The Most Important Component of Off-Ice Figure Skating Training

Yoga is perhaps the most important component of off-ice training for a well-balanced figure skater. 

This is not to say that mental training, conditioning, plyometrics, nutrition, off-ice spinning, and off-ice jump training are not important. It’s all important! And as skating folks–coaches, parents, and skaters–we have to juggle our time, money, and energies, based on all the factors and realities of our current situation. 

What’s right for one moment or goal, may not be a top priority for another moment. 

Of all the off-ice training a skater might do, though, yoga is the most well-rounded, holistic, all-encompassing piece. 

Yoga, when taught well, is about slowing down to cultivate awareness and self-knowledge. 

Yoga is the off-ice training that helps skaters assimilate all the other aspects of training, while also helping them develop an inner confidence, calm, and love that will help them withstand the chaos and frenetic pace of a highly competitive sport and world.  

The framework I use to teach yoga to figure skaters is based on Patanjali’s 8 limbs of yoga. This means that I teach positive mindset and training habits, philosophy, breathwork, focus, and concentration, as well as physical postures.   

Because while yoga is not really about developing a deeper backbend or touching your toes (even though these things often happen), it is very true that most skaters find it easiest to begin studying yoga through movement and asana (physical postures). It’s what they’re used to and what makes the most sense to them!

So, I’ve compiled my favorite asanas for figure skaters to use as a starting point for their yoga practice. These asanas all have strong applications to movements or positions on the ice, so they should be familiar to most skating folks. 

This is the last installment of a 3-part series teaching a comprehensive list of my top picks of yoga poses (asanas) for figure skaters. 

To learn about the other asanas, visit here for Part I and here for Part II. ​

Learn to Land Jumps with Eagle Pose

Eagle Pose - Garudasana

Eagle pose is, in my opinion, the most important asana for jumping. The intention of the pose is alignment and stability, rather than flashiness. It mimics the moment of impact with crossed legs and a bent standing knee, and when regularly practiced with intention, can develop muscle memory for this crucial position. 

The glutes squeeze towards each other in the back while the inner thighs, shins, and arms are doing the same in the front body. The standing leg roots into the mat, while the elbows and torso rise up tall–just like the “third UP” of a jump. 

And when practiced on the mat, you can really notice the feet working to maintain stability. 

The instructions below are how I usually teach Eagle with traditional yoga instructions.

1. Stand tall with the feet together.
2. Grounding down through the feet, bend the knees and ankles deeply, allowing the sit bones to stick out slightly behind you–a little less than the pelvic tilt of a sit spin. 
3. Take the arms out to a T position (out to the sides at shoulder level).
4. Cross the right leg over the right, high up on the thigh, squeezing the inner thighs and glutes together. The right foot can wrap behind the left calf or ankle, or you can squeeze it to the side of the lower leg, or rest the toes on a block like a kickstand. 
5. Cross the arms in front, reaching the hands to opposite shoulders–like giving yourself a hug. Then, squeezing the legs, glutes, and core even more, lift the forearms and press either the backs of the hands or the palms of the hands together. 
6. If appropriate for your shoulders, you may lift the elbows slightly
7. Find an unmoving spot to gaze at ( a dristhi) to help with focus and balance. 
8. Breathe fully and deeply through the rib cage (this allows the core to stay strong) for 5 breaths.  
9. NOTE: You won’t breathe on the ice in your jump but since we are holding here for several seconds, the breath is crucial. The steadiness of the breath also helps you gauge how hard you are working! If you lose the steadiness of breath, you should not work so hard.  (If you aren’t familiar with rib-cage breathing, here’s a previous post I did about it.)
10. Do the other side. Repeat each leg, if you like, to begin to bring more awareness to the pose.
11. ​

For some skating-specific variations, you can check out this other post where I go into more depth about eagle pose. 
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Relieve the IT Band with Parsvottonasana - Intense Side Stretch

Practicing Parsvottonasana - Intense Side Body Stretch - with blocks

What skater doesn’t have a chronically tight IT Band? 

The IT Band, or iliotibial band is an important and very strong piece of connective tissue that runs from the hip along the outer thigh and attaches to the upper part of the tibia (shin bone). 

Because it acts as a stabilizer to keep the bones in correct alignment, and good skating is all about alignment, it’s easy to overuse the IT Band. 

