Old Timer Training

[Rusty Blades]

I'm wondering if any other members of the Creaky Knee Brigade could offer some comments.

I have about 10 hours ice time now after a 36 year absence and some of the old skating is starting to come back. I have been skating 2.5 hours on Saturdays and 2 hours Tuesday. On the day after skating, I do balance exercises (not strenuous) and flexibility. On other days I do the same plus one-legged deep knee bends and other strength/conditioning exercises.

Saturday is my "main skate" and I push pretty hard but I have another 2.5 hours of ice available on Sundays but most of the time I am still stiff and sore from Saturdays. Should I be pushing through the stiffness to skate 2 days in a row or keep the day after for recovery?

I have not yet managed to find a trainer who knows ANYTHING about the over-50 crowd :cry:

Thanks all!

Dianne

[jp1andOnly]

If you feel like you can skate on Sundays then do so. If you are too stiff, then don't. Simple as that. It doesnt matter what age you are, sometimes your body doesn't want to cooperate or is sending you a message. Listen to your body. This is good advice for anyone from 10-100..and anywhere inbetween :)

[Mrs Redboots]

I didn't skate as a child and am not an athlete, but I find I can normally train 2 days in a row without getting too tired. I do try to pace myself on the ice, though, interspersing the really energetic stuff with working on turns and edges.

But as JP says, listen to your body. Why not try skating on Sunday next week, and if it's a disaster, don't do it again?

[Rusty Blades]

Thanks for the replies. Best to listen to my body I guess. If I skate while tired, I don't make any progress anyway!

[dbny]

Thanks for the replies. Best to listen to my body I guess. If I skate while tired, I don't make any progress anyway!

Don't forget that skating while tired also increases your risk of injury.
I re-learned that the hard way

[Rusty Blades]

dbny - LOL! Hope it wasn't too serious!

You are right - when I crash, it is usually toward the end of a long session!

I took my second fall Saturday while practicing one foot forward glides. I was truncking down the long side, clipping right along on my left foot with my right foot well out behind when my blade hit something that caused it to "hesitate" enough to catch the toe pick so there I was 3 feet above the ice with no feet under me! 8O I had a nice arabesque going up to that point! I managed to roll enough to avoid hitting flat on my chest or hitting my head but I have a nice bruise on my ribs under my left arm! I guess I still know how to fall but I didn't mean to scared the other skaters - LOL!

I am trying to find a "personal trainer" in Winnipeg who knows something about figure skaters but I am not overly optomistic. In the mean time, I am using the book "Conditioning for Figure Skating" by Carl Poe.

[dbny]

dbny - LOL! Hope it wasn't too serious!

You are right - when I crash, it is usually toward the end of a long session!

I took my second fall Saturday while practicing one foot forward glides. I was truncking down the long side, clipping right along on my left foot with my right foot well out behind when my blade hit something that caused it to "hesitate" enough to catch the toe pick so there I was 3 feet above the ice with no feet under me! 8O I had a nice arabesque going up to that point! I managed to roll enough to avoid hitting flat on my chest or hitting my head but I have a nice bruise on my ribs under my left arm! I guess I still know how to fall but I didn't mean to scared the other skaters - LOL!

I am trying to find a "personal trainer" in Winnipeg who knows something about figure skaters but I am not overly optomistic. In the mean time, I am using the book "Conditioning for Figure Skating" by Carl Poe.

Just a broken wrist :roll: :x :frus:

I'm glad you avoided serious injury on Sat. I've managed to avoid falling on spirals (arabesques) by keeping my weight to the back of the blade. If you hit anything then, you are more likely to glide right over it with just a little bit of a bump. Last week, when skating outdoors, I was working with a slow moving student, and just kind of gliding along backwards watching her. Several times, I hit something that really jolted me, but turned out to be some tiny little bits of debris that had blown onto the ice all over. It made me realize that my weight was too far forward on my blade, and when I got farther onto the ball of my foot, sure enough, no more problems.

Hope you find a good trainer!

[Sooky]

Hi Rusty Blades,

I agree with the other posters and would only add that at my age and with so much else going on in my life, it's really important to me that I enjoy my time skating. Therefore, I want to try and organise my schedule to maximise the chances of enjoyment - tiredness, sore limbs and a feeling of 'ought' rather than 'want' never make anything more fun!

I also have a deal with myself that if I show up and for whatever reason things don't seem to go well or feel 'right', I can just chalk it up to experience, turn the session into a bit of fun rather than practising moves and head off for a latte in the rink cafe a bit sooner than usual. ;)

One advantage of age is that the pressure is off!

[Rusty Blades]

So true Sooky!

When I was 18 I was trying to "make up for lost time" (I didn't start figure skating until 14) and 20 hours a week seemed barely enough!

Unfortunately I am STILL a "Type A personality" and tend to push myself pretty hard - for me, the "pushing" is part of the fun! I want to see how far I can get by age 65 - LOL!! I DO have fun, despite the falls and the aches - I think there's a term for that 8O :roll:

[Skate@Delaware]

Poe's book is really good-my personal trainer used it for our summer program (she is my age-44).

Listen to your body and if you are tiredl, tone it down a notch or two. I second that a tired body will cause you to tumble and/or make mistakes. Sometimes you even need to adjust your on-ice routine day-to-day.

You might have better luck looking for a trainer not specific for skaters, but geared for older athletes.

We also do weight training and Pilates. It takes time to build up strength and stamina but you will get there! Also, pay attention to your pre-workout diet and don't eat sugary things which will make you crash (save them for after-he, he, he):lol:

[Figureskates]

I have found the best exercise is to walk briskly a couple of miles a day, especially in the winter months. If there is no snow, a brisk walk to town or to the rink keeps my stamina up and gets my legs warmed up. If there is snow I either cross country ski or go to the mall and walk the upper deck.

Finally in the spring, summer, and fall, I try to rollerblade 15 miles 3 to 5 days a week. All this helps my skating and I can go at it for 2-3 hours, alternating between working on elements and just plain stroking.

[SkatingOnClouds]

Like you I found that my body protested if I skated 2 days in a row (especially my poor feet because of the bunions, but that's much better now). I also spend time every day doing balancing and stretching, eg for spiral positions.

I skated only Saturday morning, but then I started going Sunday. I made Sundays about stroking, edges, fitness and fun. It helped work through any stiffness, and I could relax more. ( For a Type A personality, it can be hard to restrain yourself from doing too much) My experience is that the more time on the ice, the quicker the old skills are coming back.

And of course, the more you do, the more you can do. You do get fitter. So now, after only a few weeks of doing this, I skate pretty much the same on Sunday as I do on Saturday, and I have added a Wednesday night session.

So my advice would be to try skating 2 days in a row, but make the second one more about working out any stiffness, and working on those boring edges and things, or really good crossovers, or whatever basic skills could do with a little more attention. Build up to it, even just an hour the first couple of times you do it.

[slusher]

I skate 4 days a week but only two are back to back. On those days, I do mostly dance and skills and then do freeskate the second day, it's so much harder on my body, and then I have a day off to recover. I'll skate publics too, but I talk and socialize more than skate on those.

The longest session is 1:15, I don't usually skate more than an hour a day, I go for frequency over length.

I have a conditioning program, core/strength/aerobic that I do all year round.