You've seen em' on TV, and maybe you know one or two. How much or little you know about figure skating doesn't determine the likelihood of your awareness that they have a petite physique and incredible athletic abilities. But sadly, the significance of aesthetic perfection, and the high-pressure nature of the sport is causing a huge epidemic entitled: disordered eating! OK, as much as I believe males do suffer from eating disorders, let's get real here. The majority of the disordered population (at least in figure skating) are of the female gender.
Can we first note the incredible amount of physical training figure skaters take part in? I mean, I don't know the global sporting difficulty stats, and I carry a decently genuine bias, but it has got to be one of the hardest sports. Ever. As an outsider, you really can't understand the true physicality of it...like at all.... but as a competitive figure skater myself, let me attempt to inform you. (Disclaimer: I might start adding in some figure skating jargin, I'll try and explain all the skating terms that I use so naturally, but if I forget please don't get stuck on the word, accept you aren't a skating freak, and forgive me☺)
- FULL CONTACT
Though we as skaters aren't being tackled by 200 lbs. men, we should be considered athletes of a full contact sport. Seriously people. When landing a jump (double jumps and up), you land 4-5 times your own body weight.... either on a blade that's millimeters in width, or on your unprotected body. No padding folks. No helmets. No gear. No nothin'. Just your bony butt, the hard ice surface, and (for me weighing in at 120 lbs.) SIX HUNDRED FRIGGIN POUNDS. This results in many injuries such as concussions, breaks, deep bruised bones and tissues, and other internal complications. To be honest, I don't even consider bruises as injuries anymore. Nor does it phase me when I'm sitting in the bath tub and discover a plethora of purple.
- FLEXIBILITY
K, so I'm not naturally flexible, and maybe that's why I wasn't at Sochi (hehe) but get a grip on some of these positions and the info I'll provide you with.
The "Biellmann." I'd say that approx. 85% of competitive female skaters can do this. Maybe not naturally, some of them have had to work extremely hard for it, but they have it. There's another 15% (pick me! pick me!) that are just incapable. The one phase in my skating career that I was determined to hit this position, I stretched my back out everyday, hoping to get more flexible, worked on a "Haircutter" position, and..........ended up taking two weeks off of full training due to a back injury. Woo.
"Haircutter"- the position mentioned above.
Every skater's program (routine) consists of (well a bunch of things, but) a spiral sequence. A spiral sequence is a set of static movements held for approx. 3-5 seconds. Here are some examples:
So as you can see, ummm.... ouch. All I can say.
- AGILITY
Agility is defined by google (princeton, wordnet.web) as "the gracefulness of a person or animal that is quick and nimble" How perfect. Skaters need to be SO quick and nimble. Oh, and I'll get to the graceful part later on. Ah, the beauty of fast twitch muscles. What are they you ask? They are muscle fibers found in bundles of myocytes. Think of it this way... a long distance runner (slow twitch) and someone who does hurdles (fast twitch). A hurdler needs to have the endurance of that long distance runner, for sure, but needs the ability to rapidly contract muscles in order to perform a specific task (which in this case would be jumping the hurdle.) The abundance of fast twitch muscles, and their quality of performance is mostly genetically inherited. However, fast twitch muscle can be enhanced by training. All of this info that I'm giving you is based off of what I learned in co-op last semester, so I mean it's probably true but I could be a little cloudy. All rambling aside, skaters need to be crazily agile. In your program you have to move from CRAZY PHYSICAL FAST TWITCH ELEMENT 2 FEET OFF THE ICE, to (deeeep siiigggh) beautiul arabesque, to SPIN SPIN SPIN, GRAB YOUR FOOT, CONTRACT!!!! to graceful itty bitty arm movement, to ....etc... i'm assuming you're catching my drift. If not, just move on.
