Skate for Fun and Fitness

Now that the elite competitive skating season is over, it’s time to focus on our own skating for physical fitness.

With summer quickly approaching, skating enthusiasts are at an advantage when it comes to wearing body-revealing clothing during warmer temperatures: Our sport makes our legs and butts tighter look hotter than the weather.

If you aren’t sure which ice skating discipline you’d like to try, these articles might be helpful: Begin Short Track Speed Skating, ISU Pairs Figure Skating Explained, ISU Ladies Figure Skating, ISU Men’s Senior Figure Skating, ISU vs. ISI Figure Skating Associations, Guides for Parents of Skaters.

Nutrition and training articles, like Cross-Training with Inline Skating, More USFSA Training Resources, USADA’s Gold Medal Game, and Figure Skating Training Program, offer tips for dropping winter weight by training like an athlete. Check back for upcoming articles explaining how to execute certain skating moves and on stretching and working out like a speed skater.

Need inspiration? Elite figure skater and speed skater bios might do the trick. Favorites in this department include: Apolo Anton Ohno, Sasha Cohen, Joannie Rochette, Evgeni Plushenko, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, Johnny Weir, Yelena Bereshnaya, and Special Olympics Skating. We even have Videos of Skaters Crashing (thanks to YouTube), and additional Olympic Skating Video Clips Online.

While the muscle strengthening and cardio endurance are great goals to have for recreational skating, the best thing about skating is having fun. Endorphins are produced after bouts of moderately fast skating just like they are after running. It’s this natural high, combined with the fun-factor, that makes skating a great choice for healthy activity throughout the year – for all ages.