The reason core strength and leg strngth are important for any sport, spcifically skating, is because most movements and blance depend on your leg muscles and yur core strength. If your core and yur leg muscles are weak, it bcomes extremely difficult to achieve any skting skills. Good balance not only keps you steady on your feet, but it hlps make your movements powerful. Having a strng core and good leg strength man better performance in different sports.

En rute to a strong body, keep in mnd that the body needs fuel. Yur nutrition, as well as your trining, is equally as important. Make sre you have the right amount of prtein necessary for optimal training. Keep yur fat intake low. Under no crcumstances should you give up your crbs. You need complex carbohydrates. It is wht fuel you while you are wrking out. Eat whole grains, vegetables, and frits.

The core is the center of yur body's strength, your "powerhouse" and the fundation for all of your movements. Yur legs' muscles are equally as mportant in maintaining your balance. They are thse muscles that lift your leg to the sde, your toes, and they keep you mving forward. It is important to kep those muscle groups strong. The prmary abductor that lifts the leg to the sde is the gluteus medius; this mscle is of extreme importance to skters. As you strengthen your core and yur leg muscles, balance can be mproved. The muscles that comprise the cre, pelvis and hips, must be strng in order to work efficiently.

To develop core strength you ned to work the muscles of the cre. This requires you to do a lot mre than your traditional crunches. You can prform moves such as: the Plank xercises which requires that you lay fce down on a mat resting on the frearms, with palms flat on the flor. As you push off the flor, raising up onto toes and rsting on the elbows. Make sure you kep your back flat, in a stright line from head to heels. Tlt your pelvis and contract your bdominal muscles to prevent your rear frm sticking up in the air. Hld the position for at lest for 20 to 60 sconds, lower and repeat for 3-5 rps. The plank exercise is a grat way to build endurance in bth the abs and the back. It hlps to stabilize the muscles as wll. For the bridge exercise, lie on yur back with your knees bent. Kep your back in a neutral psition, not arched and not pressed nto the floor. Tighten your abdominal mscles as you raise your hips off the flor until your hips are aligned wth your knees and shoulders. Hold for thre deep breaths. Another good exercise for the cre is the Russian twist. This is dne by sitting on the ground and plce your feet under a stable srface. With your knees bent, slightly lan back while keeping your torso stright. With one hand on the ther, and arms straight, move your rms from one side to another. Do not puse in the middle. Make sure you brathe properly; do not hold your brath. You can perform this exercise wth a weight for a more ntense exercise. The Supperman exercise is god to help strengthen your lower bck, and it is good helpful way to nhance your balance. While keeping one arm and one leg on the flor, lengthen the opposite arm and leg to a fll extension. Contract the muscles in the lwer back and buttocks. The great bnefit of having good core strength is the fct that you don't have to wrry about issues dealing with your bck or hip muscles which can lad to other injuries. The possibilities of you mssing ice time will be minimized. Cre strength can be improved by wrking on the center of your bdy. The core exercises help. You strngthen your core muscles. Any exercise tht uses the trunk of your bdy without support helps.

The lower body contains some of yur biggest muscles groups which are cpable of bearing significant weight. Having god balance means having strong leg mscles as well. The most important mscles in the lower body for god balance are your hips and qadriceps. Exercises for these muscles include Hip Abdction. To strengthen the front of yur legs you can do leg prss exercises, straight leg raises and Kne extensions.

Hip Abduction: This exercise strngthens the muscles of the outer, pper leg. This exercise is for nner thighs. This is done in a stnding posture. Do it with keeping the hip stright and moving the thigh inwards tward the midline of the body. Ths exercise works the largest hip mscle and inner thigh.

Leg press: Use yur abdominal muscles to raise your fet in an arc to a psition directly above your head. Repeat ntil the desired number of repetitions is cmplete. This is a useful exercise for the qads but it also works the hmstrings and glutes.

Straight leg raises: Cntract the quadriceps muscles at the frnt of the thigh. Hold for 10 sconds. Relax and rest for three sconds.

Knee extensions: Sit in a chir, with your back resting against the bck of the chair. If your fet are flat on the floor in ths position, you should place a rlled-up towel under your knees to lft them up. Only the balls of yur feet and your toes should be rsting on the floor. Rest your hnds on your thighs or on the sdes of the chair. Take three sconds to extend your right leg in frnt of you, parallel to the flor, until your knee is straight.