- POWER + CARDIO
What sport do you think of when you hear the word power? Speed? For me, hockey comes to mind. I didn't just wanna say hockey though, so think of your own. Skaters need to have the speed of speed skaters and the power of hockey players (or insert your own speedy and powerful sports). The crazy thing is, they need to have ridiculous amounts of both, but make it look fluid, dynamic, seamless, beautiful and oh yeah...wear a sparkly dress. As if that wasn't enough, their maximum outpouring of speed and power must last for up to four minutes in a long program. As skaters, we train speed and power just like other power athletes, with on ice "drills" and off ice training. And then there's the whole cardio component. Whew. I heard that 20 seconds into a long program, a skater's heart rate is already at like 80% of the maximum potential..or something like that... I wish I could remember where I heard the fact so I could portray it accurately. Do you really want to know how it feels to get through a long program? Try this then:
-Go change into a mini skirt
-Go outside
-Start in a beautiful position that makes you laugh
-Sprint as hard as you can for 10 seconds
-Do 12 cartwheels in a row
-Come right out of it, full speed ahead, sprinting for 8 seconds into a split jump
-Jump as high as you can 8 times
-Sprint for 40 seconds, up a hill
-Spin around for 20 seconds, looking at the sky
-Stop and act like a fairy
-Sprint for 5 and jump
-10 Burpees
-25 tuck jumps
-Cartwheels again
-Cue the ending position
- HOURS
A competitive skater has a minimum ice time of 15 hours on ice per week. If you think that's a lot, get your head wrapped around this one: That's the minimum... and that's only training at the rink. My weekly schedule consists of 2-3 hours on the ice per day, a minimum a half hour before hand warming up and 15 minutes afterwards cooling down. Off ice conditioning four times a week for 1-2 hours, including strength (weight lifting,) cardiovascular training, plyometrics, mobility and flexibility and other stuff. Now comes all the extras: swimming, ballet, other dance classes, off-ice jump class, stretching and running. This description was designed to help you better understand the weekly physical output for high-performance skaters. If I wanted to persuade you into believing we are one of the most disciplined athletes I would go on to talk about the things we do mentally as well, but for the purposes of this blog post I'll cut it off here.
"Why am I sitting here reading this persuasive essay on figure skating?!" OK NO. If you wanted that, you would have got that, I could say much much much much more about the physicality of the sport. But this is mainly for people to understand that skaters are very physical athletes, burning up toooonnnsss of energy with their daily routines. So skaters, why do a large population of you starve? Did you know... a 130 lb bball player would burn around 470 calories playing for 1 hour, and ice skating alone for a 130 pounder, burns 530 calories in one hour. Not to mention all the extra training I mentioned above. Well then why are we more susceptible to developing eating disorders? Personally, I think it's the pressure. The nature of the sport just SCREAMS pressure. It's not like you have a team on your side, or an hour long game to redeem your mistakes. It's just you, your skates, your sparkles and the judges- and you've only got your hours of training to rely on. When it's all been said and done, your two minutes is up. The panel (5-20 people) of judges, technical specialists, callers, and other officials just sit there ready to stare down the next victim. Not to mention an audience! I mean, I've never skated on live TV, but lots of skaters have to deal with the pressure of press and paparazzi like media reporters at competitions and other events. But even for skaters at my level, you have audiences watching your every move. Families and friends of you AND your competitors, random skating fans, and sometimes even your competitors themselves. Ah. Stress stress stress. Well no wonder a girl would want to look fabulous! We also belong to a sport where having less body weight is a benefit to your aerodynamic performance. Although most young ladies just don't even know about MUSCLE vs. FAT. Sure, being lighter might make it easier to jump, but some of those spaghetti girls I've skated against or watched, certainly lack power. They rotate their double jump (woohoo... really, that's awesome! great!) but they aren't going to have a sufficient amount of power, strength, and height to carry themselves through a triple jump or eventually a senior long program. I'm really not trying to be rude, and hey, I don't have a triple jump under my belt either, but all I'm saying is: SKINNY does not = BETTER.
Let me now bore you with my personal experience and opinion.
