Skateboarding is a very demanding sport, with an intense amount of exercise involved. It is a great sport for children to have some fun and stay active, but for the elite skaters trying to take their skill to the next level strength training is imperative. This will help keep injuries away and continue to make you better every day!
Lower Body- When skateboarding the majority of the work is being put on your legs, therefore skating is not enough. You need to perform exercises to make your lower body stronger, this will increase your pop along with helping your legs stay fresh during contests. Nothing is worse than having jello legs while tre flipping down a 10 stair.
A few basic exercises you can perform at home:
Squats- Assume you’re sitting in a chair, do not let your toes go passed your toes. these will also help with landing, instead of leaning by your hips when you land…..squat down! 3 sets of 10
Single leg balance holds- Stand on one leg while having the other straight in front. 3 sets of 1 minute each leg
Lateral Lunges- Standing with feet shoulder width apart, step to the side and lunge while keeping your feet straight. Come back to starting position and perform to the other direction. 2 sets of 10 each leg
Core- Your core is very important, this will help with every trick you attempt and land. Having a strong core is also going to help you stay more balanced and land the tricks you may have slipped out on. Imagine 7th try being 3rd try next time…
Once again, I urge this post to skaters trying to make it to the next level. The majority of you do this for fun and enjoy not being told what to do and not having coaches. If you want to succeed, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do that you know will help you reach your goals.
A few exercises you can perform at home:
The Plank– Assume pushup position but on your elbows, stay 90 degrees with your arms and do not let your butt sag down or rise to high. You need to keep a level plane, tighten up your stomach and glutes and enjoy! 3 sets of 45 second holds
Mountain Climbers- Assume pushup position, then you will drive your left leg toward your chest then your right leg. Make sure your legs are moving fast and are continuing to move towards your chest. 2 sets of 30 seconds
Upper Body– even tho you are using your legs while you skate your upper body is still very important, especially if you are a vert skater. Having a strong upper body (Not Bulky) will help you stay balanced. Skateboarding is a very rotational sport similar to baseball, pulling a Derek Jeter jump throw to first and swinging a bat is very similar to performing a back-side flip.
A few exercises you can perform at home:
Medicine ball twists– If you do not have a medicine ball, you can use anything. Pick up something that weighs about 5-10Ibs. Hold this straight out in front of you and hold, you will then twist to the left 90 degrees and pause, then rotate 180 degrees to the right and pause then return back to your starting point. 3 sets of 8 each side
Shuffle Pushups– Assume pushup position, perform a pushup then you will shuffle 5 steps to the right and repeat the pushup. At this point you will shuffle back to the left 5 shuffle steps and perform a pushup. You stay in pushup position at all times and keep perfect posture.
Try it out and let me know what you think, if you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me! Thanks everyone!
–Danny Duncan (TRX Instructor & Personal Trainer)
–Email– DannyDuncanpt@yahoo.com
–twitter– @DannyDuncanPT
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