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The Building Blocks Of Skating! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOME
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Training Ideas:
As you all know by now, figure skating is a very complex sport which has many factors that all need to come together at once to produce the ultimate moment when a champion is created. It takes years and years of disciplined training to even get close to being a champion skater. And even after all that time, the decision is still not within your control. The judges decide who will be the champion and who will not and the decision is often not what you might like it to be. It is often a very confusing task to try to untangle the web and clearly see all the steps necessary to get to your personal goal. With this page, we hope that we can eliminate some of the guess work you do about things like cross-training, strength training, music choice and style, by giving you some reference materials to read or follow, thereby giving you more time and mental energy to spend on your skating.
Many of you are also working on strength training outside of your skating. This is a very important area to address. The jumps and spins and elements that you will be asking your body to perform, especially at the higher levels, place an enormous amount of stress on your body at times. When you are first learning these elements and you are out of alignment on a jump or spin entry, you are especially at risk for injury. It is very important to have a strong body to help you avoid injury and lose time on the ice for your training. What areas should I be strengthening in the first place? One of the most important areas that is often overlooked is the abdominal region. And one of the best ways known to strengthen this area, particularly as it applies to skating is through Pilates. If your shoulders are drifting back on your jump landings, work on your abs! If you keep pre-rotating your shoulders on your take-off, work on your abs! If your shoulders are not checking properly coming out of a jump or spin, work on your abs. Basically, in skating, the abdominal muscles are responsible for keeping the shoulders and hips lined up in a rectangle. If your abs are really squeezed tight, you can't pre-rotate your shoulders. You must stay square. If your abs are really tight, your shoulders can't lean back behind the hips on your landings. You must stay square. Pilates helps you find and strengthen your core or center. From this place in the solar plexus (just below the rib cage) comes the core strength for all of your movements. Imagine how much easier all movement would become if your core were as solid as a rock! It is essential to also strengthen the muscles of the back, particularly the erectors and the rhomboids. It is a must to have a strong back in all disciplines of skating. A strong, stable upper body allows the legs to do their job and makes it much easier to maintain balance and technique. A strong back also works hand in hand with the abdomen in maintaining correct posture. CARDIO! One area that is often overlooked when athletes are strength training is the cardio-vascular system. It is just as important to strengthen the lungs and heart by repeated, short duration, high-intensity workouts. Without this body system being exercised also, you are not going to get enough oxygen to the blood which is essential for day to day life let alone any extra exertion you ask of your body. With the demands you are putting on your body, the heart needs to work faster to circulate the blood through the body quicker to replenish spent fuel stores that you are using up. Think of the blood as the delivery service. The quicker you get the delivery (of oxygen, nutrients and so forth) the quicker the body may carry out the demands you are placing on it. No one likes to start feeling the burn of lactic acid building up in your muscles, or of dizziness and faintness when you are only half way through your program. All of these issues can be avoided with proper, regular exercising of the cardio-vascular system. Strengthening of the cardio-vascular system can be accomplished with a cross-training activity, if you like, for a little variety. Running, stair-climbing machines, bicycling and swimming are all great activities for getting the heart rate up. You need to get your heart rate up to 140 - 160 beats/minute for 15 - 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. Remember to cool down properly after such exertion. THE MIND! The last area that I want to comment on right now is mental strengthening or mental toughness. Not every athlete is blessed with a built in killer instinct necessary for high level competition. There are ways, however, to learn to think, respond, and practice like a champion. The way you approach your skating and your perspective on your goals and training are most critical. Striving to eliminate negative, self-defeating chatter in your head is a huge step to take and can be a pivotal point in taking charge of your skating and making the most of every moment on the ice. Besides, skating is a lot more fun when you aren't beating yourself up inside over every little detail! And you will find that you progress quicker. We have had many of our students work with Karlene Sugarman, M.A., Mental Training Consultant and achieve great, lasting results. The techniques can be applied to all aspects of a person's life. Click here for a link to Karlene's website to find out more information. http://www.psywww.com/sports/index.htm. You can also e-mail Karlene at karsug@newsguy.com. It is important to know when enough is enough. Strength is great for skating. Mass (or bulk) is not great for skating. Muscles should be worked to exhaustion, but not to the point of intense pain. Basically, exercise is an activity which breaks down and injures muscle cells and fibers. This is good as the body then repairs and strengthens itself when you get adequate rest and nutrition after the workout. The body is saying, "Okay, I'm not going to let that happen again so I'll make myself stronger than before." You can then increase your workout to stress the muscles again and so repeat the process. This is how people gain strength and mass. But there is a point where mass begins to get in the way of rotation and impedes attaining height in jumps and, unless someone is very dedicated to stretching, mass can begin to restrict motion in the body. We will be able to tell you when we think you should switch from a mass and strength building program to a toning type of work out. While we can guide you with exercises and areas to work on, we also suggest you work with a personal trainer in the gym for maximum results. |
DNA Training