When it gets too tight, the IT Band can cause knee pain (patellofemoral syndrome), hip bursitis, and lower back issues. 

A great pose for gently stretching the IT band is Parsvottonasana, or Intense Side Body Stretch, and also sometimes called “pyramid” pose. 

Here’s how to do it:

1. From the center of the mat (facing the long edge of the mat), step the feet a couple of feet apart. 
2. Choose your preferred arm position - grabbing opposite wrists or elbows behind the back, or placing the hands in reverse prayer.  Another option is to place two blocks around the right foot and begin with the hands on the hips. 
3. Turn the left foot in to face the upper left corner of the mat and turn the right foot out to be parallel with the long edge of your mat. 
4. Square off the shoulders to the short edge of the mat, and use your feet to shift the right hip back and the left hip forward.
5. Lengthen the spine, pressing into the back leg and opening the chest. 
6. Tilt the pelvis and begin to fold out over the front leg, by first reaching the sternum as far to the front of the mat as possible. 
7. Stop folding when you reach your comfort level, or when the low back begins to round. 
8. You can stay with the hands in position, or release the hands to the block. 
9. Keep the head a natural extension of the spine.
10. Stay and breathe for 3-5 rounds of breath. 
11. To exit, press into the feet and bring the torso forward and up. Release the hands and parallel the feet. 
12. Try again or move directly to the other side!
13. Finish by standing in Tadasana (Mountain Pose), and pausing to notice what you feel. For an explanation of Tadasana, visit the first article of this series. ​

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Super Figure Skating with "Superman" Salabhasana

Locust Pose is a must-do for strengthening the back side of the body (aka the posterior chain). 
It is also good for the digestive system and the abdominal muscles. 

To try it:

1. Lie on the belly with legs extended long and parallel to one another. Tops of the feet on the floor, forehead on the mat. 
2. Arms can be down along by the sides or extended overhead at shoulder distance apart, palms facing down. 
3. On an inhale, point the toes and lengthen the feet to one end of the mat and the top of the head to the other end, until the legs and the torso begin to lift up off the mat. 
4. Lift a little higher, and stay for 3-5 smooth, steady breaths. Avoid straining the neck.  
5. Breathing here can be challenging, but do your best to keep the breath smooth. If the breathing is too labored, then you can lower down a little until the pose AND the smooth breath are achievable at the same time. 
6. Slowly lower down, letting the heels fall open and resting either one cheek or the forehead on the mat, with the arms in a comfortable position. 
7. Try 1-2 more times!

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For a Better Layback Spin, Do Camel Pose - Ustrasana

Camel pose is one of the poses I hated for the first few years I tried it. 

With chronically tight quadriceps and hip flexors, even standing on my knees without trying to do the backbend here was daunting. 

Now, though, I love Ustrasana. It’s still a big challenge, but I’ve found how to make it work for me and my body. 

Ustrasana stretches and tones the spine and the entire front of the body, and coming out of the backbend works the abdominals. 

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To try Ustrasana:

1. Place a blanket on the mat to pad your knees. 
2. Stand on the knees with the knees as comfortable as hip distance apart as possible with the toes tucked. 
3. If your thighs are parallel before you begin, you can try squeezing a block between the thighs to keep them there during the backbend. This may depend on your skeletal structure, so don’t force anything!
4. Place the hands on the low back, with the fingers pointing down and the elbows hugging toward one another.
5. Activating the glutes and pushing the legs into the mat, extend the torso upward. 
6. From here, take the backbend in steps, imagining you are sliding your chin and stretching the front of your body up the inside of a giant hamster wheel, taking the gaze toward the third eye (the space between the eyebrows).  The lifting and reaching forward is to keep from compressing the low back, which is one of the most common problems with a layback spin.
7. Keep inching your way up and back and stop at your comfort level.  
8. You may keep the hands on the low back, reach for one heel at a time, or take both hands to the heels if that causes no strain. 
9. Stay and breathe 3 full, steady breaths. Do not hold this pose for more than 20 seconds, and do not continue if you feel any pain in the low back, shoulders, neck, or knees. Stop and ask an instructor for guidance.
10. Come up very slowly, using the abdominal muscles, and moving the gaze downward along the inside of the imaginary hamster wheel until reaching a neutral position.
11. Try again, or come immediately to rest in child’s pose or savasana to observe and feel the effects of this asana. 
12. FYI - Some people experience intense emotions in this pose—it is said to stimulate the heart chakra. If this happens, allow yourself to rest in child’s pose or savasana to observe the feeling and let it pass. ​

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How to Safely Touch Your Toes with Paschimottonasana

A good hamstring stretch is important for skaters, and for many, is often considered a measure of flexibility (albeit an imperfect one). 

