Hi! Do you have any tips for buying skating boots on the internet? There are no fitters around here...
Buying skates on the internet is going to be really hit or miss but:Make sure you follow the size charts. Measure your feet and everything. Skate sizes are usually one or two sizes below street shoe sizes.Do you have wide feet? Avoid Riedells. Do you have narrow feet? Avoid Jacksons. Jackson and Riedell are the brands that most beginners go for, in the US at least. Edeas are synthetic, and harder to break in, which isn’t helpful for beginners. Check the return policy of the site you’re buying from. Hopefully, they’ll let you return the skates if you haven’t skated in them and know they don’t fit. The best case scenario is that you get a pair of skates that fit you will from the beginning; but otherwise, you might have to buy a few pairs, which is logistically annoying. You might find information on forums. You should also ask around your rink, about what kind of skates other people first used. Good luck.
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We get a lot of asks about off-ice exercises, so I felt it like a master list of exercises would be helpful. I had tried to write this about a month ago, but school happened, so here it is now. Hope this is helpful.
If anyone has requests for certain types of exercises that aren’t currently on the list, shoot us an ask.
There are three primary types of off-ice exercises: warm-up, stretches, and jumping exercises.
Warm-up varies from skater to skater, but here’s a possible routine to go with:
1) Light jog of one or two laps around the rink.
2) Neck rolls (up, down, left, right, circles clockwise and counterclockwise), forward and backward shoulder circles, forward and backward arm circles (small at first, then make them steadily larger so you’re swinging your arms in a windmill), torso twists, outside and inside ankle circles (move your ankles in a circular motion, CW and CCW)
3) Jumping jacks
4) Squat jumps. This will help warm up your muscles for jumping.
5) Lunges
6) Side to side running
Stretches can be included in a warm-up, but these can also be done separately or on non-skating days. As this is a masterlist of off-ice exercises, there will be a lot of stretches listed. That does not mean you have to do all of them at once. You can choose to do a few from each category, or do all of the stretches in one category to target a certain body part. I’ll also be explaining the purpose of each of these stretches.
Shoulder stretches:
1) Cross body arm stretch: hold one arm straight and pull it across your chest with your other arm. Hold for 5-10 seconds.
2) Standing wall stretch: pushing your hands against a wall or an object that is hip level or higher, bend over to a 90 degree angle with your legs. Hold for 10-20 seconds.
3) Straight arm back shoulder stretch: lace your fingers together behind your back and raise your arms, keeping them straight. You can also bend over forwards at the same time, to get both a shoulder and hamstring stretch.
Most people will think of Biellmann spins when shoulder stretches are brought up, but having flexible shoulders is useful for everyday skating as well. Straight arms and relaxed shoulders helps improve a skater’s lines.
Back stretches:
1) Cobra stretch: lie flat on your stomach on the floor. Put your arms by your shoulders and push upwards, keeping your hips and legs on the floor. Keep your shoulders pushed down (don’t let your shoulders do this). If it is difficult to extend your arms, move them further apart from each other, or forwards from your body. This appears to be a simple stretch, but done right, you should feel a stretch in your back and abs regardless of flexibility.
2) Standing backwards bend: with your legs straight, bend backwards as far as possible by curving your upper and lower back. Use a wall or table for support to make sure you don’t fall backwards if you want, and don’t break at the knees.
3) Bridge: lie flat on your back with your legs bent, feet planted on the floor. Bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor above your head. Lift yourself off the floor by raising your hips to the air and straightening your arms and legs. Try to make as symmetric of an arch shape with your body as possible. It doesn’t have to be high. This is also called the wheel pose in yoga.
4) Scorpion/Biellmann: BEFORE I BEGIN, THIS IS NOT A INTRODUCTORY LEVEL STRETCH. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WHEN YOU ARE FIRST BEGINNING OR YOU RISK THE POSSIBILITY OF INJURY. I’m including this stretch only because many skaters do this as an off ice exercise. It’s also rather hard to explain, so here is a video. I essentially lift my leg into a side attitude and twist my arm to the outside to grab my foot and pull my leg up behind my head, bringing my other arm around to grab it as well.
Back stretches are mostly for spirals, and certain spins, such as the layback, Biellmann, donut, and catchfoot. Back flexibility isn’t a requirement for ice skating.
Hip Stretches:
1) Butterfly stretch: sit on the floor and place your feet together, soles touching. Push your knees as close to the ground as possible.
2) Frog stretch: lie flat on your stomach and bend your legs to the side of your hips, so that your thighs are as close to perpendicular to your hips as possible. Try to get your feet to touch the ground while keeping your hips and thighs flat on the floor.
3) Middle splits leaning over: essentially the same as a normal middle split, but instead of keeping your torso up, lay your torso flat on the group for a deeper stretch in the hips.
4) 4 stretch: laying on your back, bend one leg towards the body. Bend the other leg (stretching leg) and rest it on the first bent leg’s knee and try to open the hip of the stretching leg by pressing the knee downwards.
5) Hip flexor lunge: bend one leg in a lunge position and let the other one rest on the floor. Push your hips forwards towards the standing leg.
