Yesterday I briefly touched upon strength as a focus for my winter training this year. I've given it some more thoughts and have since drawn some connections between what I do and how I skate. What do you think of when you describe a skater who possesses lots of physical strength? One who does not get tired when everyone else does? Or perhaps one with huge leg muscles? Those are some obvious associations but they are not the connections that I see with my training.
Of course I work hard on my cardio so that I can finish a race and recover from multiple bursts of acceleration during a race. I also train to get more powerful so I have a higher top-end speed and better acceleration. Technique is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning strength but it has everything to do with improving my skating technique. I have a number of technique issues that go way back. Coaches have worked with me patiently over the years. We identify the symptoms. We try to analyze the root cause. We try to come up with visualization tricks. Of course I still don't skate with good technique. Is it because I don't try hard enough? Possibly. Is it because my body is built such a way that prevents me from executing good technique? Not likely. After many frustrating sessions, coach SZ came to this conclusion: I do not yet have the necessary muscular strength to execute good technique.
Let's use an example to illustrate my point. When I first learned to crossover, coach AA spent lots of time correcting my collapsing left knee. Knee should point out instead of in, easy enough, right? Well, no. Lacking the necessary strength in the glutes to actually balance my weight with my left knee pointing out, my body compensates by collapsing the knee.
An obvious solution is spend more time on skates while maintaining good technique. If it's only that easy. How long can I realistically skate with "perfect" technique? A few minutes? Once I pass that threshold, body seeks a more comfortable position and once again I am reenforcing compensation and bad habits. This reminds me of the saying "one step forward, two steps back". In order for me to break out of that cycle, coach SZ prescribes weight training and off-skates drills that focus on strengthening my skating-specific muscles. This is the kind of strength I try to develop this winter.
It is too early to tell if it is working yet. SZ and I both know that it is a long-term investment. I still remember the time when I could not will my body to move certain ways. It was especially frustrating when coaches pointed out the same issues over and over again. I wanted to cry "I understand you perfectly, I just cannot do it"! That, of course, is an unacceptable response because cannot is a word that does not exist in a dedicated athlete's vocabulary. Changes do not happen overnight. However, recently, I'm starting to feel that I have better control of my body. I can actually make minor changes and feel the difference they make. I am confident that I am on the right path.
I have wondered about this too. Some people will say that you should only practice for as long as you can hold perfect form. Umm, so that's, like, 4 minutes? And then what?
Welp, hope you are doing well.
Posted by: Bill in Houston | November 28, 2009 at 16:01