Paschimottanasana, seated forward fold, is a great pose that can be safely practiced by most everyone with a few precautions. 



Here’s how to do it:

1. Sit on the edge of a folder blanket - with the flesh of the rear on the blanket and the sit bones on the mat – with legs extended long to the front. 
2. Bend the knees and place the soles of the feet on the floor. 
3. Reach the arms overhead, lengthening the torso, and imagine you are stretching yourself up and over a small beach ball. Try to push the beach down ball into your lap with your low belly, so the hip bones point to the thighs. 
4. Engage the quadriceps and hip flexors to avoid overstretching the hamstrings.
5. Keeping the legs bent to your comfort level, bring the low belly to the tops of the thighs, and take the hands to wherever they land naturally–behind the thighs, on the shins, or to the toes. 
6. Stay here and breathe for several smooth, full rounds of breath. Try to keep lengthening the spine on the inhale, and maybe you can fold a little more on the exhale (even if that’s just in your imagination!). 
7. After a few rounds of breath, slowly allow the legs to extend a little more, perhaps bringing the legs closer to straight. 
8. If your legs straighten easily and the hands touch your feet right away, then work on strengthening the muscles, rather than stretching. Never ever do a deep forward fold with passive muscles!

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Get Better at Stroking with Utkatasana

A Yoga Class Practicing Utaktasana - Fierce Pose

Utkatasana is a strength builder – it strengthens the abdominal muscles, lower back, glutes, quadriceps, ankles, and diaphragm, but really, activates the entire body. 

It opens the chest, stretches under the arms, and develops mobility in the shoulders.

B.K.S. Iyengar said in Light on Yoga that this “is a beneficial pose for horsemen”... a side note that seems outdated, but is very accurate. 

As skaters, we must maintain strong legs and deep ankle and knee bend while demonstrating upright, undisturbed carriage.   

It’s all about staying grounded into the ice, while the upper body is free to move about, interpreting the music and looking both fierce and elegant. 

To practice:

1. Stand in Tadasana with the feet together or one fist width apart. 
2. Bend the knees and ankles deeply, allowing the hips to move slightly back.
3. The knees should bend out past the toes–this is the bend we need when we skate–but make sure the knees track over the middle toes and don’t fall to the outside or inside. 
4. Reach the arms to the front, squeeze the palms together, and reach the arms overhead. If this is painful, the arms can be kept shoulder distance apart. If hands are together, allow the head to lean back and gaze at the thumbs. If the hands are apart, you may gaze straight ahead. 
5. As you sit deeply, allow the knees to move forward, and the torso to stay tall.   
6. Hold for 5 rounds of smooth, steady breath. 
7.  To come out, press into the feet, straighten the legs, and reach the arms overhead. Finally, allow the arms to come back to the sides and stand in Tadasana. Notice how you feel. Try 1-2 more times.  ​

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Off-Ice Figure Skating Training with Yoga

The purpose of all yoga is to build awareness and help allow the mind to slow down, so we can begin to follow our own path of purpose, happiness, and fulfillment. 

And while yoga involves many different things besides just physical postures, an asana practice is a good starting point for the yoga journey. 

There are so many great poses, but the ones outlined in this post and in the other two parts of this series are my top picks (the most effective) for skaters. These poses offer direct parallels to skating postures, and most of them do not require any props to practice safely, so you can try them anywhere, anytime. 

All you need is to find a good spot with enough space and light, where you won’t be worried about anything but your breath. Do a gentle warm-up to get the blood flowing through the muscles, and then pick as many of the poses as you have time for. 

Only have 5-10 minutes? Do a quick warm-up and do 1-2 poses. 

Have more time? Do a couple more poses. 

Just try to leave yourself enough time to end with a short relaxation in Savasana or Viparita Karani. The relaxation after the asana is where the magic happens. ​

Get practical yoga tools for handling the monkey mind that pops up at performance mind with my FREE GUIDE: Anti-Anxiety Tools for Skaters. 

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