Fitness. Toning. Weight Loss. Considered learning to Ice Skate?

Health, fitness and mental wellness now play a much larger role in society than they ever did when I was a teenager. (This is going back a good few years, but I don’t recall any of my Figure Skating friends drinking water while training on patch. Doesn’t that just seem like the oddest thing now?)

As a result of the importance placed in these areas, people are looking for (and finding) endless new ways to get fit, lose weight, gain strength, feel happier.

However, very few people opt to Ice Skate for fitness. Why?

I think the key issue is that many people see Ice Skating as creative, choreographic, pretty etc and not as something that requires great strength and athleticism. It is viewed as more of an art form rather than a sport. This is a huge oversight for the people wanting a new way to get fit.

It’s a little known fact that Skating works almost every single muscle group in the body. On top of this it is also a good cardio workout, having a high energy output that can burn anything between 400 and 600 calories an hour! If I had £1 for every time somebody new to the ice said they were not expecting to sweat in their first lesson, I would have a mansion in Beverly Hills by now (maybe).

Ice skating also improves your joint flexibility, giving you a greater range of motion which in turn will improve your coordination. 

Ice skating is also a great way to improve your mental health by boosting those endorphins! Finding your feet in skates and learning how to glide/balance takes a great deal of focus, which is wonderful for stress management and will also improve your cognitive function.

And you know the best thing about all of this? You will enjoy yourself so much that the time will fly. No more gazing at that clock on the treadmill wondering ‘why does every minute feel like ten?!’.