Personal Trainers for Skating

[GordonSk8erBoi]

I'm toying with the idea of getting a personal trainer, because I need to get in shape in general and need the encouragement/accountability. Ideally I'd like to find one that knows something about figure skating, but it seems unlikely.

We have a gym here at work and there are a couple of trainers that work there that I could work with. I'm debating whether I should go that route and try to educate them about skating (maybe lend them the Poe book), or ask my coach if she knows any trainers that are more specifically knowledgeable about skating. Sticking with the gym at work would be a lot more convenient and cheaper (therefore, more likely to happen), but I might explore other options too.

My background: I'm 44, been skating for 4+ years, still working on APB moves/fs. Was a couch potato most of my life. Generally in good health though, but a bit overweight currently.

Would anyone care to share their experiences/ideas?

[Skate@Delaware]

Try getting into generally good shape first. Weight lifting, aerobic conditioning, and flexibility. That is how I started (at 41) and when things were going great, I got Poe's book and started "tweaking" my workouts. Skaters workout basically like everyone else, but you want to make sure you have a good foundation first and build on it (i.e. allover and core).

When you have that, you can add plyometrics, speed drills, etc. For that, you can ask a personal trainer with football/field hockey/basketball experience. He/she can add exercises geared for jumping, twisting, etc. Don't box yourself into thinking "skating" only!

I do most of my workouts at work (free) and use Poe's book as a supplement. I take an off-ice class for the jump stuff and harness work. I get yoga/pilates stuff off the internet (but I used to do yoga years ago-there just aren't any classes in my area).

[plinko]

My old rink was part of a complex that had a health club and there was an arrangement that we could get discounted fees. A few of the trainers were skaters, but they didn't do skating specific training, like jumping or spin training. They did general fitness, although, they would know when you said that your legs hurt from sit spins exactly what muscles you meant. There was quite a lot of pilates/core and balance work but there were people in the classes that were not skaters.

When I moved to where I am now, I joined the local Y. I try to do what I call the 3 workout: cardio/legs, midsection and upper body. For upper body, a lot of the exercises are done in a balancing position, ie lifting a weight while standing on a balance board. These were things that I brought with me from my old rink. In the summer I mimic my skating schedule so do cardio 4x a week, in skating season, I'm skating so much I don't do cardio at all (yes I should but my legs can't take it)

Because I have some injuries (the leg thing), right now my fitness program is driven by my physiotherapist. He says no jump class anyway, but I cannot find anyone locally that is willing to run one, due to insurance reasons. I would like to take some dance if I could, to be graceful, but mostly I'm riding the bike at the Y for fitness.

[coskater64]

I do pilates and ballet...my pilates instructor is also a PT so we work on a variety of things plus I have a reformer/cadillac (pilates machine) in my basement which is very handy.

[jazzpants]

I do pilates and ballet...my pilates instructor is also a PT so we work on a variety of things plus I have a reformer/cadillac (pilates machine) in my basement which is very handy.
You have a reformer in your basement!?!?! 8O SHEESH!!! You ARE dedicated!!! :bow:

Sadly for me, the pilates didn't do much for me, at least in flexibility anyway. The worst part is that I started gaining weight around that time too. (That was my reason for getting a general personal trainer in the first place too. Later on that evolved to adding a dietitian b/c even with all the cardio and weight training I do, my scale still didn't budge. Moral of the story was that I needed to adjust my diet as well as the personal training.

Gordon... too bad you're not here in San Francisco. There *IS* a personal trainer I know that does specialize in figure skaters. And yes, she IS a figure skater herself and a pretty decent one too! She knows her skating stuff!!! (She's also very tough too!!! One of her students warned me when I first started with her that I'd "better be prepared to get your butt kicked!!!" :lol: ) Also, the other option is to find someone with a dance background, preferably in ballet. (Ironically, that's my other personal trainer I'm trying out. He knows about keeping my lines, opening hips but at the same time strengthening the hip flexors so I can maintain my "open" position too. OMG!!! I'm having trouble figuring out which one to pick.

My checklist of criteria for a training (besides the skating or ballet thing):

Stay away from those whose focus is in body building. You don't need to bulk up! You need LEANER muscles if anything.
For me, besides the weight loss (which is one of my main goals) I worked primarily on core muscles. Lots of it, in fact!!! Some of it requires practicing balancing and holding proper posture thru-out your exercises.
The second area that your trainer may make you work on a LOT is, of course, leg strength work. Some like machines. For me... as long as the weight isn't too high and I'm working more on reps and more sets, rather than pressing more weight, I'm happy. Believe it or not, doing stairs 2 at a time is an insanely easy way of working weights and you could just use the stairs at the office for it. :mrgreen:
For those who are doing programs, trainers may prescribe speed/cardio drills where you do something very intensive (for instance, jump rope or hopping over a very short box) for the length of time of your program. I unfortunately am weak in this area. My stamina SUCKS!!! :evil:
Since I have very closed hips, ballet guy worked me hard on stretching the hip flexor and the surrounding areas, as well as build up strength.
LOTS of stretching, of course! I stretch for at least 20 minutes now.Since you mentioned that you're slightly overweight, I really would suggest keeping your focus on getting into good general shape first. Some of the exercises I've mentioned really requires you to be in pretty decent shape to start with first.

[antmanb]

I'm toying with the idea of getting a personal trainer, because I need to get in shape in general and need the encouragement/accountability. Ideally I'd like to find one that knows something about figure skating, but it seems unlikely.

