abyssinia: Sam Carter's first view of Earth from space and the words "all my dreams" (Default)
Abyssis ([personal profile] abyssinia) wrote in [community profile] bodies_in_motion 2018-07-12 12:29 pm (UTC)

*waves* . Ice hockey player here - learned to skate and started playing when I was 29.

Not sure if you are wearing figure skates or hockey skates and if you are renting or have your own - but skates come in a huge variety. The skates available to rent at a rink are usually pretty low quality, especially for foot/ankle support. If you think you are going to continue this, you can often find used skates relatively cheap at a used sporting good store. Try on lots of different pairs - different brands fit differently (depending on wide/narrow feet, high/low arches, more/less narrow heel, etc.) and they do come in half sizes when you buy them. When I decided I was serious enough to buy nicer hockey skates I got properly fitted (they will bake the skates in an oven to mold to you feet) and I tried all the main brands one and one was obviously infinitely better for my particular feet.

For me - I was a student on a university campus that had an ice rink and I would go to open ice times between classes - it was great because it was mostly empty so I could play around and get the feel for things. After I got reasonably comfortable skating around the rink, I took an adult hockey class that taught me more details/mechanics.

I don't know where you live - here rinks aren't always great about advertising classes they have for adults - sometimes you have to ask.

My biggest suggestion is knee pads! When I was learning to skate I fell really hard and bruised the bone on my kneecap - hurt so bad I almost puked on the ice. Ever since then I always wear rollerblade kneepads if I'm not wearing my full gear. You may or may not also consider a helmet - more and more people wear them all the time since falling back is a good way to slam your head and ice isn't forgiving.

Have fun! It works your hip flexors a lot (and, yes, core and butt and thighs) but it's fun and nicely low stress on the joints because minimal impact)

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