What do most skaters eat? | Page 3 | Golden Skate

What do most skaters eat?

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Thanks. I was really surprised when I had read Phelps diet, that consisted of 6 eggs omeleta and carbonara, for breakfast,and how many thousands calories he needed to train. I thought thats too much of cholysterine. I was wondering if skaters need that energy as well and where they get it from or if they have the starving diets of gymnastics.


Phelp is a big guy who needs strong muscles, power, and endurance for his sport. Carbohydrate supplies quick energy for competition but protein, together with weight training, build muscles and gives slower releasing energy to sustain longer training and races. Skaters can't afford to eat so much as they are smaller and they also need to stay light for jumps, flexibility etc. They go from burst of power to sustained constant movements and more power bursts again within a few minutes, having quite different requirements on their muscles from those of a swimmer. Generally, the fewer calories one needs/consumes, the more important the nutrition density of one's food is. It's especially true for people practicing CRON (Calorie Restriction Optimal Nutrition) or on a weight reduction diet. BTW, eating less is the only proven way to promote significant longevity. My motto is eat less, eat better. Good for health and budget.
 

ryanbfan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 27, 2011
Yeah exactly. I'm sure Keegan probably eats pretty healthy by the standards of normal kids his age, but with all the skating he does, and I assume working out as well, judging from his physique, I would not doubt that he eats a lot. In order to maintain the kind of musculature many figure skaters have, you would have to eat a plentiful diet rich in protein, otherwise one would be unable to sustain the muscle..

He is getting really muscular, but he carries it well. He doesn't seem to 'bulk up', but his arms are WOW... I'm so jealous.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Phelp is a big guy who needs strong muscles, power, and endurance for his sport. Carbohydrate supplies quick energy for competition but protein, together with weight training, build muscles and gives slower releasing energy to sustain longer training and races. Skaters can't afford to eat so much as they are smaller and they also need to stay light for jumps, flexibility etc. They go from burst of power to sustained constant movements and more power bursts again within a few minutes, having quite different requirements on their muscles from those of a swimmer. Generally, the fewer calories one needs/consumes, the more important the nutrition density of one's food is. It's especially true for people practicing CRON (Calorie Restriction Optimal Nutrition) or on a weight reduction diet. BTW, eating less is the only proven way to promote significant longevity. My motto is eat less, eat better. Good for health and budget.

I was wondering whether there might be a different diet depending on whether a sport needed fast-twitch muscles or slow-twitch muscles. I'm assuming that skating uses mostly slow-twitch muscles, for endurance rather than intense speed? If anyone has any information, I'm eager to hear it.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
I was wondering whether there might be a different diet depending on whether a sport needed fast-twitch muscles or slow-twitch muscles. I'm assuming that skating uses mostly slow-twitch muscles, for endurance rather than intense speed? If anyone has any information, I'm eager to hear it.

i disagree that skating uses slow-twitch...during jumps and spins, you have to have snap and power. in jumps you have to be explosive on the takeoff with snappy hips, getting the correct air position, and ideally stopping rotation in the air before landing. if the landing doesn't go right, you have to be quick and strong to save the landing. spins, you have to wind up and really push into them for speed and also be explosive and snappy when there is a flying entrance. i do see where you say slow-twitch with endurance, which would maybe fit parts of a program, but choreography you also have to be quick with.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
I was wondering whether there might be a different diet depending on whether a sport needed fast-twitch muscles or slow-twitch muscles. I'm assuming that skating uses mostly slow-twitch muscles, for endurance rather than intense speed? If anyone has any information, I'm eager to hear it.

I do not have any specific scientific information on this, but when I watched a documentary on TV on Phelps before the Olympics in 2008, I was surprised how HUGE he ate all the time.

Also, I watched an interview to Olympic medalists in Syncronized Sswimmning how they were 'forced' to eat by coaches on a daily basis. They were like: get up, eat, practice, eat more, practice again, more 'eat-eat-eat' to come at the end of the day, then sleep...They tried to get at least 5,000 calories a day in order not to lose their weight and stamina, they said! They are female athletes, of course.

Swimmers simply consume a lot of calories in the course of hard and long hours trainings in the water, compared to other sports, I suppose.

On the other hand I heard that, while figure skating is a hard sport (isn't it called 800m hurdle run, or even a steeple chase, on the ice with skates on?), it just does not consume calories as it may seem, so that a skater has to be careful about how much to eat and keep his/her proper weight.
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Skating is an extremely articulate sport and the training is not constantly physical. There are a lot of stopping and slow moving, discussions with coaches, thinking and mental preparation. It's about every detail and the perfecting of technique for each element and segment of the program. They don't do run through frequently, especially the Europeans. (Similarly baseball is not an aerobic sport.) The executions are strenuous, requiring strength, fitness and endurance, but practices are not not long durations of non stop exertions, thus total energy expenditure and requirement are not as high as sports of constant rigorous training.

eta. Importantly, skaters are not big people requiring the same amount of calories as those giants in many other sports.
 
