Kristina Anderson
Kristina Anderson is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS), as well as a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise. She’s been training athletes since 2006, and started her own strength and conditioning business called Blades in Motion, LLC in 2009. Kristina trains at 4-5 different rinks/programs in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
She has a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology (emphasis on Exercise Science) from the University of Minnesota, where she ran the personal training program and helped to create new comprehensive “Performance Training” classes. Kristina was a figure skater for 19 years, and is currently a member of PSA, USFSA, and ISI. She has been a US Figure Skating STARS Combine Assessor in 3 cities (she was the site’s Anchor Assessor for two of those!). She also is the head coach of the University of Minnesota Hockey Cheerleading Team (figure skating performance team). Kristina’s passion is performance enhancement for skaters through strength and conditioning and education on health/fitness for skaters today and tomorrow.
Most recent video at the top…
In this short video, figure skating coach and strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson discusses important considerations coaches and trainers need to keep in mind when laying out a specific athlete’s off-ice and on-ice training regimen. Ultimately, training should attempt… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson demonstrates 3 important exercises for strengthening the hips and glutes. The first exercise focuses on hip strength and stability, and starts in a sitting position with one leg forward… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson discusses the concept of “butt wink” as it relates to figure skating. Butt wink is the term for when the tailbone tucks underneath the body on a squat. This… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson continues where she left off with her previous discussion of strengthening the feet. In this video, she focuses on foot and ankle mobility. Improving this mobility is important for… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson offers two methods for strengthening the feet. Many skaters suffer from weak foot muscles, sometimes as a result of the extra support provided by the skating boot itself. Kristina… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson explains the importance of massaging the feet. Skaters (and coaches!) spend a significant amount of time in their skates, which are very restrictive in terms of foot movement. Normal… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson continues her discussion of self-massage techniques and tools for addressing muscle tightness and soreness. In Part 1, she shared a short routine or flow pattern for using a foam… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson talks about foam rolling as a way for skaters to speed recovery and avoid injuries or chronic tightness. This is the first video in a series on myofascial release… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson continues her discussion of hip mobility. In the previous videos (Part 1 and Part 2) she covered warm up, testing, and activation exercises for the hips. Many skaters, however,… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson continues her discussion of hip mobility. In the previous video, she explained the importance of hip mobility and offered a series of exercises to warm up and engage the… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and certified strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson offers exercises and insights regarding hip mobility for figure skaters. She begins by explaining why hip mobility (strength and range of motion) is so important. It helps prevent injury… Continue reading
Figure skating strength and conditioning expert Kristina Anderson shares a short off-ice warm-up intended to be used prior to on-ice training. The purpose of this kind of warm-up is to have the skater’s muscles go through a range-of-motion and get… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning specialist and figure skating coach Kristina Anderson shares a complete off-ice warm-up sequence that anyone can do, even with little space and no equipment. Kristina uses “painters tape” to create an “agility ladder” as well as a… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning specialist and figure skating coach Kristina Anderson discusses specific off-ice training exercises using cones, and then covers some important principles or concepts for all coaches to know regarding off-ice training. To begin the video, Kristina talks… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning specialist and figure skating coach Kristina Anderson discusses off-ice training for younger skaters. So much of off-ice training has been focused on elite and higher level athletes that coaches are often confused about what off-ice training… Continue reading
Figure skating coach and strength and conditioning specialist Kristina Anderson talks about how off-ice training for figure skaters is really a relatively new thing. Other sports have driven the research in strength and conditioning training, partly because those sports… Continue reading
In this off-ice training video, strength and conditioning specialist and figure skating coach Kristina Anderson discusses skipping. Skipping is an overlooked training tool for figure skaters. This is probably because it’s simple and everyone already knows how to… Continue reading
NSCA certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and figure skating coach Kristina Anderson shares more information about off-ice agility ladder training. General athleticism, good coordination, and quickness are important for anyone aspiring to be a better figure skater. In… Continue reading
In this video, NSCA certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Kristina Anderson shares some agility ladder drills for off-ice training. General athleticism, good coordination, and quickness are important for anyone aspiring to be a better figure skater. Kristina demonstrates… Continue reading
In this figure skating video, figure skating strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson shows some more exercises to help a skater increase vertical jump height. Jump height on the ice is a critical factor for successfully completing double jumps,… Continue reading
In the figure skating video below, figure skating strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson shows some exercises to help a skater increase vertical jump height. Jump height on the ice is a critical factor for successfully completing double jumps,… Continue reading
Figure skating strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson discusses important concepts related to off-ice strength and conditioning training for figure skaters. In particular, Kristina addresses the myth that off-ice training will “bulk up” female figure skaters or make them… Continue reading
Figure skating strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson talks about how the relative dimensions of a skater’s body affect the ability of a skater to attain a “nice looking” sit spin position. In particular, the length of the femur… Continue reading
Figure skating strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion about the strength, flexibility, and control issues associated with making a sit spin lower. In the previous video, Kristina taught us the proper form for a squat. … Continue reading
Figure skating strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson talks about the strength, flexibility, and control issues associated with making a sit spin lower. The primary tool used to lower a sit spin is the squat and Kristina describes and… Continue reading
Figure skating strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson discusses how to develop hip flexibility and improved hip turn-out. This is extremely important in figure skating and applies to T-stops, spirals, lunges, camel spins, Ina Bauers, spread eagles, jump landing… Continue reading
Figure skating strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson explains how to properly train the spiral position off the ice. This is an outstanding video, both for the detail of the instruction and for the quality of the demonstrated positions.… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina shares a couple more advanced kettlebell exercises. Before beginning this level of kettlebell training, Kristina… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina explains the deadlift with a set of core twists at the top. She covers the… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina covers the kettlebell combination of a half-burpee with a deadlift which offers a complete body workout.… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina covers kettlebell rows for building upper body strength, particularly for the back. Strong back muscles… Continue reading
Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina builds a short combination of swings. She has the demonstrator show the standard swing, multiple one-handed swings, and then alternating… Continue reading
Kristina Anderson explains why kettlebell training can be so effective for figure skaters. Historically, figure skating has been slow to adopt non-skating training methods to improve on-ice performance, especially those methods often used by bulky weightlifters and football… Continue reading
Kristina Anderson provides an introduction to kettlebell training for figure skaters. Kristina notes that safety is the first priority when working with kettlebells and then she takes a moment to describe and show a kettlebell. Then Kristina has… Continue reading