Though I do not suffer from any eating disorder, I would consider myself to be a overly conscious eater. My culprit? Irritable bowel syndrome. Not the greatest of situations, no. There are many foods that just don't agree with my system right now, as it's training and under so much physical stress. This has developed over the past two years since I've decided to take skating more seriously, and really worsened this year when I moved away from home to train. Is it going to stop me? No. Not one bit. It's just something I've had to adjust to and it's great as it forces me to be a conscientious eater which is beneficial to sport performance. Digging deeper though, had I not developed IBS, I firmly believe that this year I'd still have developed a clean- eating-obsession. I would still be very careful as to what I decide to put into my body. That's the key. Food is power/fuel. It gives us what we need nutritionally as athletes. We don't need to turn to artificial sources of replenishment and enhancement when God's blessed us with full access to these genuine sources of nutrients. We all have the great honour of feeding our bodies and WE get to choose what to put in them. Because I am currently working my butt off to be training, my parents are also working their butts off so training can be paid for, and this opportunity has been so graciously given to me, I'd be silly not to watch what I eat! An opportunity like this needs to be MAXIMIZED and in order to reach the full potential of this time in Barrie, there's no other choice for me but to "fuel" my body with the most "expensive," highest quality "gas." But that's just it. Food can actually enhance your performance! The right food just needs to be chosen.
So skaters. If you genuinely need to drop a few pounds to maximize from your training (most of you don't, but there might be a few of you...) turn to the right sources, for the right reasons, and set your boundaries. I admit, I needed to. When I first began competitively training, I wasn't fully benefiting because I hadn't reached my physical potential. I wanted to lose a bit of fat. (Notice my choice of words: fat. Not weight.) I wanted to become healthier, not skinnier. And I did! I began building leaner muscle, and my ability to tangibly lift weights improved. I got a little bit skinnier in the process too, but that was not the goal. I feel amazing now and my skating performance has improved drastically. Here's the thing. I never want to be any skinnier than I am now. Now that the excess fat is gone, I know that I'm at my body's potential. I admit that there are times that I watch world class skaters and look at their skinny little bodies and think, crap, I'm never going to make it to that. But then again, quite honestly, if that's what had to happen in order to be at the top of the sport, I really don't think it'd be worth it. I am currently SO healthy. 10 pounds skinnier and I'd be super unhealthy. 10 pounds more, in terms of muscle and I'd be ecstatic! So I'm building from this point, going nowhere but upppppp.
Skaters, I'm going to give you a little tool here. Now, if you're in denial of your eating disorder, that's completely normal. All I ask is that you would PLEASE talk to SOMEONE and get SOME form of help. As a skater I know how much passion comes with being a competitor. I'd hate to see you not perform to your full potential because you're at a lack of energy. Maybe you have a parent or coach that pressures you into this, and if that's the case- that's horrible. Please again, talk to someone (other than the parent or coach) and get some help. Maybe some of you are just unaware of what foods to eat, wanting to be "healthy" (skinny,) so you just don't eat very much. If that's the case, I wanna help you out girl friend! Please see below for my list of nutritional training essentials for the ladies of figure skating.
THE SOLUTION
Coaches
- Start building your skaters up. Don't criticize them for wanting to become healthier, or judge them for wanting to lose body fat. Rather, help them in a positive and healthy way and make a plan. Check in with your skaters, making sure they are taking responsibility but not obsessing.
- Watch for early signs of eating disorders, and remain in open communication with the skater's parents.
- Do not ever put any pressure on a skater to look like another skater. Every person's genetic body composition is unique. Rather, enforce a healthy diet and embrace their physical gifts.
- Be a good example. Words are great and all, and telling your skaters to eat healthy is nice, but do it yourself. Kids will remember something better if they see you doing it...practice what you preach.
Parents
- You have a huge role as a parent of a high-performance athlete.....
- Encouraging your athlete to eat healthy is great, but not the most effective. Stock your cupboards and fridges with healthy foods so that they're already available to them.
- Have open communication lines with your skaters and their coaches
- Do your research on health food and training. Create a plan with your athlete and embrace
1. Variety, 2. Whole foods, and 3. Moderation
- Watch for early signs of eating disorders in your children
- If you're not into the whole health thing but your athlete is, that's a whole other playing field.....
