Ice Skating A Great Year-Round Activity

Whether it’s winter or summer, ice skating can be a great year-round activity to keep you active and fit. Of course, you don’t always need a frozen lake to enjoy ice skating, as many major cities have indoor ice skating rinks that allow you to enjoy the activity even if it’s 100 degrees outside. The stability, control and strength involved in ice skating, either competitively or recreationally, are key elements in the activity that make it a fun and healthy activity for all ages and abilities.

Here are the Top Health Benefits of Ice Skating:

Better balance: Ice skating helps improve your balance through fun and positive exercise. Travelling across an incredibly slippery surface should quickly train you to stay on your feet.

Improves joint flexibility: If your leg joints creak every time you rise from your bed in the morning, ice skating could offer a real solution. With its emphasis on quick foot movements and strong knees, your leg joints will receive a great workout and hopefully feel more flexible in no time.

Builds leg muscles: Focusing on lower-body movement, ice skating offers great exercise for the leg muscles, building and toning them up over time.

Cardio: Aerobic exercise is an important aspect of cardiovascular health, and ice skating provides a great aerobic workout. The best part about skating is you get a great cardio workout without even knowing it.

Endurance: Ice skating requires energy over an extended period of time, making it a great way to build your endurance. The longer you skate, the more you’ll improve your endurance, not just for ice skating but for other sports and activities as well.

Weight management: If you are trying to lose or maintain your weight, ice skating is a good way to burn calories while having fun! Ice skating burns from 300-650 calories per hour, depending on how hard you skate.

Stress relief: Regular physical activity like ice skating can help combat the effects of stress. Ice skating is one of the most fun ways to exercise, especially if you skate outdoors where you can soak up the scenery and enjoy nature.

Improves joints: Through gliding and synchronized movement of the legs, the joints and muscles will get a great workout and will become flexible in no time. Skating is said to be more beneficial than cycling and running. Ice skating works almost every major muscle group in the body, including joints.