Warmup
The importance of a warmup is to prepare your body for a workout, physically and mentally. It can help you train better, progress faster and prevent injury. Raising your heart rate, body temperature, mobility, breathing rate and mental alertness before stepping on the ice means you will be ready to go as soon as you get on the ice. Highly recommended for all skaters, not just competitive skaters or kids, it’s just as important to a beginner adult as it is to an elite athlete, all that changes is the intensity of the warmup.
As a minimum you should:
- Mobilise your joints
- Raise your heartrate
- Dynamic stretch and static stretch
You should also include:
- A mental alertness element – like agility steps and rotation snaps
- Sports specific drills – like off ice jumps or jump rotation exercises