Figure skating coach Kate Charbonneau begins a multi-part series where she shows a complete 20 minute warm-up edge class. Kate has her skaters start slow and then she picks up the pace, both with the skating and the music for the class. This warm-up is done to music. In Part 1 she shared initial exercises that emphasized slow stretching movements and strong edges and full extensions. In this video, Kate shares just one exercise, intended to get the heartrate up, work on edge control and body lean, and improve and warm up quickness.
All videos in the series:
Part 1 – intro, initial exercises emphasizing slow stretching movements and strong edges and full extension
Part 2 – increasing heart rate, edge control and body lean, add movements for quickness
Part 3 – improve stopping skills, knee action, balance
Part 4 – focus on flow and power and extension (jump landing positions)
Part 5 – spirals and Ina Bauers
Part 6 – transitions and turns
Part 7 – wrap up and summary
The exercise is simply a set of small crossover circles, alternating sides and direction. Kate begins with 5 forward crossovers to the left, where the first crossover is done with a very slow tempo and the next 4 crossovers are done as “the fastest steps we can possibly do.” After the small circle, the skater steps onto a forward inside edge to start a new circle, and repeats the process. The skater does this repeating patterns all the way down the ice. The skater then comes back down the ice, skating backward crossovers in the same manner. Kate mentions that most skaters struggle with noisy and scratchy back crossovers when doing this exercise.
As Kate notes, a skating program requires a change of pace and movement tempo, so this kind of warm-up is great for getting used to this concept. Full extension is a focus during the slow-tempo crossovers, but not the fast-tempo crossovers. Kate uses music requests by her skaters to keep these warm-ups fun and engaging, as skaters will feel like moving to music they like.
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