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Table of Contents:
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I.Inline Skates: The Best Ride Ever
I tried just about every sport as a kid, but they all paled in comparison to the sensation of freedom and floating I got from skating. My skates are now an appendage of my own body, more a part of me than my own two feet!
Skating is a sport made in heaven because it's a low impact form of cardiovascular
exercise that makes you feel and look divine! Not only does it reduce stress and
increase your energy levels like other recreational activities, but it firms and
tones all the major muscle groups.
Skating can be a balanced part of your overall training regimen. But watch it! You
may like your skates so much that all your other sports equipment will be forgotten
in the back of your closet!
II. Stretching: My Personal Lifesaver
After spraining my groin umpteen times and suffering the chronic effects of a fall
for way too long, my buddy convinced me to take a yoga class. Within two weeks, the
knee that I thought would need an operation was feeling great! Now I stretch as if
my life depends on it. Since 1994 yoga has kept me injury free.
I used to be really lame at yoga. While everyone else was cool, calm, and
collected, I'd be off-balance, drenched in sweat, and hopping around like a human
pogo stick. To make matters worse, Holly would come around and correct me in front
of the class. Progress came slowly but surely.
Nowadays, who cares that people stare at me strangely while I'm off in a
corner doing yoga? The poses improve my balance and flexibility and stretch all the
major skating muscles while I'm at it. When I manage to dial in a pose, I also feel
mentally prepared to take on the world!
Warm up your muscles and stretch 'em prior to putting on your skates and you'll decrease
your chances of pulling or straining something. You'll also be able to crouch lower,
get a longer push, and extract more power out of your hips. Best of all, your improved sense of balance will transfer over to skating, allowing you to go farther and
faster while spending less energy. Bonus!
A) Basic stretching exercises which emphasize flexibility:
keep the head, torso, hips, and legs in a single plane (like the rings of
Saturn viewed edge-on), then worry about sinking more deeply into the
stretch
open your chest to the sky and focus on your outstretched fingertips
1. Standing Tree - stretches the groin
a) place heel as high as possible on inner thigh, then draw knee
back
until even with hips
b)reach up strongly with hands joined at palms
2.Triangle Pose - stretches the hamstrings and lower back
a) stand on a line with your feet a little more than shoulder width
apart, the heel
of one foot intersecting the arch of the other
b) sink as deeply as possible while staying in the plane
c) open the chest up to the sky
d) keep the heel of the back leg well anchored
3. Warrior Pose - stretches the hip flexors
a)stand on a line with the heel of one foot intersecting the arch of
the other
b)reach up strongly with your arms
c)break the plane with your hips! rotate them so that they're
perpendicular to your legs
B) Advanced stretching exercises emphasize flexibility and
balance
the key to gaining control of the poses is to keep your standing
leg locked (straight)
try to come out of the poses as slowly and as in control as you go
into them
try these later while rolling on your skates!
1. Standing Stick - stretches your hamstring
a) start erect with legs together, take a small step back and rock
b) rotate downwards until your back leg and arms are parallel with the
ground
c) drop your hip until both of them are parallel to the ground as well
d) reach up strongly with your arms
2. Standing Leg Extension - stretches both hamstrings
a) stand erect with legs together, lift one leg and grab the inside of
foot with hand (hold right foot with right hand and vice-versa)
b) extend as far as possible while keeping the standing leg locked
c) reach up strongly with free arm
3. Standing Bow Pose -stretches back and hip flexors
a) reach back and grab the inside of your foot (right hand to right
foot and vice-versa)
b) pull up on leg and try to raise it over your head!
c) maintain upper body as erect as possible
4. Standing Eagle Stretch - stretches hips and shoulders
a) wrap one leg around the front of the other and hook your toe around
the back of your calf
b) wrap your arms around each other and join them at the palms
c) sit deeply while maintaining an erect upper body
III. Technique Tips: To be cool, retool!
When I first started skating, I was a real hacker. I chased after
cyclists every day and although I got extremely fit, I wasn't getting any
faster and my bad habits just kept getting worse. I pushed with my toes,
threw my upper body from side to side, and never got my knees together.