We have a gym here at work and there are a couple of trainers that work there that I could work with. I'm debating whether I should go that route and try to educate them about skating (maybe lend them the Poe book), or ask my coach if she knows any trainers that are more specifically knowledgeable about skating. Sticking with the gym at work would be a lot more convenient and cheaper (therefore, more likely to happen), but I might explore other options too.

My background: I'm 44, been skating for 4+ years, still working on APB moves/fs. Was a couch potato most of my life. Generally in good health though, but a bit overweight currently.

Would anyone care to share their experiences/ideas?

I got myself a personal trainer but to keep down on costs i'd hire him for 2 hours to draw up a 6-8 week program for me. We'd spend a good 45 mins talking about my goals (which started out fitness related and not ice skating specific) and then he'd draw up the program for me. I carried on like this about a year, after which i told him that i no longer wanted to have programs just for weightloss/fitness increase but to compliment my skating. He confessed to havinga knowledge of a lot of sports but not skating so i leant him the Poe book. He said he thought the book was fantastic, full of great ideas and then tweaked my weight training to help with my skating. A lot of explosive weight lifting through the legs which after just 6 weeks had me jumping much much higher off ice and noticeably higher on the ice too.

I'd recommend finding a trainer you like and work well with and then seeing if they are up for reading the Poe book. A good personal trainer will always be interested in increasing their education about other sports - adding another string to their bow if you will.

Ant

[samba]

I do pilates and ballet...my pilates instructor is also a PT so we work on a variety of things plus I have a reformer/cadillac (pilates machine) in my basement which is very handy.

I have a very nice excercise bike in the hallway and that comes in very handy for hanging my coat on, no wonder I am getting a pot belly!!

[sceptique]

I used to have a personal trainer back in my other life when I was still gainfully employed. The best thing was that we together worked out a 12-month training plan that I can now follow on my own. Might be worth having your 1-2-1 sessions only once a month or fortnightly so he/she can check on your progress and make some advice. You probably won't need someone just to stand next to you and motivate you to do your crunches (the main reason why most people hire personal trainers).

[Skate@Delaware]

Besides the book by Poe (conditioning for skaters), I found a VERY good all-around sports book in my local library. It has good advice and some very specific exercises (i.e. one-legged squats and the exercises that you do to lead up to them).

It is Functional Training for Sports, Superior Conditioning for Todays Athlete by Michael Boyle

It discusses how to progress through the exercises from easy (level 1) to more difficult (level 2) and then using things to help with balance (boards, rollers, etc).

There is also a section on plyometric training.

It has more exercises and more explanation on why they are done than the book by Poe.

I'm going to get this book and add it to my arsenal of evil tools!

[Skittl1321]

I do pilates and ballet...my pilates instructor is also a PT so we work on a variety of things plus I have a reformer/cadillac (pilates machine) in my basement which is very handy.

You have a reformer and a cadillac? You must be VERY into pilates, I've never met anyone with a home cadillac, just reformers. I've thought a few times about getting a home reformer, but I get lazy, and figure it would do more harm than good to do a reformer workout with an instructor watching me.

[doubletoe]

If you aren't going to go to a trainer who knows a lot about skating, it would be advisable to first get your relative muscle strength tested, preferably by a physical therapist. Non-skater therapists & trainers usually don't realize that skating is an unbalanced sport where we use our quads much more than hamstrings, so if they have you doing quad exercises, they may need to double up on the hamstring exercises to keep you balanced. Otherwise you are likely to up with knee problems (like several of us here!).

[cecealias]

I've worked on and off with various pilates and PT trainers. I find that I learn various techniques from working with trainers but it does not necessarily help me lose any weight.

Amazingly, I've dropped about 15-20 lbs in the past year without any PT/dietician/pilates help!

I attribute the weight loss mostly to diet and consistent conditioning on ice. MITF helps me keep the weight off if i'm not in the gym. If I haven't done a minimum of 3-4 ice sessions a week, i will spend 30-40 minutes on a elliptical at a low heart rate, about 60-70% of max heart rate. I don't do any other additional workouts since I already get enough compression exercises from spins and jumps on ice. I spend some time each week stretching. My daily work schedule does not involve sitting at a desk 100% of the time these days so I think that may also have helped some.

What I eat: 5-6 small meals a day, with the heaviest meals in the first half of the day. Minimize use of salts and excess carbs. Drink plenty of water and no carbonated soda, no alcohol, no heavy dinners. coffee is good and ok, but i avoid lattes heavy milk products.

[blue111moon]

If your trainer is not ice-skating saavy, have him/her call USFS Headquarters and contact the Sports Medicine Committee Chair. The Committee has all kinds of information on training methonds specifically for figure skaters and they can help your trainer design a program just for you.

[Paulie86]

Besides the book by Poe (conditioning for skaters), I found a VERY good all-around sports book in my local library. It has good advice and some very specific exercises (i.e. one-legged squats and the exercises that you do to lead up to them).



I've been reading these comments thinking "what is this Poe book?" And if it wasn't for you Skate@Delaware I would not have realised that I already have it!!!!

I think the best way to start out with a personal trainer would be to work on general fitness and strength first before structuring anything to specifically related to figure skating. But thats just my 2 cents!

[Skate@Delaware]

I've been reading these comments thinking "what is this Poe book?" And if it wasn't for you Skate@Delaware I would not have realised that I already have it!!!!

I think the best way to start out with a personal trainer would be to work on general fitness and strength first before structuring anything to specifically related to figure skating. But thats just my 2 cents!
That would be my recommendation as well-general strength, all-around cardiovascular conditioning, and stretching first. fine-tuning for skating with plyo, specialized stretching, and the rest of our "weird" stuff later!!!