Working Out - On Ice!

In a month-long quest to work out each day- you need to switch up your routine from time to time.
On a disturbingly beautiful Valentines Day (literally, it was 65 degrees outside!), Jess and I walked down to the ice skating rink at the sculpture garden on the mall- a place we have gone often in the summer but only one other time in the winter- over two years ago now- sheesh!

I will say that the ice rink was borderline hazardous as the temperature reached the mid 60s (!) and the ice was in a constant state of melting (!) but neither one of us fell on the ice this time intentionally or unintentionally, and after an hour of skating we were both feeling the workout was going to leave a significant burn.

Jess, did a little research on the actual impact of ice skating as a workout and we were surprised and excited by what we found- check it out:
-The American College of Sports Medicine states, "On average, for every hour of continuous skating, a 150-pound person burns about 600 calories." That is just about the same calorie count as running five miles in an hour. (!)
-By adding the basic skills of skating (forward and backward crossovers, turning, stopping and changing feet) the health benefits increase to about 800 to 900 calories per hour. (!)
-In ice skating, you work your whole body- but especially your inner thigh (the adductors) and also the hamstrings and gluteal muscles, and then the lower back.

A little explanation as to why ice skaters look so darn good and a little motivation to get out on the rink just a little bit more!

Check out our adventures on ice!:

Then

Now