Recreational Figure Skating FAQ - Off-Ice Training

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Newsgroups: rec.sport.skating.ice.recreational
Subject: Recreational Figure Skating FAQ - Off-Ice Training
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Summary: Recreational figure skating (Participant) FAQ on off-ice conditioning
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 05:10:03 GMT

Archive-name: sports/skating/ice/rec-skate/off-ice
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Last-modified: Apr 4 2004
Version: 1.016

8. Off-ice training and endurance

   Ice  skating  is  probably  one  of  the healthiest forms of exercise.
   Before  you  go  on the ice to skate, warm up your muscles and stretch
   them. This can go a long way to prevention of sore muscles and injury.

   While  off-ice  training  isn't necessary for recreational skating, it
   will help you to progress more quickly and besides, it's good for you!
   For excellent references on stretching and training muscles, check out
   the FAQ's in rec.dance and rec.fitness.

   Training  programs  for  competitive  skaters  are  very  rigorous. In
   preparation  for  competitions the skater must improve their anaerobic
   endurance,  since the skater's heart rate is way above what they could
   maintain  for  any  length of time. Skating flat out for 4 1/2 minutes
   requires an incredible level of stamina!

   For  the  rest  of  us, aerobics classes are a good bet. Find one with
   lots  of  floor  work and stretching. Stair climbing is excellent. Try
   taking  them  two  at  a time. Other good complementary activities are
   cycling, swimming, power walking and other forms of low-impact aerobic
   exercise,  especially  if  you  can  include  them  as  part  of  your
   post-skating stretch and cool down period.

   A ballet class can be very helpful. It will improve posture, break the
   habit of looking at your feet, and teach you how to "find your center"
   (shoulders, hips, and feet in a vertical line).

   As  always,  the  *best* exercise/training program is one that you can
   integrate  into your lifestyle and maintain over an extended period of
   time.

  8.1 Weight training

   Weight  training  is  also  good,  especially for improving jumps. But
   weight  training  is not recommended for kids because of the potential
   for long term damage to a growing skeleto-muscular system

   In  skill  sports,  such  as skating, there is controversy over weight
   training.  One  school  of  thought is that the weight activity should
   reflect  the  activity  of the skill to be performed, so there is some
   neuromuscular  training  effect  as  well  as the muscular hypertrophy
   (strength-gain) of the groups involved. The other is that the activity
   should  be  UNLIKE  the  related  skill.  This supposedly will prevent
   psychological   and   neuromuscular   confusion  over  whether  you're
   performing the desired skill, or the weight activity that's like it.

   The  first school would appear to be appropriate for relatively static
   skills like a sit-spin. This is because an activity that is similar to
   this activity is going to have the broadest effect upon all the muscle
   groups  involved  in  the activity, rather than just isolating certain
   muscles.  With  highly specific skills such as jumps, it may be better
   to  train all muscles in the legs with exercises that target the major
   muscle groups but are not similar to any jumps in particular.

   The  second  school  would be more likely to favor machines, which are
   designed  to  isolate  specific muscles without the need for any form.
   These  machines  allow  you  to  build strength without developing the
   neuromuscular  skills  (e.g.  proprioceptive  perception) necessary to
   control your actions.

   This  isn't  considered a good idea - a major part of weight training,
   particularly for a beginner, is to develop the neuromuscular system to
   fully  utilize  the  strength  that  you  already have, mainly through
   efficient muscle fiber recruitment and control over the action.

   Basic  exercises should cover large muscle groups. A few exercises can
   train  most  of  the  body. The bits that are missed can be trained by
   more   specific   exercises,   but   this  is  not  necessary  at  the
   beginner-to-intermediate level.

   Find  a  competent  fitness instructor to create a program. If you are
   looking  for  good  information  regarding  weight  training for young
   athletes,   hook  up  with  the  National  Strength  and  Conditioning
   Association (NSCA).

   Their address is:


    National Strength & Conditioning Association
    P.O. Box 81410
    Lincoln, NE 68501
    (402) 472-3000

   The   NSCA  has  several  publications  dealing  with  training  young
   athletes.  They have recently published several position papers on the
   subject.

   AVOID  power  exercises  like  plyometrics (explosive jumps) until you
   have  built  the  athletes'  strength  using basic strength exercises.
   NEVER  do  more  intense  plyometric  exercises  like bench jumps with
   pre-pubescent athletes.