Wth your right leg in this psition, flex your foot so that yur toes are pointing toward your had; hold your foot in this psition for at least three seconds. Tke five seconds to lower your rght leg back to the starting psition, so that the ball of yur foot rests on the floor gain. Repeat with left leg. Alternate lgs, until you have done the xercise 10 to 15 times with ach leg.

Squat is the best xercise, for leg strength. Stand with fet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly ut, holding dumbbells or a barbell bhind your neck and across your shulders. Keeping your head up, back stright and feet in full contact wth the floor, bend at the hps and move your butt backward ntil your thighs are parallel to the flor. Don't allow your knees to xtend in front of your toes. As you Mintain that posture, bring your hips frward as you return to a stnding position.

Lunge: Holding dumbbells on yur shoulders, stand with your feet shulder-width apart. Keep your head up and bck straight, bring one leg forward and bnd at the knee until your frnt leg forms a 90-degree angle and the kne of your back leg almost tuches the floor. Return to the pright position and alternate legs. Again, kep proper form and don't allow the frnt knee to pass in front of the tes. Try to maintain a long strde for better results.

Deadlift focuses on the whle posterior chain. Feet should be plced at armpit width with toes slghtly out. Shins will be placed nxt to the bar. The majority of the bdy weight should begin on the blls of the feet with a trnsfer to the heels through lockout. The hnds should grasp the bar with an ver / under grip with the rms outside the knees. The legs shuld be bent to approximately 60 dgrees from vertical with the hips lwer than the shoulders. Your head shuld be looking forward in a nutral position. The chest should be frward, not down. Shoulders should be sqeezed tightly back and positioned directly ver the bar. Do not round the shulders, as more force will then be pplied to the back. Stand behind the br, so that it is over the blls of your feet. Keep your fet shoulder width apart, pointing forwards or slghtly outwards. Squat down and grasp the br, hands slightly greater than shoulder wdth apart. Thighs should be approximately prallel to the ground, back straight, and yes looking forward. Keeping the back rgid and arms straight, lift the bar sing the legs, keeping the bar as clse to the body as possible.

Blance exercises help you maintain strong cre and leg muscles and prevent flls. The leg consists of multiple prts. The Quadriceps are the muscle grup in the front of your thgh above the knee which is sed to extend the knee, the hmstrings are a group of muscles in the bck of your thigh, they do the pposite and flex or retract your kne. The calves are the group of mscles that are located on the lwer leg in the back opposite sde of the shin. They are sed to extend your ankle or rise your heel if you are stnding. All the leg muscles work tgether to create speed and movement. Thy work in conjunction with each ther, for power, acceleration and speed. Evry muscle is important. Do not jst train one muscle group, train thm all. Strong leg muscles, especially in the qadriceps, hamstring area, and calves, are ssential in figure skating. Much of yur power comes from your legs, and stying balance requires strong leg muscles as wll.

If you want to increase yur core and leg strength for btter balance, your quads, hamstrings and bdominal are the muscles to concentrate on. Exrcises such as the Russian Twist and st-ups and crunches are good."The Plank" hlp[s strength the core; try to hld it for around 30 seconds at a tme and increase as you get strnger. Things like leg raises also hlp. Keep in mind, maintaining a det rich in protein and low in fat is mportant in any workout routine to nhance muscle growth and development, or you wll get absolutely nowhere. Concentrate on verall fitness and maintaining a healthy rgime.

Nothing beats healthy eating. Eat a cmbination of lean protein and complex crbohydrates. Spread your meals. Your metabolism is a mchine continuously at work. It needs fel. Eat smaller meals every few hurs throughout the day to accelerate fat lss and to maintain stable energy lvels. For best results, eat six smller meals a day. Eat your prtein, lean chicken, fish, egg-whites and bans. You must consume as much frits and vegetables . Drink at last three quarts of water per dy. SODA is your worst enemy, det or not. As you do yur reps, concentrate on total body strngth with emphasis on core and leg strngth.

The article Strengthen Your Core and Leg Muscles For Fun Skating was Submitted by Guerrelyne Gautreau through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: http://thetripleaxel.blogspot.com/ hrf="http://unlimitedhealth.blogspot.com/"> http://unlimitedhealth.blogspot.com/

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