What should you take with you when you go ice skating?
Preparations for an outing to the ice rink cannot do without packing the right equipment. Start by checking whether the rink you’re going to is an indoor or outdoor facility, and then choose your attire accordingly. It’s a good idea to dress in layers for ice skating – if you feel you’re too warm, you can always take off your outerwear and leave the lighter stuff on.
It’s also worth protecting the head and hands from cold and injury – gloves and a hat will certainly come in handy, and a helmet is also recommended for less experienced skaters and children. Those taking their first steps on the rink might also want to think about knee, elbow and wrist protectors – it’s not hard to fall on a slippery surface, especially if you don’t have much experience.
Also take care of hydration – ice skating is quite an effort, so it’s a good idea to have a bottle of water or a flask of warm tea with you. If you’re planning a long stay at the rink, you can also take healthy snacks with you, such as nuts or dried fruit.
How to prepare for ice skating?
Ice skating is an activity that requires good muscle coordination, a developed sense of balance, strong leg and torso muscles, and proper cardiorespiratory endurance. If you want to use the season to the fullest, it’s a good idea to start preparing for it earlier, while still on “stable ground”.
1. Exercise your leg muscles
Ice skating requires staying in a position with your knees bent for long periods of time. Weak thigh muscles will take the joy out of riding, and rapid fatigue will prevent long rides.
The best way to strengthen leg muscles will be multi-joint strength exercises, such as squats and lunges. You can perform them with your own body weight or with additional weight – then they will be even more effective. In addition to the thigh muscles, it is also worthwhile to take care of calf strength, including through exercises that involve climbing on the toes.
Strength is just one of the motor skills useful in skating. It’s also worth keeping mobility in mind, especially in the hips and ankle joints, as they work the hardest and are most prone to injury when skating. Don’t forget to do regular stretching and mobility exercises so that you maintain a proper range of motion in your joints.
2. Improve balance and strengthen the core
Ice skating requires extraordinary balance control, and you can achieve this with a strong and stable core, or deep muscles in the torso region.
Go for exercises in support -– they are the ones that strengthen the abdominal muscles to the greatest extent, stabilising the whole body. Do the classic plank and the different variations of it, adding leg or arm movement to make it harder to balance.
Read also: “The Plank in 6 Variations and the Results You Can Get With Them”.
And don’t forget to do stabilisation exercises in the standing position – after all, that’s how you will be skating. Perform standing exercises on one leg and on unstable surfaces – such as rehabilitation discs or a bosu ball.
3. Take care of coordination
Ice skating requires quite a bit of coordination, as many elements need to be combined at once. To train this skill, choose exercises in which you have to perform different activities at once, such as skipping, during which your arms and legs must stay in sync.
4. Practice endurance
To ensure that lack of breath doesn’t take away good winter fun, it’s worth taking care of your fitness – after all, skating is also an endurance workout. To improve your endurance, choose cardio workouts, such as brisk walking, running, biking or swimming. They will improve your respiratory capacity and make skating on the rink less of a challenge.
Safety first, or remember to warm up!
Ice skating is a big physical effort, even if you don’t do it at a very high intensity. Therefore, before entering the rink, it is worth spending a few minutes preparing the body, as we do before any workout. Lack of proper warm-up results in an increased risk of injury, so it’s worth doing it, even at the rink!
How can you do a quick warm-up in an ice rink locker room? Before you switch from shoes to skates, perform:
- 10 bent-legged bends,
- 10 straight-legged bends,
- 20 hip circles – 10 on each side,
- 20 circles of the ankle joint (ankle) – 10 to each side,
- 10 forward arm circles,
- 10 backward arm circles,
- 10 torso circles in straddle – 5 on each side,
- 10 squats,
- 10 toe climbs,
- 10 jumping jacks.
Such a set of exercises will not take long, and it will prepare your body in time for the ride.
If you have more time at home beforehand, check also: “Pre-workout Warm-up – A Sample Set of Exercises From a Trainer”
Enjoy the ride!