  8.2 Improving turn-out

   Turnout, the ability to point your feet in opposite directions, has to
   come  from  the  hips  joints, *not* the knees. You can tell if you're
   doing  it  right  by turning your feet out as much as you can and then
   doing  a  knee-bend  (ballet "plie"). Your knees should bend along the
   same  direction your feet are pointed. If they're further in, you need
   to  stretch  more. Forcing turnout by twisting your knees is dangerous
   because they can be permanently injured!

   The  following  exercise  is  excellent for improving your Mohawks and
   spread  eagles  by  improving the range of hip rotation. After warming
   up, lay on your stomach (on the floor) with your knees spread out, and
   try  to  touch  the  soles  of your feet together, while pressing your
   pelvis towards the floor...

   (Tough to describe this)..... I'll try an ASCII picture....

                 Right Knee
           \ /\
  Head-> O-|-| >=  <- Feet
           / \/
                 Left Knee

   You  sort  of  look  like a frog -- not a very dignified position, for
   sure.  The  stretch is achieved my trying to push your pelvis and feet
   toward  the floor. Initially both feet and pelvis will likely be quite
   some distance from the floor.

   Here's another exercise for the severely hip-rotation challenged.

   1.  Sit  against  a  wall and bring your feet together and as close to
   your behind as you can comfortably.

   2. Place your hands on your knees. Swing your knees apart to the point
   where your hips start to protest.

   3.  Push  inward  with  your  knees but keep your knees from moving by
   pushing back with your hands.

   4. Relax your leg muscles. Push your hips a smidgen farther open. Hold
   for ten seconds, then bring your knees together a bit with your hands.

   5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 ten times.

   When  you  strain to bring your knees together (step 3) and then relax
   the muscles (step 4) the muscles relax completely, which allows you to
   stretch  the  hips without your muscles trying to stop you. You should
   do this exercise at least once a day.

   Again,  when you do these or similar exercises to improve turn out, be
   very careful not to force your knees!

  8.3 Knee strengthening exercises

   The  quadriceps (quads for short) are four muscle sheets running along
   the outer and inner thigh. Although one would think that skating is an
   excellent  exercise for the quads, with all that knee bending, this is
   only  true  for  the  outer quads. The inner quads are not used to the
   same  extent.  This  could  result in a strength unbalance between the
   muscles  which  can slowly pull the knee cap out of track and cause or
   aggravate  chronic knee pain. Here are a couple of exercises which are
   useful to prevent and treat this condition:

   ---  Slide  your  back down a wall until you reach a sitting position,
   without  letting  your  knees  pass beyond your ankles (the knee joint
   will  be  at about 90 degrees). Sit unsupported for as long as you can
   while squeezing a cushion or pillow between your thighs.

   ---  Sit  near the edge of a chair or low table with your feet resting
   on  the  floor. Raise one leg so that it is extended forwards (it does
   not  have  to be totally straight) and as turned out at the hip as you
   can  manage  (ie,  the inside of your leg will be facing the ceiling).
   Don't slouch. If necessary, use a wall to prop up your back. Stay like
   that for 30 seconds, then do the other leg, rest and repeat again.

  8.4 Plyometrics

   The idea is that you get stronger and better at jumping by _doing_ it.
   Repeatedly.  In  a  row.  In  particular,  plyometrics  is supposed to
   improve  the  explosive  spring  that  is  characteristic  of all good
   jumping.

   So,  e.g.,  you  stand  there,  feet shoulder width apart, take a deep
   bend,  and  jump  as high vertically as you can, keeping back straight
   and  bringing  knees up as high as you can. Do this 20 times in a row,
   rest  one  minute  and  do it again. The next time, bring your legs up
   front  together  (a  'pike'  position)  and  touch your feet with your
   hands.  20  times and repeat. Then as in a Russian split. 20 times and
   repeat.  To  a  certain extent, you do this in ballet or martial arts,
   but not to the same degree of repetition.

   You  can  see  that  you'd  be  building some big jumping muscles, and
   coordination. But your knees and back take an incredible pounding, and
   that's why many ex. physiologists and trainers don't like plyometrics.
   If you do enough reps to get the benefits, you may be very sorry. Much
   of that depends, obviously, on your body, the surface you jump on, and
   exactly how much you do.

