Health & Fitness Benefits

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Step It Up Fitness Challenge

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This week’s fitness challenge will have you ‘Step it up’ and tour famous monuments across the United States. Climb your way to the top of the Statue of Liberty, the Seattle Space Needle and St. Louis’ Gateway Arch.

All you need is a flight of stairs for this activity. Each box represents 10 steps (or a standard flight of stairs) and as you climb to the top of each monument, you will ultimately finish at the top of the Gateway Arch which will be 1,076 steps high! See you all virtually at our weekly Friday fitness session.

Learn to Skate USA

Learn to Skate USA

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Weekly Fitness Challenges

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As we continue to practice social distancing, here’s our next weekly fitness challenges, “Fit-25 Bingo” and “Name Drop Challenges.” These sets of exercises will help keep you up with cardio, strength, balance, and overall wellness.

We can do them together when we see each other at our virtual off-ice workout session every Friday.

Source: Learn To Skate USA, https://medium.com/learn-to-skate-usa/take-the-fit-25-bingo-challenge-bcf03ccaf8d7

Source: Learn To Skate USA, https://medium.com/learn-to-skate-usa/take-the-fit-25-bingo-challenge-bcf03ccaf8d7

Source: Learn to Skate USA, https://medium.com/learn-to-skate-usa/name-drop-challenge-your-friends-to-an-off-ice-workout-50ae1a361b4c

Source: Learn to Skate USA, https://medium.com/learn-to-skate-usa/name-drop-challenge-your-friends-to-an-off-ice-workout-50ae1a361b4c

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Staying Fit Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

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It was so disappointing to learn that the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal next week had been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, this means we won’t be able to watch the highly anticipated Nathan Chen (US) and Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) compete for the gold.  What’s even more disappointing is that my favorite ice dance team, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, will not be able to challenge the French ice dancers, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, for the title this year. Chock and Bates reclaimed their US National title this year with their amazing Egyptian snake freedance program. Hopefully, Worlds will be postponed to the fall?

As the health and well-being of my students are my highest priority, I will not be scheduling any lessons for the next several weeks. Group classes at Middletown Ice World have also been cancelled effective March 16 until further notice and the rink will offer refunds to those registered in the current 7-week session. The rink is following U.S. Figure Skating’s recommendation that all club events and programs be canceled or postponed through at least May 11. 

In the meantime, I will be scheduling weekly virtual off-ice sessions for my students so we can not only stay active but also connected and engaged. I will use Learn to Skate USA’s off-ice challenges which combine cardio, strength, stretching, and balance exercises. If you can not attend virtually, then you can go online via the Learn to Skate USA mobile app (free) and do the workouts at your convenient. If you complete these challenges in the app, you can earn badges for your digital trophy case. See you soon!

Thank you all for your patience and understanding. 
Stay safe and healthy and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

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Skating Creates Lasting Friendships

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In addition to the many health benefits of skating, (pls see my published Jan 2019 article, https://www.figureskatingetc.com/miscell2/2019/2/4/skating-promotes-fitness-and-good-health), another important aspect of the sport is its impact on one’s social skills. Skating is a great way to meet new people and make new friends. If you visit a public open skate session, you never fail to see people of all ages laughing and having fun together. Those who attend group classes or camp are participating among a community of individuals who all share the same passion. With this common interest, many end up building lifelong friendships that extend beyond the rink.

Today was my last day volunteering at Figure Skating in Harlem. During my short time with the program, I had an incredibly rewarding experience and made so many wonderful new friends. In particular, Leah, a 9-yr old girl in my class, quickly bonded with me. She was fascinated by my Asian eyes and hair and how young I was to be a skating instructor. Her questions about my background (where I lived, how many siblings I have, my relationship status, etc) made me double over with laughter. The minute I stepped on the ice, she immediately greeted me with a huge hug greatly warmed my heart. I will miss Leah and all my summer campers. While I’m sad that I won’t be able to see and continue working with these wonderful young children during the school year, I look forward to my time with them next summer and am excited to make many more new friendships. I hope I made a small difference in some of the kids’ lives as they have enriched mine in so many ways.

Check out my friends’ Summer Dreams Camp video - https://www.facebook.com/FigureSkatinginHarlem/videos/2192064950922012/Asia

MY SUMMER DREAMS CAMP FAMILY Figure Skating in Harlem

MY SUMMER DREAMS CAMP FAMILY
Figure Skating in Harlem

Stay Heart Healthy

This weekend, my Garden State Skating Club friends and I came out to support the 2nd annual Nicole Heart Foundation 5K Run/Walk. The event is to honor the memory of Nicole Trott who passed away from an undiagnosed congenital heart defect, just days after her 18th birthday and high school graduation in 2011.  The Foundation's mission is to foster greater awareness and education of the importance of cardiac screening and prevent future sudden unexpected tragedies from this illness.  Proceeds of the event will help fund cardiac screening for high school athletes. These pre-sport heart screenings are not cost effective because athletic sudden cardiac death is a rare event.

I know of an Olympic skater who I had lessons with during my summers in Lake Placid, NY who suffered from sudden cardiac arrest a few years ago.  It is Paul Wylie, 1992 Silver Olympic medalist, and he had suddenly collapsed while running and was in coma for two days before he came out of it.  A cardiac screening would not have detected the electrical malfunction that caused his heart to stop.   Consequently, screening in young athletes remains a controversial issue and a heated debate topic. According to the article, 'Screening Athletes for Heart Disease', in the July 2007 issue of the Heart Journal, it is recommended screenings be done every year (or two years wth new health history) before training for the sport begins. However, there are issues with having required screenings which include false alarms and screenings which have not proven to fully prevent sudden cardiac death (except for a study done in Italy which has shown reduced deaths with screenings).  However, pre-screenings should be considered if you have a family history of premature sudden death, personal history of heart disease and experience cardiac symptoms.

STAY HEART HEALTHY & ENJOY A SAFE & STRONG ATHLETIC LIFE!

Skating Promotes Fitness & Good Health

I wanted to dedicate this week's post not to a specific skating skill or element, but instead to emphasize the importance of skating and its positive impact on people. As U.S. Figure Skating kicks off its biggest annual National Skating Month campaign, I want to educate my skaters and parents of the myriad physical, mental, emotional and social health benefits skating provides to all.

Obesity is a growing issue and physical inactivity has become a global pandemic. According to the July 18, 2012 Time magazine article, ‘Lack of Exercise as Deadly as Smoking', almost 10% of deaths worldwide in 2008 were reported to be possibly attributed to inactivity. The article cited that a lack of exercise causes as many as 10% premature deaths around the world each year which is roughly as many as smoking. It was reported that if we reduce physical inactivity by 10% then some 533,000 deaths per year could be prevented, and if reduced by 25% then 1.3 million deaths could be averted. Furthermore, if we got everyone off the couch and eliminate inactivity then the expectancy of world’s population would increase by 0.68 years.

Children who have obesity are more likely to have high blood pressure and cholesterol, breathing problems, joint problems and increased risk of diseases including heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer. There’s also psychological problems such as low self-esteem, depression and social problems associated with childhood obesity. Nowadays, children spend much more time on their mobile phones, emailing and texting and watching Netflix, and not getting enough physical activity. Also, there’s much more high calorie and low nutritional foods and drinks available which also contribute to excess weight gain.