Loosening up stiff back skating

[RoaringSkates]

Sometimes, when I skate, my lower back gets quite stiff. Anyone have any suggestions for things I can do on-ice to loosen up a stiff back?

I do stretches, etc., off-ice, but I'm looking for something I can do to loosen up with my skates still on!

[melanieuk]

Sometimes I also get an ache in my lower back while I'm skating.
It could be bad posture - at times I don't hold myself properly.

I don't think there's much on ice to do, apart from maybe lots and lots of stroking, skating tall, sucking everything in.
And hold in your abdominal muscles at all times, of course! :roll:

Off ice, do more exercise for your abdominals. It really does help to strengthen back.

[flo]

Hi,
Take a break and at the boards, gently bend forward, and back - I often do this before and after laybacks. Also be sure that your knees are soft on jump landings. A stiff knee (even when bent) can be jolting to the lower back.

[vesperholly]

You can do alternating toe touches - left hand to right foot. Also, "cars" might help - where you crouch down on both feet with your butt really low to the ice but torso upright and your arms forward like you're steering.

Jocelyn

[Chabert]

Originally posted by melanieuk
Sometimes I also get an ache in my lower back while I'm skating.
It could be bad posture - at times I don't hold myself properly.



I've had the same problem due to bad posture.

[batikat]

Do you know a good chiropractor? I'd recommend a visit to one if you are having back problems after skating. I used to get terrible aches in my back - particularly if I'd been doing a lot of spirals and practising hard for competitions etc. I went to see a chiropractor the day before a competition I was about to pull out of, due to severe back pain and he immediatley diagnosed a problem with the sacro-iliac joint, did a quick manipulation and I felt great. I haven't had a twinge since. Nothing I ever did in the way of stretching or exercises on or off-ice ever helped but the chiropractor was brilliant. Quite honestly it was the best money I have ever spent (and I won one of the competitions!).

I also have a number of skating friends with various problems from scoliosis to hypermobility who have also been helped by chiropractic treatment. Also a good chiropractor would be able to recommend good exercises for you to do on-ice as well. I'd never been into so-called 'alternative ' medicine before but I am etermally grateful to the friend who suggested the chiropractor to me.

[Mrs Redboots]

I find my back aches during/after skating if I've been lazing about the day before - I tend to spend Saturdays fairly quietly, and my back often aches on a Sunday morning. And when we went on a skating camp earlier this year, my back decided that two days in the car were a very far from ideal preparation for it.

I go to the side and sit down on a bench, then lean forward to touch my toes, making a "long back" - this helps enormously. As does just sitting down for a while.

(I'm back early from our Christmas celebrations as my brother-in-law isn't very well, so we thought we would be tactful and remove ourselves. However, it does mean we can skate tomorrow, and perhaps Saturday morning, so that's a Good Thing!).

[DRENDAVN]

Increase your core strength. There is a muscle group deep inside that needs exercise and development.

Try this one - Lay on your back on the floor with a chair in front of you. Put your lower legs on the chair bottom so your knees are bent 90deg and your back is flat on the floor. Cross your arms on your chest. Spot something on the ceiling directly above you. Now try to pull yourself forward/up off the floor towards the spot on the ceiling. It's sort of like a sit-up but without any curling. Imagine someone attached a wire to your breastbone and pulled you up off the floor with it except YOU have to do it! You don't need to lift far up, just get the stretch and try to hold it. After awhile you can do like 20 at a time while holding each rep for 5 seconds or more while breathing normally and relaxing everything but the muscles holding you up.

THEN see how good your posture and comfort is while doing forward stroking!

Dave D.