  8.5 Pilates

   Pilates  is  becoming  increasingly  popular  as  off-ice training for
   skaters.  Although  many  variations of the original method exist, the
   common aim of all the exercises is to work the deep core muscles, with
   an  emphasis  in correct body alignment and stretching . They increase
   both  strength  and  flexibility,  without  adding  bulk.  While  many
   exercises require a special machine with pulleys and springs (somewhat
   resembling  a  torture instrument!) , some can be done on the floor or
   on  a  mat.  The  disadvantage  of  Pilates compared to other types of
   cross-training  is the relatively higher cost, particularly when using
   private  instruction.  Callanetics  and  even  ballet can also achieve
   similar results.

  8.6 Off ice warm-up

   Warming  up  properly  before  any  sport activity is crucial to avoid
   injury,  improve  performance  and  reduce  soreness after exercising.
   Unfortunately  it  is  all  too  common  to  see skaters whose idea of
   warming-up  is  to  do a single lap around the rink and then put their
   leg  up  on  on  the ice rink barrier! There is also the misconception
   that  a  good  warm-up  for  skating  involves  only stretching. While
   stretching  is beneficial and should be included in a full warm-up the
   really  critical  part  of warming up,most important to prevent injury
   and  prepare  you  for  skating  is  to  perform  some gentle physical
   activity  for  long  enough  to  increase the temperature of your body
   ("warm-up") and increase the blood flow to your muscles.

   Although in principle it is possible to warm up on the ice, by doing a
   few  laps  or certain Moves In The Field, you will be wasting valuable
   (and often expensive) ice time on something which can be done for free
   at  the rink-side. Even if you think that working on stroking is never
   a  waste of time, it is much easier to concentrate in proper technique
   and  posture  when  you  are  not  all  cold  and  stiff.  Also, it is
   impossible  to  stretch  you  leg muscles properly with your boots on.
   Finally,  if you test or compete it is especially important to have an
   off-ice  warm-up  routine  in order to be able to use the short on-ice
   warm  up more effectively. Not to mention that the warm up helps relax
   and keep those pre-performance nerves under control!
   Here are some suggestions for a warm up:
     * Start  by  "lubricating"  your  joints:  gently  rotate your head,
       shoulders,  elbows,  wrists, waist, bend your knees, raise on your
       toe-tips and rotate your ankles. Do not force any movements!
     * Do  a few of minutes of jogging, jumping rope or similar. This has
       to  be  intensive  and  long enough to break into a sweat, but you
       should not run out of breath or tire out your muscles. Take breaks
       to stretch your calf muscles if they feel stiff. You can also do a
       few  single  or (if you can) multi-revolution jumps or run through
       your program off-ice.
     * Stretch  all  the major muscles in your body. There is some useful
       on-line  material  about  stretching.  Just  be  aware  that  some
       stretching   exercises  can  be  harmful  if  they  are  not  done
       correctly.  Your  instructor  can  probably give you some tips and
       recommend some exercises
     * Put on your skates and conquer the ice!

   The  full  off-ice warm up should last between 5-15 minutes. As a rule
   of thumb, the higher your skater level and the older you are, the more
   you  benefit from a longer warm-up. However, even a few minutes make a
   big  difference:  you  get a feeling for the ice much faster and skate
   with more power and better balance right from the start, being able to
   make more efficient use of the session.

    8.6.1 The cooling-down

   The  cool  down  consists  in a gradual decrease of the intensity of a
   physical exercise at the end of a work-out.The gradual ramping down of
   activity  his prevents a sudden stop of the blood flow to the muscles,
   which  can  cause  cramps or a drop in blood pressure and a feeling of
   overall  tiredness.  Also, it uses up the excess adrenaline, which can
   contribute  to  heart  problems when left unused. Cooling down after a
   tiring  skating  session also helps to get rid of lactic acid that may
   have accumulated in your muscles during intense effort.

   A  cool  down  can  consist  in doing a few laps of gentle MITF before
   leaving  the ice or simply working or something which does not require
   full   power   during   the  last  minutes  of  the  skating  session.
   Alternatively,  you  can  walk  around  or  jog gently for a couple of
   minutes  off  the  ice.  Finish  the  cool down with stretching. It is
   claimed  that  stretching  the  muscles  used  during exercise reduces
   stiffness  and  soreness -in any case,it feels great! . Make sure that
   the muscles you stretch are totally relaxed.
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