The Importance of Warming Up

Picture this: A coach is standing on the ice, milling around the center, looking for her next lesson. It is two minutes until the lesson is to start and there is still no sign of her. Oh, wait! She sees her running through the front door, the Zuca bag barely keeping up! A quick stop off at the counter to check in, and then a quick sit-down to take the guards off of her skates (which are already on her feet)! She glides up to the instructor ready to skate!

Sound familiar? I’m sure we have all either seen this or done this! It’s not easy in today’s world of rushing around and packed schedules and I can definitely sympathize, especially after hearing some the schedules parents are expected to maintain while holding a full-time position and advancing in their own career. At the same time, warming up is essential to not only progress, but reducing the possibility of injury.

Skaters already enter into an environment that is a challenge to maintaining body heat and keeping the body limber and flexible. I personally have had times on the ice when it has been especially cold and felt chilled to the bones even 20 minutes into my session. A lap or two just won’t do the trick. To help put things into perspective, simply stroking down the ice utilizes the gluteals, pelvic area, hamstrings, guadriceps, calves, ankles, abdominals, back, hip gluteals, maintaining balance, and using fine motor skills to create lengthy extensions and sustaining grace.

In order to skate effectively, execute skills with power speed and agility, it is essential for a skater to warm up. Warming up and stretching also allows the skater time to mentally prepare for what is to come during practice. I have so many students who come rushing up to me looking as though they are completely out of breath, hair in disarray, only to be told to start skating laps followed by some Moves in the Field to help get their feet under them (and to catch their breath from rushing).

Please note, skaters also get injured by not properly warming up! There are many general exercises that one can do to get warmed up quickly such as jump rope, running in place, and bench step-ups, but please see your coach for instruction and guidance as to what they would like you to do for warm-up to best prepare you for your lessons.

It is most helpful to warm-up off-ice prior to skate time although I realize that may not always be feasible. I have always tried to reserve a few minutes for warming up whether it be on or off-ice, especially now since I don’t move as easily as I used to! I have had many private lessons that started at the beginning of the freestyle hour which translates into no ice warm up prior to meeting the coach (unless I wanted to pay for the previous hour!). I didn’t want to go into my lesson using the time to get warmed up and only have a few minutes to work on jumps, spins and choreography.

I know many schedules are tight (including students), but warming up, stretching and cool down should be included within the time allotted for this activity. A lot of time and energy goes into skating, a few more minutes will only be beneficial!

Resources:

Poe, Carl M. (2002) “Conditioning for Figure Skating: Off-ice Techniques for On Ice Performance”. Chicago, Contemporary Books.

Krug, Garrett K. “The Importance of Warming-Up.” Retrieved October 28, 2011, from http://www.csadvantage.org/C_S_A/Articles-ImportanceWarmUp_files/ImportanceWarmUp.pdf