Level: Advanced
Base exercise: Y Position
Variation: None
Purpose: Skaters should practice their Y position off the ice to work on their flexibility and balance before trying it either as a spiral or in a spin.
Focus: Balance, proper shape
Direction: N/A
Equipment: No Equipment

Purpose: This stretch improves mobility in your shoulders and your hamstrings at the same time. Skaters should work on shoulder mobility because it is necessary for certain spin variations in which they grab the foot.

Focus: Shoulder mobility, hamstring flexibility, cross-catch camel, biellmann...

"Purpose: This advanced version of pigeon pose requires good hip flexibility and quad flexibility. Eventually skaters can work to the full king pigeon pose, which requires skaters to grab the back leg and reach their head back to touch their foot. This is a full body flexibility pose that is quit...

Purpose: Childs pose is a wonderful stretch with many benefits, including opening up your hips, lengthening your spine, relaxing your back, and stretching your ankles. It is also great for cool-down or for resetting your back after a back stretch

Focus: Injury prevention, hip opener, spinal elon...

Purpose: This pose helps stretch out your shoulders and increase mobility while also stretching your hamstrings and relieving low back tension in the forward fold

Focus: Injury prevention, shoulder mobility, shoulder extension, hamstring flexibility, low back tension relief, warm-up

Purpose: This variation of a standing forward fold helps skaters also work on shoulder mobility and flexibilty while stretching their hamstrings. Shoulder flexibilty is important for skills like the biellmann and any catch spirals or spins, as well as injury prevention

Focus: Hamstring flexibilt...

Purpose: In this stretch, skaters should feel a long line from the tops of their fingers that is reaching up all the way down to their toes. This focus on the line can help skaters understand how to elongate and lengthen to create better presentation on the ice.

Focus: Side body elongation, li...

Purpose: The triangle pose is beneficial in stretching the spine and helping with spinal rotation. It loosens up your hips as well as stretches your hamstrings. Placing a yoga block on the ground can make it more accessible and easier for skaters to access the pose.

Focus: Hip opener, spinal el...

Purpose: This layback stretch is a great way to have skaters focus on keeping their free leg lifted and externally rotated while leaning back.

Focus: Layback spin, attitude position, external rotation, back flexibility, hip flexibility, shoulder flexibility

Purpose: This stretch helps skaters work towards their Beillmann position without having to also focus on balance.

Focus: Back flexibility, shoulder flexibility, arm flexibility, hip flexibility, quad flexibility, hamstring flexibility

Purpose: This stretch class is geared towards helping skaters improve their Y-stands. There are just a few exercises but they are very effective for helping skaters gain a deeper stretch in their Y-stand.

Focus: Y-stand, lower body flexibility, hamstring flexibility, glute flexibility, hip flex...

Purpose: This is a nice relaxing and passive pose that skaters can use to stretch their quads after a practice session or workout

Focus: Quad flexibilty

Purpose: This pose stretches a skater's quad one leg at a time while also having them work on balance and stability. The standing side arm up helps skaters think about elongating their axis through their standing side.

Focus: Balance, stability, axis, quad stretch.

Purpose: Crossing the legs in the forward fold allows skaters to target the lateral hamstrings and stretch the IT band, which can be a limiting factor in skater's flexibility poses

Focus: IT band flexibility

Purpose: This forward fold variation increases the intensity of the stretch, and helps skaters work on getting their forehead to their knee, which is needed in a cannonball sit spin variation

Focus: Hamstring flexibilty, upper body position

Purpose: Seated forward folds are great stretches to improve hamstring flexibility and relieve lower back tension. This is a good stretch to do when finishing a training session or workout to cool down and help your hamstrings recover.

Focus: hamstrings, back tension relief, cool-down.

Purpose: This stretch helps skaters work on hamstring flexibilty with their leg above 90 degrees, working towards skills like an I spin

Focus: Hamstring flexibility, hip flexion

Purpose: This forward fold elevates the feet so that the skater can get a deeper stretch in the hamstrings. This should only be done if the skater is able to reach their hands past their toes.

Focus: Hamstring flexibilty, low back tension relief

Purpose: This lying down hamstring stretch is a good way to work on deep hamstring flexibilty in one leg at a time. Skaters should work to keep their shoulders and hips pressed into the ground evenly on this stretch so they aren't rotating or compensating to try to pull the leg closer.

Focus: H...

Purpose: The front split is a key flexibilty pose that skaters should work on to improve their on ice skills such as spirals and split jumps

Focus: Hamstring flexibilty, quad flexibility, square hips, hip mobility

Purpose: This seated forward fold allows skaters to work on the flexibilty of one hamstring at a time, which can be helpful as the flexibilty os both legs is generally not even, so in a double leg forward fold the legs are not stretched evenly.

Focus: Hamstring flexibilty, low back tension relief

Purpose: This variation of pigeon pose is more relaxing and allows skaters to deepen the stretch by settling into it for an extended period of time. This is also a great pose for those who have to sit a lot!

Focus: External hip rotatation, turnout, hip flexibilty, low back flexibillity, back ten...

Purpose: Using a stretch strap can help skaters get into a deeper hamstring stretch, especially if they can't get a good grip on their leg. Keeping one leg bent ensures that the skater keeps the hips square and even while stretching.

Focus: Hamstring flexibilty, square hips, alignment

Purpose: The pancake can help skaters prep for the middle splits. In a pancake stretch, the skater folds forward, which mainly targets the hamstrings, but the legs are open, which also works hip rotation. The difference between the pancake and the middle splits is that in a pancake stretch, the p...