November 2020
Hey there!
A very warm welcome back to our our blog page, we hope that you and your loved ones have been keeping well, healthy and safe.
This month we have very keen on improving our off ice fitness, where by our coach captain Ahmad Saad has put together a very useful guide on both dieting and further physical exercises for us to complete weekly, in order to strengthen our bodies for the enduring on-ice sessions. Therefore, as promised from before, we said that we would discuss all the components required to build a solid foundation within the sport as a figure skater- that starts with off-Ice training!
However just before we begin our discussion, we are very proud to announce that the following people whom are now successful members of the Figure Skating Egypt, ice skating academy! A very warm and kind welcome to Nihal, Marcello, Mariam Nagui, Dareen, Jumana, Rodaina, Ahmed Ashraf, Maryam Ahmed, Yasmine Fayed, Noor Samy, Shahd Owais, Natasha, Mohamed Fathy, Hania, Razan, Yousra, Taline, Nour Samer, Sherif Essam, Karma, Mayar, Nayera, Habeeba Mohammed, Abdelrahman Safaaelden, Adham, Aliaa Abdulnasser, Sara, Dalal, Aliaa Ibrahem, Nour Mohamed, Salma El Sayed, Dalia and Habiba Abdalla. To all our newcomers and those who are already on our beginners team we would like to say that, we hope that you grow and accomplish your goals within the sport with us.
Without further ado, off-ice practice encompasses many elements such as strength, flexibility, endurance and stability. There are multiple exercises we do to as part of an intensive workout routine in order to help build up each one of those elements; which in return accommodates our on-Ice training and allows us to progress at a faster rate. Majority of professional figure skaters build upon these attributes to advance to higher levels. Our sport requires significant core strength which we together build up over time.
Previously when circumstances allowed us to do so, the whole team would get together twice a week in a studio where we meet the demands of off-ice together; however, as times have changed we now do these training sessions virtually through Zoom. We take time with our coach and trainers to practice the more difficult moves, such as jumps and spins first on the ground to gain confidence and comfort in our abilities before trying it out on the ice. Another critical point we must mention, is that off-ice training really does help prevent injury. Therefore, even choosing to complete an off-ice training routine once a week, in the long run would equate to gains in strength, flexibility and on-ice consistency.
Working on core strength and stability may be two of the most important parts to include in an off-Ice workout. Without muscle strength, a skater would not skate very quickly, have smaller jumps and shorter spins, but what is more significant is that the athlete would easily tire in practice sessions. This strength creates the power required to improve endurance and become more consistent. Moreover, an increase in strength correlates with higher jumps, stable landings and an increased ability to maintain many spin variations.
Equally flexibility holds just as much importance to an effective off-ice workout routine. Some of the most theatrical yet incredibly difficult moves such as spirals, biellmans and spread eagles just to name a few, require extraordinary flexibility and strength! An imbalance of the muscle strength required to perform these moves correctly may result in a skater being more prone to injury.
Finally we will conclude by saying that with any sport or life journey, it’s all about the small changes we actively make which result in the best and continuous growth and improvements.
From all of us at Figure Skating Egypt, we thank you for your continued support and as always, you can find out more about joining our team via our FAQs page on our website or by directly contacting our coach Captain Ahmad Saad.
Quote of the month
'Success does not always mean being the greatest but more about being consistent- consistent hard work leads to success. The greatness will then come.’