenland, Svalbard or Antarctica, the process always starts with one question:
What will break first?
That’s what we train.
1. Build The Aerobic Engine
Greenland is overwhelmingly aerobic.
Most days involve:
- 8–12 hours of movement
- Low to moderate intensity
- Huge energy demands
- Repeated days without full recovery
This means your aerobic base has to be big. Not flashy. Big.
At E3Coach this often looks like:
Session Example:
3–5 hour Zone 2 mountain hike
- Weighted vest or light pack
- Nose breathing where possible
- Fuel every 45 minutes
- Focus on staying aerobic
Simple. Boring. Massively effective.
Session Example:
Back-to-back fatigue days
Saturday:
4-hour steady mountain day
Sunday:
3-hour easy aerobic session with tired legs
This teaches the body:
- Glycogen management
- Fat oxidation
- Mental patience
- Recovery under load
James Garnett’s Greenland crossing averaged 10 hours a day for 27 straight days, with no rest days and temperatures as low as -36c. That sort of consistency only happens if the aerobic system underneath is strong enough.
This is why we obsess over aerobic work. It’s the thing that keeps you moving.
2. Build Useful Strength
Strength isn’t optional.
Greenland is:
- Pulk pulling
- Skiing
- Camp building
- Lifting tired
- Repeated awkward movement
We don’t train for aesthetics. We train for robustness.
E3Coach Strength Session:
A) Heavy Sled Drags
5 x 20m
B) Split Squats
4 x 8 each leg
C) Romanian Deadlifts
4 x 8
D) Pull-ups
4 x max quality
E) Farmers Carry
4 x 40m
This develops:
- Posterior chain
- Single-leg strength
- Grip
- Trunk stiffness
- Pulling power
All directly useful.
Cat Burford spoke about the confidence this gave her when she started Greenland, knowing the months of tyre drags, hill reps and strength sessions had prepared her for the first brutal six-hour load carry onto the ice.
That confidence matters.
3. Muscular Endurance: The Big Separator
This is often where athletes get exposed, their breathing is fine, their heart rate is manageable, but their legs fail. This is muscular endurance. At E3Coach this is one of the biggest performance markers for polar work.
Session Example:
Weighted hill reps
- 20kg pack
- 8 x 12-minute uphill efforts
- Steep terrain
- Walk down recovery
Goal:
Legs burn, breathing stays controlled.
Session Example:
Big Step-Up Session
- 90 minutes continuous
- 20–25kg pack
- Controlled pace
Mentally ugly, physically brilliant.
This builds exactly what Greenland demands, repetitive force production.
James’ final 36-hour push through crevasses, unstable ravines and thin ice wasn’t about “fitness.” It was about muscular durability under extreme fatigue.
That’s muscular endurance.
4. Pulk Specific Work
You can’t fully understand pulk pulling until you’ve done it, so we mimic it. tyre drags are one of my go-to tools.
Session Example:
Tyre drag progression
Week 1:
60 mins steady
Week 4:
3 hours
Week 8:
5–6 hours
Terrain:
Mixed trail, grass, hills, bad weather if possible.
This teaches:
- Harness pressure
- Hip fatigue
- Pulling mechanics
- Friction management
- Mental monotony
Cat mentioned how all those tyre drags became familiar when she stepped onto Greenland. That’s exactly the point. Familiarity removes uncertainty.
5. Psychological Training Built Into The Sessions
This is a huge E3Coach principle mental training shouldn’t always be separate it should be layered into the physical work.
Examples:
- Start a long tyre drag at 5am
- Train in bad weather deliberately
- Train fasted occasionally (with purpose)
- Navigation under fatigue
- Long solo days without music
- Camp setup after hard sessions
Why? Because Greenland isn’t physically complicated, It’s repetitive and repetition can become mentally brutal.
James spoke about how the endless white became psychologically draining in ways he hadn’t expected. Monotony is a genuine stressor. So we train for it.
6. Recovery Is Training
This part matters hugely.
Because if you can’t recover, you can’t build.
At E3Coach:
- Sleep is non-negotiable
- Nutrition is structured
- Protein is prioritised
- Easy days stay easy
- Mobility becomes routine
After big muscular endurance sessions:
Recovery Session Example:
- 40-minute easy spin
- 20-minute mobility
- Foam rolling
- Breath work
Simple, effective, repeated.
Cat spoke about how camp efficiency and recovery became everything after long ski days — the faster you recover, the better tomorrow becomes.
Exactly.
Final Thoughts
The goal isn’t simply to get fit, it’s to become difficult to break, that’s what Greenland rewards.
At E3Coach we build athletes who:
- Move efficiently
- Stay aerobic
- Carry load well
- Recover quickly
- Think clearly under stress
- Keep moving when conditions get ugly
Because Greenland will test, your body, your systems, your patience and your mindset.
Preparation removes fear and good preparation is rarely glamorous. It’s usually just consistent, boring, specific work done over a long time. That’s what builds Greenland-ready athletes.
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