You might remember in the last article, we talked briefly about the importance of cardiovascular training for figure skating athlete – you!  “Aerobic” basically means with oxygen and was a term coined by Dr. Ken Cooper a few years ago.  Some purely aerobic sports are soccer, marathon running, cross-country skiing and speed walking, while sports such as baseball, sprinting, football and basketball are almost totally “anaerobic” or “with out oxygen”.   Now this doesn’t mean that when performing an anaerobic activity the athlete is not breathing or getting oxygen!  I’ll get to that in a bit but can you see the difference in the two types of activities?  What do you think figure skating might be? Downhill skiing? Dancing?

If you were to look at aerobic sport athletes, you would see that generally, they are of slim build, while and anaerobic sport athlete would generally be stockier.  Why?  Because aerobic or “with oxygen” athletes participate in sports that burn fat for fuel and “anaerobic” or “without oxygen” athletes use sugar or glycogen for their fuel.  So you could see why a marathon runner would be slim, while a sprinter would stockier: the first uses fat while the second uses sugar as their fuels.  What is the difference between the two activities?  Well, what do marathoners have in common with cross-country skiers?  These sports require them to be able to compete for hours at a time.  In other words, they exercise at a level that allows them to go on and on and on. It is called 'aerobic endurance'.  That is because the fat they burn for fuel is “slow burning” and there is lots of it.  So their sport requires “medium” output.  On the other hand, the sugar-burning, anaerobic athlete such as the sprinter or ball player, uses bursts of total power or speed over a really short period, such as ten or thirty seconds!  And sugar or glycogen is very easily burned with there being very little of it.  This is why you can only go all out for a short period of time.

So, what then is figure skating?  Aerobic or anaerobic?  You are right if you think it is primarily anaerobic with some aerobic thrown in for good measure.  Think about it: your long program might be 2 to 5 minutes long, depending on your level of skating.  In that time period, you throw in bursts of speed, powerful jumps and long gliding movements.  Kind of a mix of everything, isn’t it?  On top of all this, your heart rate is elevated through stress.  You know, just a few stressors such as judges, coaches, parents, audiences, other competitors…

Now the important stuff – training.  How do you train for a sport that is a little of everything?  Exercise scientists through lots of research have found two things that are important to you, the skater.  First, you can train for anaerobic activity and second, a strong “aerobic” base is a good foundation to achieve the first.  Here are some suggestions:                                                          

Off Season:                                                  1. Aerobic training daily.  Specifically, minimum of 25 minutes each workout with heart rate in its “training zone”.  (If unsure what training zone is, write to GI Gym).  Suggested activities are roller blading, skate boarding, stroking, cycling, brisk walking or running/jogging.                                           2. Anaerobic training:  Three to four times a week work on “sprint-type” training with heart rate at upper end of training zone i.e. 100 meter sprint, plyometrics (another article!), rope skipping, on-ice sprints.                        In-Season:                                                 1. Aerobic training 3 or 4 times per week and anaerobic training done on-ice during your practice sessions with 3 or 4 reps.

So, there you have it.  You will have created the “aerobic base” and inserted some anaerobic ability as well.  Remember; take every opportunity to train on and off the ice.  In other words, no “leaning against the boards” wasted time!

GI Gym’s Fit Tip

Practice like you compete!  That is, with total effort and pretending every time that there are audiences, judges and other competitors.  This is called “Simulation”.

Jim Parker has a graduate degree in exercise physiology from Michigan State University.  He has worked with all levels of skaters from beginner to Olympic, including Brain Orser and Elvis Stojko.  A columnist for the Barrie Examiner for 12 years, Jim also co-authored a manual on skating conditioning with Dr. Tony Bauer of Lakehead University, composed the level 3 NCCP weight training manual for weight training and figure skating, and has written articles for Figure Skating Digest among many other publication.).

Future articles by Jim Parker, will cover such topics as:  The Importance of Aerobic Conditioning for Skaters, Upper Body Strength and Skating, Skating-specific Off-Ice Training.

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Good Luck, Skate Hard – ‘tll next time!

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