- Don't judge them for wanting to take charge of their diet to enhance their performance. Don't make comments about having an eating disorder if they are just refusing to eat junk. Parental comments to innocent athletes can often spark ideas of eating disorders that didn't already exist.
- Yep. Health food is more expensive. Deal with it. Do you want all the money you're paying for skating to go to waste? Or for it to be maximized?
Skaters- Don't you ever believe that being skinnier is going to make you a better athlete. The only thing being pin thin is going to give you is.... being skinny.
- Eat good food. Eat LOTS of food. Your body is likely in an anabolic state more often than the average person. That means your body is BUILDING.... Food makes you stronger and that's the bottom line.
- I know some skaters who go to the gym for hours each week, and I see them lift weights and workout, and all that jazz. One thing I haven't noticed about these few skaters is that they don't appear to be getting any stronger. That's fine, and maybe I'm just completely wrong and need to wear my glasses more often or something, but I've also never seen these people EAT. Post- Exercise, you need to refuel your body in order for it to build. Remember that. Do it. Otherwise, just don't go to the gym in the first place. You could be at home studying.
- Aim for HEALTHY not SKINNY. If you feel that you want to make some goals in order to improve your skating performance, make sure they are based on HEALTH not APPEARANCE. For eg. losing fat vs. weight. Eating smarter vs. less. Training smarter vs. harder. ETC.
- Remember that a granola bar is not a sufficient source of replenishment, and a yogurt tube for lunch isn't gonna keep you going.
- Acknowledge all that your body is doing for you. Read the physical components I ranted about above. Realize and appreciate that you are among some of the physically hardest working athletes in the world and that your body IS doing a lot for you. Even on days where you don't feel like you did as much, it's still important to nourish your body as much as you would on a heavier training day. Remember this is a TRAINING PERIOD of your life, where you should constantly be building, building, building. Don't base how much you eat on how much you did that day. Base it off of when you're full! Listen to your body for Pete's sake!
- Please read my suggestions below.
As a member of the society of high-performance athletes, someone who cannot consume any products coming from a Cow's utter or from the infamous wheat grain that contains gluten, someone who is passionate about food and all that it has to offer out bodies if we are smart about what we consume, and someone who's appetite has grown tremendously this year, I have done my fair amount of research regarding nutrition and sport performance. Here's what I learned. (PS. When in doubt, have a banana. They cure almost everything)
Breakfast (my most favourite meal of the day)
A large, high-protein breakfast, with lots of variety is very important to start your day off right. It will help you feel full longer, give you the energy you need to get through your vigorous training, and help kick start your metabolism for the day. If you train early morning sessions, try having a smoothie before you train (and maybe a piece of toast), and a large, protein centered, breakfast afterwards to replenish. Be creative with your breakfast, having variety from day to day. What to have:
- PRO-tein
-Eggs
-Nuts (Unsalted, Raw)
-Peanut or Almond Butter (Organic/Natural)
-Yogurt
- Some sort of Grain/Cue the Complex Carbs
-Quinoa
-Oats
-Toast (Be smart..)
-Cereal (Real Cereal folks... no lucky charms)
-Granola (I would strongly recommend Love Grown)
- Sugaaaa
-Fruit on fruit on fruit!
-Try Mixed Berries
-Frozen Berries
-Apple or banana w/ PB
-Smoothies
Mid-Morning SnackOr turn it into a meal..
Some people might choose to treat this as a second breakfast. Depending on your appetite, and when you're training, you might decide to do this. Some people might also make it an early lunch #1. I've done both. I normally end up making it breakfast #2 because I love breakfast foods more than any other type of food. If that doesn't line up with your schedule, or appeal to you, take it as a simple snack to keep your energy levels up there and ready to rip roar.
Depending on when you're training, make sure this snack is beneficial. If this snack is a post-training snack, make sure it's full of potassium and/or protein. For example, choose a banana (high in potassium) rather than strawberries, or a whole-nut-trail mix (high in protein) rather than a granola bar. Or better yet, eat both!