After hitting the wall time and time again, I decided to seek
professional help.
I swallowed my pride and sought help from the masters. Dutch
skaters took me aside after crushing me in races and offered nuggets of
advice. Dianne Holum revealed the finer points of stroke mechanics at ice
speedskating workshops in Eugene, Oregon and Marquette, MI.
Dianne, an Olympic speedskating medalist and motivational coach,
showed me how getting better was all about improving technique. She swore
that good balance and timing could win out over brute force any day.
Dianne showed me how to "fall" -- that is, to lead with the hips and accelerate
my
own body sideways towards the ground before pushing. Dianne maintained
that 90 percent
of a skater's power comes from this metronomic hip motion.
At first I was resistant to change my skating style because it made
me feel
awkward and slower, but I gave it a chance and soon was making giant
leaps
of progress. Tinkering with the little things is what produced big results for
me.
If you get out there on your skates and practice the pieces, before
you know
it, it'll all come together like clockwork.
A) Proper Alignment Gets You Inline
1. the skater's mantra is "nose-knees-toes", referring to the linear
alignment of the body's center of mass over its support skate at all times
during the stroke
2. practice getting in-line by gliding as far and straight as you can while
keeping your skate's wheels vertical to the pavement. find this narrow
range of balance and you'll be taking the path of least resistance while
practicing the principle of least work
3. push so that your wheels are in line with the long axis of your
fully extended leg -- if you don't collapse them inward and lose energy by
misdirecting your push you'll say hello to power and goodbye to blisters
4. isolate the moment of maximum extension by gliding in a balanced,
nose-knees-toes triangle with the pushing skate held just off the ground--
side A is the vertical distance between your nose knees and toes, side B is
the length of your push (distance between your skates), and side C is the
length of your fully extended leg
B) Fall - unlock the hidden power in your hips with gravity assistance
1. from the base position with knees held together, initiate the fall
by leading with your hips to the inside and letting the rest of your
body follow
2. allow your body to fall laterally towards the ground (think
"timber!")
3. delay separating your knees and landing your support skate until the
last possible second
4. just when you want to put your skate down, lift it up a little
higher!
5. finish your push (heel carve) before setting your support skate down
6. feel the zing! you derive more power from your fall than your push
C) Carve away! Give each stroke added power
1. with a bent leg, open your skate angle (like a duck) to give your push initial
momentum, then start closing that angle by driving your heel out as you
extend your leg
2. your push will be directed laterally with the heels
3. all your wheels will stay on the ground throughout your push, giving more power
4. don't overcarve (unless you want to slow yourself down) -- release the carving
pressure when your skate is parallel with your direction of travel
D) Bring your knees together - for a longer push and better balance
1. physically touch your knees together after each and every push so
you can compose yourself in a balanced, vertical position before starting
the next one
2. say goodbye to pronation! bringing knees together means your support
leg will land underneath your center of mass with good alignment
3. take advantage of the speed you just generated with your last push
by bringing your knees together and gliding before starting your next push
4. don't be bowlegged! your push will be much shorter and off-balance
if you don't start it from underneath your centerline
E) Straighten out your skating style - get where you're going faster!
1. set your skate down pointing directly in front of you each time, not
toward the outside
2. take the beeline by using your hips - this will cut down on side to
side motion and keep your upper body more still in space
3. swing your arms forward and backwards, not from side to side -
imagine throwing your arms forward, grabbing a rope, and pulling it back
strongly
4. recover your pushing skate back behind you in a relaxed,
semicircular motion and throw it forward underneath your body before setting
it down
F) Say goodbye to back pain through proper positioning!
1. round your back like a cat instead of arching it like a swan -- that
way you create space in between your vertebrae instead of compressing them
together
2. keep your upper body relatively upright but bend at the knees. this
is called "sitting in the air chair" - meaning your upper body is supported
by your legs and tummy instead of hanging over empty space
3. relax! let your shoulders droop when you skate - this will help
reduce tension and make you more aerodynamic
4. always set your skate down directly underneath your body so you
don't have to throw your weight around to find your balance