Leg Flexibility Stretches:
1) Lunge: bend your front leg and straighten your back leg while holding as deep of a lunge as possible. Push your hips forward to maximize stretch in your back hip flexor.
2) Jazz split: get to as close to a full split as possible, but with your front leg straight and your back leg bent. This should help you get accustomed to the feeling of a split but without the full stretch.
3) Split: slide your legs in parallel away from each other until your pelvis either rests on the floor or you can’t go any further. Support your weight partially with your arms if you must. Keep your hips squared, making sure your front knee points upwards towards the ceiling and your back knee points straight into the floor.
Calf Stretches:
1) Standing calf stretch: stand with your feet parallel to each other and approximately one foot apart. Bend your front leg while keeping the heel of your back leg flat on the ground and your back leg straight. Lean forwards or move your legs further apart for a deeper stretch.
2) Stair stretch: stand on the bottom step of a stair with only your toes on the step. Let your heels dip towards the ground.
3) One leg toe touch: sit on the ground with one leg extended and the other bent inwards so that the foot is against the extended leg. Reach forwards to grab the toe, and pull your foot towards you.
4) Toe touch: sit on the ground and extend both legs outwards. Reach forwards and grab both feet, and pull them towards you. Alternatively, lean forwards towards your legs while keeping your back as straight as possible. You can also do this stretch while standing.
Jumping exercises help you get a feel for the jumps off ice and can help with getting rotations.
1) Repeatedly jump in place, starting with small hops, then steadily making the jumps larger and larger, until you’re pushing off the ground into a air from a deep knee bend, trying to get as much height as possible.
2) Practice rotations. Jump in place a few times, then jump half a rotation, then another half, then a full rotation, then a double. It doesn’t have to be half-half-single-double, however. Some people start with quarter rotations, doing 4 quarter rotations before starting on half rotations; some people start with full rotations. It’s also hard to do a double rotation at first, so it might be better to start with quarter-quarter-quarter-quarter-half-half-single-single and then attempt as much as possible.
3) Walking through jumps. Make sure you hit the right movements in the jump and hold those movements.
4) Off ice axel. Standing on your skating foot, set your body up in the glide position before the axel, then jump. Make sure you pull your arms behind your hips in the set up, and get a tight position in the air. Imagine that you’re jumping through a very narrow corridor, and travel in a straight line.
So I do have a good pair of skates but I'm going to live the summer in a place with a decent rink but no classes at all. I just want to learn some basic skills and leaning towards learning some online tutorials. Do you have any recommendation for this?
Kseniya and Oleg have good online tutorials. They cover basic steps and some ice dance patterns, but no jumps.
How do I stop blisters from forming whilst I skate? I've broken into them, treated them with heat, worn thin socks, worn bandaids ... And yet I always end up with one in my left foot's arch after two hours or so on the ice :/
Get the sides punched out if you can. If you can’t, I would recommend using moleskin padding. It’ll still come off eventually but it helps a bit at first. You can try putting some lotion or ointment on your foot to reduce friction but more often I just use Tiger balm to numb the area if nothing works (this is Not Recommended).
I'm just learning some spins and having a lot of trouble with dizziness, even after only one small one. Is that something that skaters just eventually adjust to over time? Or are there ways to minimise it on ice or things to do off ice to help? Thank you!
As you come out of your spin, make sure to check your arms so your rotation stops. If you keep your eyes on one spot while gliding out of the spin, it’ll get you regain a sense of your surroundings. There’s not much you can do off ice unless you get a turnboard (more commonly used by dancers, but there are some made specifically for skaters), but on-ice, just keep practicing and you gradually get used to the dizziness.
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how do I hold a camel spin for more than 3 rotations? I feel like going from a backwards crossover entrance doesn't help and all my spins just seem extremely slow :(
Enter your spin from a deep knee bend and make sure to push into it. Keep your hips aligned over your boot so you’re on a flat edge. Don’t let your shoulders rotate to face out of the circle. Try looking in the direction you’re spinning (to the left if you spin CCW, to the right if you spin CW). Try to have a faster entrance into the spin as well from your crossovers.
I'm wondering if you have any ideas for tracking skating hours by any chance? I'm thinking for when I get proper skates I want to have some organised way of keeping track of how long I'm skating each week to have an idea when I should sharpen my skates and whatnot. How would you suggest doing so? And is there anything else you think it might be worth taking note of? I want to get a little more serious with my skating but I'm not sure what things are important to focus on.
To be honest, I don’t have a regular sharpening schedule. I sharpen my blades whenever they feel dull, which starts happening approximately two months after I get them sharpened. However, if you want to track hours, I would suggest keeping a small notebook in your skate bag, and record the date, length of time you skated, and the last time you got your skates sharpened.
For things you should focus on, sharpening is less high up in the list of concerns, in my opinion. You can usually feel when your blades are becoming dull because you’ll start slipping or skidding on the ice, and it’s easier to determine when you need them sharpened this way than by recording hours. The most important thing isn’t how long you spend on the ice, but how you spend them.
