Last updated on May 19th, 2022 at 06:43 am
Skating can be fun, especially if skating with family and friends. It has numerous benefits. Skating will help you burn calories. You can also lose body fat from skating, although not in specific parts of your body such as the tummy but generally.
You should join the skating team if you are looking forward to shedding some body fat. Skating builds and strengthens your muscles. With skating, weak bones get strengthened. It promotes cardiovascular health by increasing heartbeat and blood pump rate. Speed skating and figure skating are all forms of ice skating. Awesome right!
Figure skating is an exciting type of ice skating. The unprecedented moves and freestyle make it unique. Figure skaters are often determined, consistent, and patient. These qualities enable them to have a better figure skating experience.
List of muscles used in roller skating
Roller skating is a general body exercise. The physical activity of roller skating can be classified as aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercises such as running, jogging, cycling, swimming, and roller skating improve physical fitness and strengthen the heart and lungs.
However, some muscles in the body are more built and strengthened than the others in roller skating. The following are muscles involved in roller skating:
- Leg and hip muscles.
- Gluteus maximus
- Quad muscles
- hamstrings
- Calves muscles
The hip abductor includes gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, tensor fasciae lata (TFL), and other secondary muscles. The hip abductor muscle is the muscle that helps a person’s stability in walking, standing, and rotating of legs. The hip abductors are fully involved and active in roller skating.
The hamstrings muscle consists of the bicep femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. These muscles are active when you roller skate; they aid stabilization. They are involved in your walking, bending, running, and other bodily movements.
See Related article; How Skating is Possible on Ice (What Type of Force is Ice Skating)
Keynote
The quad muscles consist of a group of four muscles. Quad muscles are primarily affected by roller skating.
Muscles are strengthened when carrying out physical activities such as roller-skating, jogging, etc. Quad muscles assist you in walking, squatting, jumping, climbing, and more. Another muscle affected by roller skating is the calf muscle. The calf is behind your leg, and it helps you lock your knee and aid you when you stand.
What Are The Muscles Used In Speed Skating?
Speed skating is carried out on a long, short, or marathon speed skating track. The Olympic game originated in the Netherlands. It is a competitive game under ice skating, participants race with each other, and they are expected to cover a particular distance in the shortest possible time. Some muscles are affected during speed skating. These muscles are strengthened and developed such that they become stronger. The muscles in use when skating are the entire leg muscle including hamstrings, thigh, calf muscle, etc., and leg muscles, the glute, abdominal muscle, and arms, etc.
The Leg Muscles
The leg muscles are of great advantage during speed skating. The leg is also known as the lower limb below the knee. It is categorized into three groups, namely: the dorsiflexor (anterior) group, the plantar flexor (posterior) group, and the fibular (lateral) group.
The different leg parts have their functions; however, they all work to achieve one purpose – to aid your movements such as running, walking, jumping, dancing, cycling, and much more.
Be sure to watch the below video on developing/strengthening:
Glutes Muscles
The glutes muscle are a combination of three muscles namely gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Gluteal muscles can also be called buttocks muscles. They make easy the abduction and adduction of the hip joint and aid the external and internal rotation of the thigh. These muscles help in walking, standing on a leg, climbing, and more.
Hamstrings Muscles
Hamstrings are a group of four muscles; the long head of the biceps femoris, the short head of the bicep femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. Contraction of these muscles can result in knee flexion or hip extension.
Do Figure Skaters Have Strong Legs?
They have strong legs because skating generally builds and strengthens some body parts, especially the lower region. The quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves muscles grow stronger. A consistent figure skater will build and develop strong bones, especially in the lower region.
The legs of a skater must be strong enough to perform edgework and sequences, powerful enough to launch in the air during a jump like an axel or a lutz, and stable enough to land those jumps gracefully.
Therefore, how do we get our legs ready to meet these challenges? We must first examine the sport and what the body does during it. Figure skating is primarily done on one leg at a time, so this must be addressed in training.
However, this isn’t to say that double-leg exercises like the squat and deadlift shouldn’t be included in a training program; it just means that single-leg strength should be prioritized.
What Muscles Are Involved In Skating Backward
Backward skating is a crucial skating technique you must know as a skater. Backward skating involves moving backward in the opposite direction. Some muscles in the body become more involved when backward skating than others. The main forces in backward skating are the latissimus dorsi and the anterior serratus.
When skating, core stability is crucial at all times, but it is especially important when changing directions. Static core holds are great for this, but we can do better than planks since you won’t be in a plank position. Choose core exercises that emphasize pulling and holding your belly button into your abdomen.
Related article: Are Skating Rinks Open in the Summer
The anterior serratus muscle is from the first to the eighth rib from its outer part at the side of the chest. The latissimus dorsi or lats muscle is the broadest muscle in the human body. The lower posterior thorax is covered by it, and it is a climbing muscle. Backward skating is a necessary skating technique every skater should know. Beginners can click here to watch how to skate back youtube video.
What Is Figure Skating Body Type
An average figure skater should be light-weighted, not too tall, and should have short limbs. Overweight figure skaters will find it tasking to lift themselves off the ice. More weight will imply that it will require an extra effort to raise yourself off the ice, and you may not be able to advance into the air during skating. Tall figure skaters will fall quickly and may not spin because they have high falling tendencies.
How Thick is Figure Skating Ice
On average, figure skating ice is between 3.8cm to 5cm. The thickness of figure skating varies from short track speed skating and long track speed skating. While short-track speed skating requires softer ice, figure skating ice is often thicker.
Related article;7 Amazing Ice Skating Tricks for Beginners + List of Ice Skating Moves (List for Newbie
FAQ:
Do figure skaters have strong legs?
The legs of a skater must be strong enough to perform edgework and sequences, powerful enough to launch into the air during a jump like an axel or a lutz, and stable enough to land those jumps gracefully.
What muscles do figure skaters use?
Skating benefits the lower body and core muscles more than any other muscle group. Even during leisurely skating, hamstrings, hips, calves, quadriceps, and core muscles like pelvic floor muscles, back muscles, and the gluteus maximus gain mass, strength, and tone.
What is a figure skating body type?
Shorter, lighter athletes with slightly shorter limbs are better suited for this sport. To jump high, skaters must have a strong lower body. However, if they have too much mass, they will be unable to fly. For example, the average female figure skater in the United States stands at 5’3″ tall and weighs 108 pounds.
What is the heaviest figure skater’s weight ever?
It is not necessary to be of a certain weight to participate. Due to their training, the majority are already svelte. There are girls of all sizes who compete, but the reason you don’t see any bigger girls in the higher competitions is that getting good requires a lot of hard work, which causes you to lose weight naturally.
How thick is figure skating ice?
Figure skating and short-track speed skating have slightly different ice thicknesses. Figure skating requires somewhat thicker ice (about 4.5 to 5 millimeters) and softer ice (roughly 4.5 to 5 centimeters). Short track speed skating requires 3.5 to 4.5 cm of ice that is firmer.
Conclusion
So far, I hope the information in this article has been of help. The lower region of the body is the greatest beneficiary of skating. The muscles in the lower part are built, developed, and strengthened. These muscles are the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteal, and calves muscles. Hence, a suitable figure skating body type should be light-weighted. I urge you to join a skating team as speed skating and figure skating has been Olympic sports played since the 13th century. Participants of this game are determined and consistent skaters. Backward skating is an important skill to know in skating.
