What are the most Essential Exercises For Skating? Hockey is a game that is all about speed! On the ice, the faster you skate, the more success you'll have.
As a result, completing skate exercises can be a game changer.
The workouts in this post, in my opinion, provide the most bang for your buck when it comes to boosting skating speed on the ice.
These exercises complement sprint training, which may be the most important of them all.
These workouts target bilateral and single-leg strength, core stability, lateral power, and speed.
Everything you'll need to step up your game on the ice.
Let's take a closer look at these workouts for skating quicker and explain why they're important.
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Table of Contents
What are the benefits of skating as a form of exercise?
Skating engages nearly every muscle group in the body, and gliding necessitates synchronized leg action, which is essential for joint flexibility.
It strengthens the leg and abdominal muscles as well.
Skating, like any other workout, is good for cardiovascular health because it gets the blood moving and the heart rate up.
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5 Essential Exercises For Skating
Roller Skating Basic Techniques And Secrets
1. Lunge
Lunges are a type of exercise that you most likely did in high school physical education classes.
The lunge, as simple as it may appear, is one of the most fundamental exercises for anyone who enjoys skating.
This exercise works nearly every muscle in the lower body, including the calves, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps.
What is a lunge and how do you do it?
Take a step forward with your left leg while standing straight.
Lower yourself slowly until your knees are at a 90-degree angle.
Finish your desired number of repetitions by repeating the exercise with your second leg.
2. Balance
Skating of any kind, as you may have guessed, will necessitate a significant improvement in your balancing abilities.
Falls and injuries are frequently the result of losing balance while skating, making it all the more vital to undertake balancing exercises like leg swings and one-legged squats, which are excellent for both maintaining balance and strengthening your core.
What is a leg swing and how do you do it?
Standing with your feet apart, lift one foot off the ground gently.
Hold your foot up and use the foot you're standing on to regain your balance.
For a series of reps, alternate this with your other leg.
Remember to maintain your spine straight and your hips forward!
3. Deadlift
Deadlifts are a terrific exercise that may appear intimidating at first, but are actually incredibly simple to perform and provide a slew of health, strength, and endurance advantages.
The conventional deadlift provides you a tremendous exercise that helps you develop full-body strength and power by working your posterior chain, or the muscles that run up the back of your legs and body.
What is the best way to do a deadlift?
Assume good form while standing with your glutes and core engaged.
Hinge from your hips, keeping your feet hip-width apart.
Grab the bar and lift by bending forward and slightly bending your knees.
4. Sit-ups
Bicycle situps are a much gentler alternative to the dreaded crunch.
The rotational portion of the exercise targets your obliques, while the leg pedaling stimulates your hips, making this type of sit-up ideal for skaters.
It's also a terrific way to build core strength and promote balance and length at the same time—all of which will help you increase your skating talents tenfold!
What is the best way to ride a bicycle?
Place your hands behind your head, lightly cupping it with your fingers and palms as you lie flat on an exercise mat.
Make a 90-degree angle with your knees.
Lift your feet up and lengthen your legs after your knees are bent.
It's important to remember not to straighten your legs.
Bring your right knee up to your sternum and press it against your chest with your left elbow.
Replace the opposite leg and elbow and repeat the process.
Perform the required amount of reps for your workout.
5. Glute Bridging
Many skaters under-use their glute muscle due to an emphasis on core and leg strength, which you may not be aware of.
In reality, strengthening your glutes using glute bridges is an excellent strategy to prevent your other muscles from overcompensating.
Glute bridges help to stimulate your gluteus maximus, minimus, and medius, allowing for a significantly more powerful skating stride and push.
What is a glute bridge and how do you do it?
Face up on an exercise mat, knees bent, feet flat on the ground. Keep your palms down as you secure your arms to the side of your body.
Squeeze your glutes and use your core strength to keep your back supported.
Hold your bridge for a few seconds before lowering it and repeating.
Roller Skating Exercises For Lateral Strength
Improve Skating Speed Start : Bar Deadlift.
My favorite bilateral leg workout for increasing strength is the trap Bar Deadlift.
