Hi guys

My coach would now like me to do more stretching exercises before I go onto the ice.

Any idea what type of exercises I can do?

My apologises if this has been posted elsewhere in this forum before.

londonicechamp

At the seminar I just went to both of the off ice instructors mentioned that stretching for flexibility should not be done before going on ice. To stretch effectively, you need to be warmed up already, AND stretching muscles weakens them and the "power" is removed from them (they both cited studies USFSA had done at the olympic training center that showed decreased height in jumps after stretching before skating, vs going on the ice without stretching)

They instead both recommended a warm up that involved raising the core body temperature and increasing your blood flow. Dynamic stretching was encouraged, in that your range of motion moves through a stretch, but does not hold it. (So in an arm circle, you would reach the arm, but not hold a stretch. In a kick, you might set back to a calf stretch, but only for a second) This is NOT the same as bouncing static stretches, as you should move out of the stretch. Adding this type of stretch to your warm up may help. Google dynamic stretching for more ideas.

(I am now a big believer in the need to warm up. I usually skate for pretty small periods of time, so have generally decided it wasn't necessary, since I have lots of injuries that prevent me from skating for longer. However, although these warm up nearly wore me out, I was able to skate for 3+ hours without knee, ankle, or shoulder issues that generally put me off the ice in 45 minutes at home.)

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I usually do stretching after I skate, for at least 20 mins. Before I skate I warm up: jog, jump rope, grapevine, gallops side to side, jumps, a little bit of stretching. I don't hold the stretches very long.

Skittle is correct on the dynamic stretching and getting some good blood flow started (breaking out a light sweat if possible, but do it slowly, not immediately). I try to get to the rink 30 minutes early, jog lightly to get some blood flow, dynamic stretching, and then proceed into jumps off ice (full rotation and jumping in place. I find that I have higher jumps and more power on the ice. After skating, I do intensive stretching to improve flexibility and gain more mobility. So far so good.

What I try to do (key word: try) is walk/jog before skating, do some bouncing and knee bends and some wall squats to loosen up my knees/ankles, and some light stretches. The rest is done on the ice:

1-2 laps of slaloms, stroking, crossovers (front/back). Then I'm usually warmed up enough to do some more stretching at the boards, especially if I'm spiraling or sit spinning.

The more fit you are, the less time it takes you to warm up. The older you are, the longer it takes you. (maybe age trumps fitness??? or fitness trumps age? LOL)

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Skate@Delaware
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Hi Skate@Delaware

Thanks. Okay, I will follow your advice.

Will arrive at the rink more than 45 minutes early, so that I can do the crossovers (back/front), and slalom, stroking before my lesson time, and also do the stretching exercises before going onto the ice.

londonicechamp

Completely agree with this post. Always warm-up dynamically before skating. Save your static stretches for after you skate. This is HUGE for injury prevention. Check out our dynamic warmup DVD- sale this 4th of July weekend

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Yep, that's exactly what I do as well.

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