Exercise Machines Used by Short Track Speed Skaters

The competitions that short track speedskaters participate in force them to perform short, explosive races multiple times throughout the event. As a result, they must possess anaerobic endurance, as well as power and strength in their lower body in order to be able to excel. United States Olympic speedskater Eddy Alvarez trains for six to eight hours per day to get into shape for competitions. Some conditioning workouts for short track speedskaters utilize exercise machines.

  1. Cycling Machines

    • According to Patrick Meek, long track world cup team member, speedskaters will use cycling to condition their hips and legs for speedskating. He notes that cycling works the same muscle groups as speedskating, including the glutes and quadriceps, while being easier on the joints than skating or running. In addition, the stationary cycling machine can be used to develop aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. Most fitness facilities offer both upright and reclined versions of cycling machines. To better mimic body positioning when skating, speedskaters will more commonly use the upright machine. Because of the similarities between speedskating and cycling, it’s not uncommon for speedskaters to move onto cycling competitions after their speedskating career.

    Leg Press Machine

    • Speedskater Alvarez notes that speedskating is a lower-body dominant event. Your gluteus maximus extend your hips and your quads handle movement at the knees as you explosively skate around the track. The leg press machine effectively builds strength in both the gluteus maximus and quads. Position yourself in the unit and place your feet on the platform with them in a staggered position like when skating. Lower the platform by flexing your knees and hips and then extend the joints to push the platform away from you. You could also perform single-leg leg press to force each lower limb to work independently.

    Treadmill Machines

    • According to Alvarez, he and other speedskaters will either cycle or run for 45 to 60 minutes two to three days per week. To limit the stress placed on their ankles, knees and hips, they’ll often select running on a treadmill instead of outdoors. You can increase the demand on the glutes and quads by increasing the incline. The treadmill can also be used to perform strides or sprints by doing short bursts of running at a fast speed, which will build anaerobic endurance.

    Beyond Machines

    • Most of the exercises that speedskaters will perform don’t involve exercise machines. They’ll often use a lifting platform and squat rack so that they can perform Olympic and compound weight exercises. To build power in his hips and quads, Alvarez will do hang cleans on a lifting platform. Olympic speedskater Jessica Smith uses the lifting platform and squat rack to perform back squats. United States Speeedskating Association recommends plyometric jumping exercises, which can be performed on a lifting platform and in some circumstances using a plyo box. They have their athletes build lower body explosiveness with squat jumps with the feet in a skating position. With a plyo box, Alvarez and Smith do box jumps, which involve starting on the floor and exploding into a maximum height jump to land atop the box.