This exercise made the list because of its low-back safety and the emphasis it places on the Quadriceps, which are the primary muscles used during a skating stride.
Make sure you have a neutral spine and an upright posture when doing this exercise.
The knees should be pushed out and the feet should be shoulder width apart.
To avoid any jolting through the body from the movement's driving up, apply some tension to the bar before lifting it off the ground.
I like to manage the bar on the way down to take advantage of the Quad muscle's eccentric contraction, which provides significant strength gains.
Increase Single-Leg Strength : The Bulgarian Split Squat
The Bulgarian Slit Squat, also known as the Rear Elevated Single Leg Squat, is another excellent workout for speed skating.
Because only one leg bears the majority of the stress, this action provides more sports specialization.
Because skating and running/sprinting are both done on one leg, single leg exercises are great for enhancing athletic performance.
Elevate your back foot onto a bench and put your other foot completely on the ground a few feet in front of the bench for this exercise.
The lifted knee is then lowered to the ground, resulting in a comfortable stretch in the front of your leg.
Then, with the majority of the effort coming from the heel of the front planted foot, push yourself back up off the ground.
Skate Faster : Lateral Lunge.
Another wonderful leg strengthening exercise is the Lateral Lunge, which develops your legs in the same plane as a skating stride. Because of this, this is yet another sport-specific workout.
The Lateral lunge is performed by stepping out to the side and quickly returning to the starting posture, making sure to keep your hips pushed back as you lower yourself to the ground.
More Explosive Skating Stride : Lateral Hop
Skating power workouts are incredibly important.
Strength and power are the foundations of speed.
The Lateral Hop is an excellent Plyometric exercise for building the strength required for a quick and explosive skating stride.
The Lateral Hop is done by balancing on one leg and pushing sideways or laterally on the other leg. You hop again in the opposite way side to side after sticking the landing.
Strong Lateral Bounds
Lateral Bounds are a step up from Lateral Hops.
This movement is similar to a skating stride and is one of the most popular skating workouts.
Bounds are another wonderful Plyometric exercise for improving skating stride and increasing explosiveness.
Lateral Bounds are done in the same way as Lateral Hops are done.
The only difference is that instead of jumping straight sideways, you hop forward in a small diagonal line.
You're also jumping in the opposite direction as soon as you land.
Core Stability : The Pallof Press
You must be able to transfer the force you exert on the ground or ice to the rest of your body in order to display speed. Only a strong, stable core can make this work.
You're just a wet noodle sliding down the ice, unable to generate any speed or explosiveness, if you don't have core stability.
Kneel on one knee and extend a power band attached to a bar or pole out in front of you to do the Pallof Press.
You must fight the band's desire to twist you around.
This will help to build your core muscle, which will maintain everything rigid and powerful.
Sprinting and Skating Speed
To skate quickly, you must move quickly.
As a result, sprinting is one of the most prevalent ways of displaying speed. Skating speed will certainly improve if you truly try to move your body as quickly as possible.
Simply repeat sprints numerous times with a complete rest period in between bouts to allow muscle and energy system recuperation.
Sprinting at 90 percent or higher intensity will undoubtedly improve your performance.
Conclusion on Essential Exercises For Skating
To conclusion, increasing your skating speed and stride explosiveness should be a breeze if you incorporate these top 7 exercises for skating quicker into your hockey training.
You will notice a change in your on-ice performance as a result of the advantages of enhanced strength, power, and speed off the ice.
(FAQ) Skating exercises
The muscular on the backside of your leg must also be developed.
The glutes and hamstrings have a lot of potential for making a stronger skating stride.
I've seen lots of hockey players with large thighs but mediocre glute and hamstring strength.
Roller skating, according to studies, delivers a complete aerobic workout that engages all of the body's muscles, particularly the heart.
In terms of health benefits, caloric consumption, body fat reduction, and leg strength development, roller skating is comparable to jogging.
Three to six hours a day is realistic if you want to get good…even more if you're not currently drenched in sweat or about to break your legs off.
Skating parks are typically where you will learn and progress the most. In my younger years, I'd spend six hours a day at the skatepark; as you get older, that changes.
