Comments on: What cross training do serious figure skaters do?

By: Christy Davies

Christy Davies — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Ballet and general cardio

By: katkittycat_figureskate4life

katkittycat_figureskate4life — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Strength training is really helpful especially for your core.

By: love2figureskate

love2figureskate — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:55:00 +0000

I take ballet and the off-ice class at my rink and some skaters do gymnastics. That’s the reason why Sasha Cohen is so flexible. She started gymnastics when she was a littl girl and then switched to figure skating when she was seven.

By: figureicequeen

figureicequeen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Try stretching, ballet and serious cardio? They’re great for you. Also, jump roping, and i’m surprised no one said this already, is a GREAT work out. It works on your legs, arms, cardio, everything! Your legs are very important to stretch, so that you have more power and control. Your arms need strenght to be able to hold themselves in the right positions. Hope this helped!

By: K K

K K — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Weights and plyometrics. Also, running on the treadmill to build up endurance.

By: lilme

lilme — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:55:00 +0000

In the summer, I take this very extreme skating camp. It goes from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. I always skate so much better after taking that camp. It’s amazing!

Here’s my schedule:

8:00 – 10:45 Skating
10:45 – 12:00 Ballet/Hip Hop
12:00 – 1:00 Rhythm Class
1:00 – 3:00 Intense Weight Training
3:00 – 4:00 "Stroking Class" (It’s really an extremely hard class where you do suicides across the ice in less than half a minute and stuff like that.)

If you roughly follow this schedule for a month (in the summer), I promise you that you will have much better technique and overall body shape. Good luck!!!

By: alexlovesbimbo

alexlovesbimbo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Ballat and gymnastics helps a lot with flexibility and posture.

By: RoaringMice

RoaringMice — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:54:59 +0000

They do cardio, strength, and stretching. So some of them run for the cardio, or bike, or use the elliptical trainer. For strength, a lot lift weights and do other strength training exercises. For stretching, there is ballet, and general stretching. A lot of skaters combine stretching and strength via Pilates and dance. A few do yoga for focus, control, and strength/flexibility/balance. Some even do martial arts.

So there are a lot of options open to you. Pick a cardio exercise you might like, and pick a strength training exercise. You can discuss with your coach which exercises she thinks might most benefit your skating, and try those.