- Dried apricots
- Pear
- Greek yogurt
- Rolled dates (in coconut...mmm)
- Veggies (Carrotts are high in potassium) and hummus
- Nut bars or natural trail mix
If this snack is still pre-workout, have some complex carbs and protein. I normally have some sort of fruit/nut mix around this time, as well as some complex carb. Ideas:
- Fruit and granola (add greek yogurt!)
- Cut up a muffin into little chunks, put them in a container with berries, nuts and granola
- Dark chocolate (covered nuts or dried berries)
- Berries/sugary fruit
- Rice crackers/chips
There's oh so much more you could add. Literally hundreds of great snack ideas.
Lunch
Should always contain a source of 1. Complex Carbs 2. Protein 3. Fruit/ Veg.
To make things easy, make extra dinner every night and pack it for lunch the next day.
- Salads
There's so much room in the salad dept. for variety! You could have a salad every day and never have the same one. Add avacado, nuts, dried berries, and most important MEAT to your salads for deliciousness. I'd recommend KALE! It's amazing. I'd also recommend straying from store bought dressings. Mix a little balsamic vinegar with olive oil and it'll be great. Or try using applesauce on more sweet salads. Mmm....
- Soups
Your carb (noodles, rice, etc.) Your veg (veggies in the soup/stew) Your protein (the meat) le voila.
- Sandwiches
The only thing I'd have to say about this is watch your bread. Be smart about what bread you choose. Also, try substituting butter for hummus, and add MORE to it. Eg. Hummus, meat, veg, meat, veg, meat, hummus.... rather than hummus, lettuce, meat.
- Chili
Try some cool chili recipes. Anything including sweet potato and quinoa is a winner in my eyes. Try subbing ground chicken or turkey for ground beef. Mmmmmm...
- Pasta
Make sure you add plenty of meat. Lots of people eat so much noodles and sauce and so little meat. Don't let that deceive you! Meat meat meat.
Mid-Afternoon Snack
Or turn it into a meal...
Same as mid-morning snack. You may be feeling more savory by this point though.
- Veggies and hummus
- Crackers and hummus
- Salad
- Toasted chickpeas
Dinner
Suppertime is important not only to refuel your body from "today" but to get it ready for "tomorrow."
Make sure, like I've already said a million times- Protein, Carbs, Veg. I'm not going to bother typing out dinner examples, because as you can see from my shortening lists, my brain is starting to get tired. Let me just tell you that Uncle Ben's microwavable 2 minute rice should not be consumed by your precious, hardworking body. Eat real food. Especiaaalllly at dinner. Limit the pre-prepared/packaged foods. Treat your body right.
Evening Snack
Or turn it into a meal...
Before bed, it's smartest to eat something high in protein and calcium that will help your muscle build and repair while you sleep, and your bones develop. Try and avoid sugary snacks before bed. For example, banana, PB and milk would be smarter than a whole bunch of fruit. Sometimes, I even have whatevre leftover meat there is from dinner at this time. I often resort to granola and nuts though. I'm addicted, what can I say.
While you're training....
It's important to eat a good, big meal before you train, but make sure you time it right. Everyone's a little bit different in terms of what your body can handle, but it should be at least an hour before you train. 2 hours to be safe. 3 hours for competition.
-Coconut Water should be consumed by more athletes! It is a natural sports drink SUPER high in potassium. I must admit that I used to drink it every day and I had great amounts of energy. I need to go buy more. Need to need to. You don't like the taste? Get over it.
-H20 As a living human being, you should be consuming a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day. Athletes SHOULD be drinking more. Personally, I aim for 16 glasses. I normally reach 12, and rarely reach 16, but it's my daily goal each day. What's yours?
Brands I live off of..
-Taste of Nature
-Love Grown Foods
-Nature's Path
-Larabar
-So Good/Almond Fresh
Little things to use more of....
-Cinnamon
-Chia seeds
-Hemp
-Granola (ok, I know I'm obsessed)
-Spices
There you have it. What a blog post. It started off as a little blog for an eLearning assignment and turned into this. My prayer is that this journalism assignment has helped at least one skater, coach or parent out there.
Thanks for reading. ☺and remember....
