stronger upper body?

[bladebabe69]

Hey everyone ok well my coach is always ragging on me that i need a strong upper body and it will make it easier to jump and that i have terrible upper body problems and see skating never came easy for me ive always had to work for everything i have because of my size. I was born 11 weeks early and everything and i have absolutly no upper body control i work out 3 days a week and do pilates but nothing i seem to do works and me not standing up is making me have very bad arms and it makes me look like im a sloppy skater and im not its just i have a hard time bending at my knees i bend at my waist more and it is because i have no upper body strength does anyone have any suggestions about how to fix this problem?

[starskate6.0]

I have been working on my upper body strength for the past 6 months and have seen a good improvement in my jumps . Here's what I do . We all know that sit ups are a drag.... :evil: But there are many great way's to enjoy working out and have a lot of fun. I go to the YMCA about 2 or 3 times a week for an hour. there I will spend 20 minutes on the tread mill, and go through a routine on an AB Ball. The AB Ball can be used at home too. I use small free weights in my routines as well. its harder to balance with the extra weight but it makes you use good form , without which you could fall off it. I start with about 50 sit ups on the ball wait 30 seconds then do another 30,wait 30 sec, then do another 20.
You don't have to do this many, when you feel the burn do 5 more and stop each time. 3 times a week in front of the TV or at the gym and in 2 months you will notice the difference. :D I also do this same rep workout for arms, shoulders, and chest each time Im in the gym and alway's with light weights. 8-) reps are what counts not weight. ;) I stand straiter now on the ice and I am thinking more about my position on the ice with those jumps, which have improved a lot ;)

I hope this helps, try the AB Ball, I hated exercise before this. :mrgreen:

One other thing I think about before i jump, stand tall from the hips up, think about it, head alway's up, don't look at the ice its not going anywhere :lol: and stretch your arms out as if to reach for something just before you launch into a jump. works for me. :D

[TashaKat]

There's no reason (unless you have a physical problem) that you can't achieve a strong(er) upper body. It's not just about pumping weights and getting big muscles, look at dancers and how strong they are while still being tiny.

Pilates SHOULD help you with core stability, how are you learning it? Pilates is one discipline where I would advise getting 'proper' lessons, preferably one to one, learning from a book or video is nigh on impossible because the movements are so subtle. You really need to have someone there so that you can feel the correct way of doing the exercise.

Other things that can help are dance (ballet, jazz, contemporary) and yoga. Dance especially gives you strength and good lines.

[Mrs Redboots]

Also, I hate to say it, but are you eating properly? Too many skaters don't eat enough, and what they *do* eat isn't very healthy. You won't grow a strong upper body on chocolate & McDonald's..... what you want is lots of vegetables, salad & fruit, quite a lot of protein (fish, lean meat), complex carbohydrates (pasta, potatoes, rice), spme healthy fat from oily fish, nuts, seeds, olives & avocadoes, and as little saturated fat, sugar & alcohol as you can manage (allowing, of course, for the occasional treat!).

Since it is your coach who is on at you, why don't you ask them what to do? It's no good your coach saying "You must...." if they don't tell you *how*.... Some rinks even run off-ice classes for their skaters, maybe yours does, or maybe your coach can recommend a class for you? Ask.

[flippet]

see skating never came easy for me ive always had to work for everything i have because of my size. I was born 11 weeks early and everything

I'd stop using that as an excuse. You were obviously strong enough to make it into this world--you're strong enough to work hard with what you've got to get to where you want to be. There are a number of skaters that had a variety of health problems, from deformities to serious conditions, yet they never let that stop them...and in fact often treated the conditions like they weren't even there. For their purposes, they might as well not have been. I'm constantly meeting parents of preemies in my online groups--these are kids who have severe issues both physical and mental due to being premature. Yet I'm always amazed at the strength and determination these kids have--they don't let anything stop them.

There's some good advice in this post. Eat healthy, and work your upper body with weights appropriate for your age and size. Do this with supervision, so that you're doing it correctly, and don't injure yourself. Finding a weight-lifting *class*, whether at your rink, or a local gym, is probably the best idea.

[coskater64]

As a very tall skater I have had incredible trouble breaking at the waist for several years. About 2 1/2 years ago I started pilates and that helped I go 2x a week for an hour each time and have a set of exercises I do at home. BUT, what really helped me was ice dancing. My cute little twenty-something coach just reemed me about my posture. So, after a year of dance it has helped incredibly and because of the pilates it came much easier.

I also watch my diet and try really hard to understand the concept of line. I always get videos when I compete to see how my posture is, you kind of have to relearn how to do things neatly and to exert more control.

At 5'10' and almost 34" of leg I can tell you it isn't easy, it takes a lot of time expect years if you aren't skating daily 1-2 hours. It is worth it, I love to make my mother cry when she sees me skate, she says the difference is amazing.

So don't worry you can to do it!

la :D

[doubletoe]

Hey everyone ok well my coach is always ragging on me that i need a strong upper body and it will make it easier to jump and that i have terrible upper body problems and see skating never came easy for me ive always had to work for everything i have because of my size. I was born 11 weeks early and everything and i have absolutly no upper body control i work out 3 days a week and do pilates but nothing i seem to do works and me not standing up is making me have very bad arms and it makes me look like im a sloppy skater and im not its just i have a hard time bending at my knees i bend at my waist more and it is because i have no upper body strength does anyone have any suggestions about how to fix this problem?

If you bend at your waist instead of your knees, you are actually using your upper body strength instead of your lower body strength. You need to keep your upper body straight (i.e., chest out and shoulders back) and think of "sitting down" or "getting your butt closer to the ice" instead of thinking about "bending." A lot of adults bend their upper bodies forward when they are told to "bend", and it's not because of a strength problem; it's just a miscommunication between your brain and your body. So again, think, "sit down" or "get your butt closer to the ice" and see if it helps.

If you really have a weak upper body, try doing exercises that force you to pull your shoulders back and arch your back. You can do deltoid exercises where you put your left hand and left knee on a bench and your right foot on the floor, then lift a dumbell with your right hand so that your elbow comes up and your shoulder blade squeezes in. Then do the left side.

You can also do back raises, where you lock your legs in (assuming you have the proper equipment), let your torso hang down, then arch your back to lift your torso up as high as you can. Then do it holding a light dumbell and increase the weight as you get stronger. I'm sure there are also non-weight versions of the same exercise. Finally, abdominal exercises should help, but you must be getting lots of those in Pilates already (and for that matter, you should be getting the back exercises, too).

[bladebabe69]

Flippet i wasn't use that as an excuse.....i was just stating a fact ok but ya i have done pilates for a while i use the winsor pilates tapes i do them about 4 days a week and i also have a personal trainer that works alot with me on my upperbody but i cant seem to get it strong enough. I've always had a problem with not bending my knees and sticking my butt out when i skated because i have a funny arch in my back like even when i stand straigh it archs and stuff. That habbit started a long time ago when i started skating and my first coach never taught me any different, recently i have gotten better at it but i tend to fall out of my doubles because i break at the waist because i dont have upper body strength. I do eat healthy i probably don't drink as much milk and calcium as i should but still anyways thanks for all the suggestions. greatly appriciated
Caitlin