subject: On-ice Skating For Speed Skaters And 3 Advantages Of A Personal Ice Rink [print this page] Speed skating is an amazingly effective and comprehensive sport. It tests cardiovascular endurance, strength level, and flexibility all at once, and requires excellent technique alongside agility and raw muscle heft. It's also a tremendous fat burner-- it easily sheds thousands of calories in a few hours of training.
On-ice training for speed skating requires a focus on speed and power, as well as consistent practice. Here's what on-ice training for speed skaters looks like, as well as some reasons to consider why a personal rink-- one made of real water ice-- would benefit your potential speed skating endeavor.
Power
The push-off is a critical maneuver and requires a regular focus, but power is also crucial for the end of a race, where the ability to generate explosive power is critical for a win. Both on-ice practice of push-offs and strong lateral and crossover strides, as well as off-ice exercises designed to increase power, are necessary.
Stride Technique
Keeping the blade on the ice as long as possible is the key to a good stride, as well as contracting the proper muscles in the legs and calves. You should focus on positioning your weight correctly and beginning your striding motion from the center of your foot, which also requires a focus on power.
Technique
You want to stay as low and bent as possible, with your core at a 60 degree angle and your feet shoulder width apart. Again, positioning yourself so that your weight is distributed to your advantage is critical here.
A Personal Ice Rink
A customized ice rink has three major advantages to the speed skater.
Safety is important. Since so much of speed skating depends on explosive power, you can see how a crowd at a public rink may get in the way. It is difficult to safely practice explosive moves like the push-off with traffic.
You can on your own schedule with a backyard ice rink or home ice rink.
You can train more seriously with a personal ice rink. Without a crowd to hinder your high speeds, you can challenge yourself whenever you hit the ice.
A personal ice rink should be made of real ice water rather than synthetic ice. Synthetic ice provides resistance an obvious concern for a speed sport-- and wears out skates much more quickly than real ice water.
