Speed Skater Squats – UPDATED 2022 – A Complete Guide

Even if you’re not a pro athlete yourself, it’s always a good idea to look at what the most influential athletes are doing to update their fitness in 2022. By studying their form, their workouts, and their diet, you can get tips for how to improve your routine.

Even something as simple as squats has been optimized by professionals with speed skater squats. These are adaptations of regular squats that simulate high-speed skating and all of the muscles involved.

Even if you’re not interested in speed skating, speed skater squats are a fun workout that you can learn in minutes and will make a noticeable difference to your WOD. Interested? Keep reading this guide for how to do speed skater squats, what you need to know about speed skater squats and more.

 

Skater Squats – A Complete Guide

Skater squats get their name from the position and posture you hold while doing these squats. If you’ve watched Olympic speed skating before, you’ll know that they race while being hunched over, and make a quasi-running motion on the ice.

This pose helps speed skaters reach maximum acceleration, as combined with the friction of the ice it allows them to push their body forward and maintain a center of balance. Being more hunched over, also allows them to streamline their body to become more aerodynamic and reach even higher speeds.

What does this have to do with squats? Well, speed skater squats take these philosophies and apply them to the basic squat, something you’re no doubt already familiar with. Squats are a basic, beginner-level exercise that has a lot of benefits such as burning calories, working your oblique muscles, and building hip strength.

Want to try speed skater squats for yourself? Here is our complete guide to speed skater squats:

1. Begin in a regular standing position.
2. Place one leg outwards and behind the rest of your body, resting on the tip of your foot.
3. With your leg that’s still standing, bend at the knee slightly.
4. Bend your elbow up towards your chest.
5. Quickly switch from this leg to the other, maintaining the same pose. Try to build up speed as you become comfortable with the motion.
6. Repeat for as many reps as desired.

Understanding Speed Skater Squats

Speed skater squats might look simple, but a lot is going on while you’re doing them that you might not know about. When understanding speed skater squats, it’s important to look at their benefits so you can understand why they’re worth your time.

Speed skater squats first and foremost will help you to build strength in your legs. Not just one part of your legs either; as you’re using your whole leg by bending or jumping, all of the major muscles are being tested.

Speed skater squats are also a trial of footwork. You need to keep a consistent rhythm while performing the squats, as one wrong step could make you trip over yourself or throw you off entirely. This also makes them good for balance and forces you to control your core to maintain the optimal posture.

Getting Started With Balance Single-Leg Skater Squats

If you’re interested in taking your skater squats up a notch, why not try getting started with balanced single-leg skater squats? This is a simple variation, where you hop from one leg to the other instead of gliding across like in normal skater squats.

Make sure to have enough space when doing this exercise, as it involves having your legs far apart when you perform the jump. To do these exercises, get into the position of a skater squat, but balanced on one leg.

You’ll then want to squat, and then hop to the other leg. Repeat for as many reps as you want, or try and do as many as you can in a certain timeframe.

These variants of skater squats require much more balance, so if you’re struggling at first then try to find exercises that will build your balance. Before trying single-leg skater squats you could also try and center your balance by standing on one leg for a bit until you can do this without wobbling.

 

Skater Squats Muscles Worked

When you’re doing skater squats, you’ll be feeling the burn in mostly your lower body – but the skater squats muscles worked extend further than this.

Skater squats are great for your abdominal muscles and can train your core. This is because they require you to keep form when doing the squats and to focus on your balance and stability.

Like most squats, they’re also a good workout for your glutes. They can tone this area if you target it correctly by doing the right squats like skater squats. Skater squats target your glutes and help to strengthen and tighten them, which can prevent injury and improve the visual appearance of this area.

Skater Squat Jumps – What You Should Know?

Skater squat jumps are similar to single-leg skater squats but focus more on the jump rather than balancing yourself. For skater squat jumps, the goal is to still use one leg at a time but they’re much more stable, and can give you more of a workout than single-leg skater squats.

To try these, start by bringing your hand to your chest with your elbows bent, and a closed fist. Stand on one leg, with the other bent behind the leg that’s on the ground, and enter a squat position.

Then, as you leave the squat, jump to the other leg and land into a squat again. This is a similar motion to squat jumps, where you want to exit the squat with a jump and then land from the jump with a squat. This makes skater squat jumps great for building rhythm, which is a skill you can transfer to all other exercises you do.

 

Speed Skater Squats – Closing Thoughts

So to put it all together, speed skater squats are a great way to spice up your regular squats and to add more benefits, more muscles worked, and make them more fun and engaging. If you’re interested in trying speed skater squats, progressions should focus on balance and lower body strength.

If you’re looking for ways to build strength in your legs so you can try speed skater squats, check out our guides, WODs, diet plans, and more!