Coach Kate Charbonneau continues a series of videos explaining and demonstrating how skaters can and should warm up off the ice for an upcoming on-ice session. (See part 1 here.) This video focuses on range of motion exercises from head to toe as part of the off-ice warm up process. The first exercise is forward and backward leg swings, keeping one hand on the wall for stability. The goal is to keep the back “long” and relatively straight while the leg swings “loosely” where the leg bends comfortably behind the skater as the upper leg reaches the end of the range of motion to the rear. The leg can swing higher each time to thoroughly work the full range of motion. Kate then does side-to-side leg swings with the free foot swinging in front of the standing leg and both hands on the wall for stability.
The next exercise is what Kate calls “spaghetti leg” where you “turn the leg in and out” as you swing it across with a bent free knee, leading with the knee. This exercise is very helpful for warming up the hip joints and associated muscles since so much of skating requires the ability to open the hips and close them without losing stability. Kate then continues with quick full spiral positions, placing both hands on the wall for balance. She does two spirals on each leg.
Moving to the head and neck, Kate performs slow neck rolls or head circles. She says, “I find skaters can go as fast or slow as they would like to, and do as many as you need.” Kate does 3 to 4 head circles in each direction. Moving on, she then performs shoulder rolls, first up and back and then up and forward. This is followed by full arm circles (front to back) in both directions with each arm in isolation. The next exercise is repeating core twists with more twist on each repetition. This is followed by a windmill-arm type movement where the legs are placed wide for balance and the upper body is forward and flat, allowing the upper body to twist around the horizontal axis with the arms fully extended.
Isolations are an important skill for skaters, and Kate performs a series of rib-cage isloations to loosen up the back and engage the core. She says, “I like to be on soft knees and move the rib cage off to the side, arching the spine out to the side and then contracting back.” She continues by doing rib-cage isolation circles in both directions. She says, “It’s really important to get those core muscles engaged, so I’m really squeezing my core muscles at the back.”
Next is hip circles and notice how low Kate drops her body forward when the hips are back. The next exercise has the feet together with the knees bent and the hands placed just above the knees with the knees moving in a circle like a “stirring motion.” This is excellent for ankle, knee, and hip mobility, and it also helps loosen the muscles in the feet. The final exercise is wrist and ankle circles while balancing on one foot, working the mobility of those joints while isolating the movements to work on overall balance. If balance is an issue, the skater can use one hand on the wall, at least temporarily while learning to balance properly.
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