This year has truly tested me as a skater. It's easy to be in your routine: school, rink, gym, repeat. But once that routine is completely thrown off, it can be so easy to throw in the towel and say, "well if I can't give it 100%, what's the point of doing it at all."
This year made me reevaluate a lot of the things I was doing as a part of my training, their purpose and then finding creative ways to do those at home. As a college student, it can also be difficult for your dorm or apartment to act as your bedroom, study area, gym, off ice area and more. What really helped was making a little corner of my apartment into a designated training spot. This way when I step into that corner, it feels like I'm stepping into the rink or gym for practice.
I also took time to write out a bunch of different workouts that I could do within the space of my yoga mat. You'd be surprised how much you can do in that space! I also went to YouTube and found so many great dance classes, which I was really missing.
Here are a few of my favorite off-ice workouts to supplement your skating routine:
Plyometrics and Core
Dynamic warm up (no static stretching!)
Jump rope
SS1: X3-4
8-10 Vertical jumps for height
8-10 (each side) lunge with jump + knee drive
10-12 leg lowering
SS2: X3-4
30-40 seconds of skaters
40-60 seconds of plank hold (elbows)
6-8 shoot the ducks (add a jump on the way up for an extra challenge)
SS3: X3-4
30-40 second landing position hold/15 pulses with free leg (then switch sides)
30 second side plank hold (each side)
Wall sit
Put on a song and see how far you can make it! Challenge yourself each workout to get a little farther until you can finish the song.
Finish up:
Hold all your spin positions
Stretch
Helpful YouTube Channels:
Offers full ballet classes:
https://www.youtube.com/c/pacificnorthwestballet/videos
A fun contemporary dance class with a great warm up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VK2hNMfetE&t=1362s
Dalia Rivkin is a 2020-21 Collegiate Ambassador and a member of the Penn State Intercollegiate Figure Skating Team.
