{"id":4550,"date":"2019-09-18T14:21:13","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T18:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/?p=4550"},"modified":"2019-09-18T14:21:13","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T18:21:13","slug":"6-reasons-why-strength-training-for-figure-skaters-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/blog-post\/6-reasons-why-strength-training-for-figure-skaters-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Reasons Why Strength Training for Figure Skaters is Important"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have had the good fortune of working with a number of\nfigure skaters. Occasionally, parents of children who I do not coach will ask\nme about the benefits of strength training for figure skaters. Below are the 6\nreasons I cite for getting figure skaters involved in strength training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1) Strength training will eliminate imbalances and correct\ntracking issues which will decrease injury – for example, a weak vastus\nmedialis will cause the patella to track laterally due to a muscular imbalance\nwith another primary knee extensor, the vastus lateralis.  The issue is that the lateralis is usually\ntight due to daily active living and can cause the patella to track improperly without\na strong vastus medialis to act as a stabilizer in opposition.  This can cause an imbalance and resultant tracking\nproblem which can, in turn,  lead to pain\nand possibly injury due to poor biomechanics from an improperly functioning knee\njoint.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sandring, S. (2005). \n Grey\u2019s Anatomy.  Spain: Elsevier Churchill Livingston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Strength training will aid the body in injury\nprevention.  It can prevent misalignments\nof muscles and reinforce correct muscle patterning in biomechanics.  Strong hamstrings aid in structural balance\nof the posterior aspect of the knee.  Due\nto the hamstrings actions on the knee, the biceps femoris performs a lateral rotation\nof the tibia when the knee is semi flexed and the semitendinosis performs a\nmedial rotation of the tibia when the knee is semi flexed, improving strength\nwithin the hamstrings will reduce the possibility of shearing or twisting\ninjuries of the knee joint. Strong glutes are essential to help reinforce any\nmovement the hamstrings make and in addition help steady the femur on the tibia\nwhich aids in landing, for figure skating in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendal, F.P., \nMcCreary, E.K., Provance, P.G., Rodgers, M.M., Romani, W.A. (2005).  Muscles Testing and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Function with Posture and\nPain.  Baltimore:  Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Strength training improves neurological control which\ncan improve both gross motor movements – jumping – and fine motor movements \u2013 the\nsubtle footwork that the judges are looking for. This control becomes more and\nmore important as a skater advances through the senior and elite levels given\nthe complexity of the tasks and skills they need to perform. Improved\nproprioceptive awareness will also accompany these increases in neurological\nabilities allowing a skater to develop their \u201cice sense\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Strength training makes tasks that are difficult today\neasier in the long run. By increasing strength and skill an athlete will be\nable to progress to more difficult jumps because they are able to jump higher,\nrotate faster and stick landings with more ease. If we take the 1 arm brace\npress as an example (a standing 1 arm DB shoulder press where the free arm is\nextended to the side and bracing the body) there are a number of ways this\nstrength movement can improve figure skating performance. For example, it will\nimprove core stability as there is an isometric contraction of the oblique\nmuscles to hold the body stable. It improves shoulder strength which has been\nshown to improve vertical jumping and improve forward arm drive that is needed\nto build momentum for starting rotations. While these things will improve\nthrough skating alone, the rate of improvement will be increased though\nprogressive strength training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) Completing difficult endurance or strength sets will\nimprove mental toughness and can make skating feel easier. Anything that makes\na tough task seem easier will boost an athlete\u2019s confidence which will improve\ntheir on-ice performance and make skating more enjoyable. Knowing that they\nhave a strong, well balanced body will eliminate doubts of this nature from the\nmind of a skater \u2026 and believing that they can is the first step in doing\nsomething. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Being stronger will improve soccer, sprinting, athletics\n(track and field), volleyball, etc…. performance. It will also make everyday activities\neasier. The reason for this if very simple \u2013 strong muscles produce more force\nwhen they contract so you will need to recruit fewer fibers to produce the same\nforce. This will translate into faster running, higher jumping, and easier\nlifting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For further details about our strength training program please email me at bskinner@sstcanada.com<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For more information and access to great articles and videos please visit www.sst.training<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have had the good fortune of working with a number of figure skaters. Occasionally, parents of children who I do not coach will ask me about the benefits of strength training for figure skaters. Below are the 6 reasons I cite for getting figure skaters involved in strength training. 1) Strength training will eliminate … Continue reading “6 Reasons Why Strength Training for Figure Skaters is Important”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_link_nofollow":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4552,"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4550\/revisions\/4552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sst.training\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}