I'd Rather Be Skating workout

This week, I had a lot of energy when I got home from work but not enough time to go skating.  So I decided to try something a little different.  Instead of a video workout, I decided to practice my jumps and created my own 10 minute, off-ice workout.

I'd Rather Be Skating Workout

 

Warm-up 
Your choice.  (I decided to kill two birds with one stone and warm up by walking the dog.)

Jumps

Since you can't work on those pesky MIF, you can get right to the fun stuff without any guilt.

• 10 frog jumps with a balance ball.    This gets you warmed up with a simple, two-legged jump.  My goal is to hit the ball on the ceiling.  (This one is from Fitness Magazine.) 
• 5 - 10 waltz jumps
• 5 - 10 Salchows
• 5-10 toe loops
• 5-10 flips
• 5-10 loops

 Wall squats with the balance ball
I find that using the balance ball for wall squats makes it much easier to get up out of the squat since it rolls on the wall, whereas my shirt sticks to the sheet rock.

• Hold 10 seconds on both legs.
• Lift your left leg into a sit spin position.  Hold 10 seconds.
• Switch legs and hold for another 10 seconds.

Standing Side Splits with a ball - Left

Another exercise I found at Fitness Magazine. 

The reason I included this is because it's similar to spirals.  (And because this is a yoga pose I've always wanted to try but never could figure out how to make it work with my limited flexibility until now.)  

The stability ball makes it more challenging than it looks. 

 Spiral - left leg

• Use a chair or the wall if you need support, or if you are strong enough, do it without support.
• Think about Michelle Kwan and try to get that foot above your head (in my case, above the hip) and the hold the position for at least 30 seconds. 

Do another set of wall squats

Standing splits - right leg

Spiral - right leg

That's it - 10 minutes and you are done.  If you still want to skate, put on your socks and practice your spins on the kitchen floor.  Be sure to clear the counters if you are going to work on your camels. 

Playground workouts

When my nephew, Xander, is here, I like to spend time with him. He's 8 and of course, he's a boy.  I don't have a clue how to play with boys.  He like to play Mario-anything.  I hate video games with a purple passion.  You see the problem?

But this time, he decided he wanted to go to the park.  There is so much to do at the park to help you with figure skating and staying in shape.  He's a great personal trainer.  And it's a lot more fun than just following along with an exercise video. 

There's a lot of things you can do at a park.  My favorites are the slides: you have to go up to come down.  And coming down is so much fun!  The Renegade Health Show has a fun playground workout.

From a skating perspective, look for . . .

• Activities that involve balance - balance beams, curbs, log rolls, etc
• Climbing - any climbing will help increase strength in your legs
• Exercises that involve twisting to help with those jumps and spins
• Use the jungle gyms and ladders for stretching

But, mostly just look for things that are fun to do.  That way it won't seem like a workout.

How do you practice off the ice?

The other day, I was using my aerobic step to practice my jumps on the living room floor.  It's not terribly challenging because we only have one set of risers.

After a few minutes, I noticed that Prospero, our greyhound, was lying down near the kitchen, waiting not-so-patiently for any scraps that might come his way.

I looked at him, then I looked at the step. I looked again to double check.  Even lying down, Prospero was taller than the step.

"Prospero, stay."  Then I very tentatively waltz-jumped over him and cleared him easily.  If he noticed that he had become a training aid, he didn't show it.  He never took his eyes off the kitchen.  So, I did about 5 more jumps over him.

Yesterday, at my practice, I imagined him lying on the ice and worked hard to make sure I didn't hurt the imaginary dog.  I'm pretty sure that improved the height on my jumps. 

So, what do you do to practice at home?  Do you practice spins in your socks on the kitchen floor?  Have you found a way to practice Salchow's without twisting your ankle?  Let's hear what you do.

Adult skating workouts off the rink

Anyone who has ever put on a pair of ice skates knows how physically demanding a sport it is.  In terms of calories burned, it's about the same as running.  Figure skaters have to be as flexible as ballerinas.  And of course, it requires a LOT of strength to pull your free leg up above your hip.  It goes without saying that skating takes a lot of practice.

My friend, Annie, was my personal trainer in Phoenix.  We would meet at the gym two or three times a week and she'd plan our workouts.  When I started to get chatty, she'd see right through it and make me start doing her signature "killer crunches".  In killer crunches, you lift a balance ball with your legs while bringing a medicine ball up over your head so the balls "kiss".  (Oww.)

In Houston, I've been on my own, so I've tried a lot of DVDs and read a lot of books.  My current favorite workout is Tony Horton's "Power 90" workout.  Skip the promises that if you do this for 90 days, you'll have a beach perfect body.   What I really like is that so many of the exercises translate directly into what I'm doing in my skating lessons.

• Touch your knee to opposite elbow:  this is essentially the same position you use for a back spin or loop jump
• Right-cross:  this boxing movement is pretty much the same torso and arm movement as spins.  Do this in your socks to get the whole spin movement down.
• Throw in 1/2 jumps (or full jumps if you can) to the cardio and kicking sections to practice your jumping skills.  

What do you do off-ice to improve your skating?

What's your workout?

One thing that has really bugged me since I took up skating again is how little guidance is available for adult skaters.  Obviously, you can't teach someone how to do a layback spin in a blog, so I'm not trying to take the place of your coach.

I can find tons of information and step-by-step instructions for all sorts of activities, like yoga or exercise for general weight loss.  Not so with figure skating.  I know of one ice dance instructional video, Learn to Ice Dance.  I've seen one video, Sk8Strong, that provides an off-ice workout.

So my first question:  have you used any of these resources, or anything similar?  If you have, please share!

My next question, what do you do for your workouts, both on- and off-ice.  I'll post some of my current workouts in separate posts.