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deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Bananas are for Yags. Plushy's mistake was in eating any bananas to begin with.

Seniorita & Buttercup, you really made me laugh!
Bananas for Yags, or bananas for Plushy, we need a POLL for that! lol

Anyway, on that very night when Alexei won his glorious Gold Medal at SLC, in the midnight at the cafeteria of Olympic Village, he was witnessed by American media; he was alone, biting McDonalds' hamburger w/a plate of french fries; he was all smiling, rather looked 'almost esctatic'.
He then answered to the media that he had been on a strict diet all year, due to the Olympics season...I feel for him.
 
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seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Why they dont do run throughs in Europe? I didnt know that. They have another model of training?
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Correct - the training model in Europe typically is to NOT do complete program run throughs. This is why European skaters typically look more tired in the back half of their programs.
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Different coaches have different approaches. European skaters coming to train in N America have commented on how they do more run throughs here and it's rarely done at home. I read once Lysacek spent a long session with Lori Nichols just on arm movements in a 2 second segment. There are always techniques on elements and choreographed moves to tweak and focus on, especially at the most competitive highest level.

Even sprinters don't do run through all the time. 100 meter dash is highly technical and the runner focuses on each and every stride of the race. The beginning three strides is critical for example.

Patrick Chan is supposed to do a run through each day, alternating the two programs. His coach Krall said last season that all the other skaters always dropped their practice to watch and applaud the "show". However, judging from how exhausted he was after the 4CC FS, followed by coughing and headache, and, as described by him and agreed by the other medalists, finishing the LP felt like verging on death, I think the usual run throughs at his training rink at high altitude probably are not complete, leaving out certain jumps or portions, as often seen in run throughs in official practice at competitions. Maybe he did complete run throughs of POTO last season but Aranjuez of this season is non stop with no slow resting period and is evidently very difficult to perform in its entirety at high altitude.
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
you mean they don't do program run-throughs...?

yes, my question was about the post below.
I just didnt know that. I knew Lysacek is doing it because I heard about it in Olympics a lot but besides that i didnt know who does what in their training.

They don't do run through frequently, especially the Europeans. (Similarly baseball is not an aerobic sport
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
yes, my question was about the post below.
I just didnt know that. I knew Lysacek is doing it because I heard about it in Olympics a lot but besides that i didnt know who does what in their training.

Seniorita, yes it is true.

While it is common in NA that they do run-thrus with all jumps included every day, in Europe, especially in Russia, they usually devide their programs into 2 or 3 segments, and prefer practice each seg. at a time.

One of the reasons of Kozuka's very successful season last year, he did run-thrus of his free profram 2 times in a row every day. In the beginning of the season, it was very hard for him; he ran out of gas, and popped a jump and/or fell during his 2nd run-thru. But as season went, he started nailing them all and got a lot of confidence.

He said in an interview, on the night of free skate at Moscow Worlds, he did not have to worry about his stamina at all, so he went all out believing in himself.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
i've never really thought about other countries training differently...interesting stuff. i thought most skaters trained the same way. my coach always made me do my programs everyday and quite a few double run-throughs. and just practicing different sections. weird how it differs.
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
I guess each coach does what it works best for the athlete, I can understand doing this everyday for a newbie a la Mirai, or a headcase a la many but maybe everyday run through can be tough for the body. I dunno. I dont know details of skaters training at all. Only recently i found out the spin disc, lol!.
Macy thank you for the diet insight as well.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
A run through a day should be the minimum (even if it's alternating between SP and LP). The idea of doing a run through is to build up the stamina to get through everything in the program so that by the time you compete it's "easy". It also helps the skater develop a breathing regimen for the program since each program has different pacing. If a skater isn't doing run throughs regularly, they probably won't have the mental fortitude to KNOW that they can do the program NO PROBLEM when it counts.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
I remember reading that Yagudin would forego food on the day of competition so he'd be lighter for his jumps.

I don't know if you ever saw the 2001 Goodwill Games where Alexei was very thin. He had been eating ,I think, it was just apples. Tatianna had commented that he need to eat more than that to remain strong. Of course Alexei continued to eat just the apples. He almost took on a frail look.

This is the competition where he crashed into the boards. I'm not sure whether just eating the apples was the cause but he literally looked like he was starving.
 

ivy

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Not sure if this is true, but one of the ideas I heard (via Dick Button?) behind not doing full run-throughs is that is keeps the program fresher when performed as a whole. Continual repetition will make it rote and stale.... Don't really buy it personally, but maybe makes sense for some
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
^^^
I don't buy it. If the program is a good fit personality wise for the skater, it won't be rote or stale. It should be muscle-memorized, though, so the skater can concentrate on nuances.
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
How do you know which skaters do or dont do run throughs, beside Brezina that I ve seen frequently and Tomas at Euros I havent seen anyone having hard time finishing their program. I m not talking about 4CC where conditions were special. And maybe Brezina has other issues. I know Hanyu has stamina problems but maybe it is not from that.
 
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