I took up figure skating six years ago in my late 30s, when my kids started doing lessons. Some observations, based on the fact that I was fairly out of shape when I started, and had long term issues with my right ankle, hip, and lower back
- core muscles -- the more you skate, the more you will use them. Straight lines not so much, but anything that involves turns or crossing the body (eg. crossovers to Australians, crosscuts to Canadians, no idea what anyone else calls them). Fifteen minutes of half-arsed practice at turns when you are starting them can lead to quite deep pain. Butt muscles can also get quite sore, if you are bending and straightening as you push.
- foot arch pain -- are you trying to hold on to the skates with your toes? There will probably be some habits of the way you walk that you will be transferring across that don't work in skates. Also, check that you haven't done the skates up too tight around the ankles and higher. My natural habit is to tie the skates too tight, do a couple of loops of the rink, and then have to loosen them when my feet start screaming in sharp sharp pain.
- other foot pain -- I found that doing calf raises (both feet, knees and feet together, so everything goes up straight) has helped. also, practice standing still on one foot. I think this is because I've become more aware of where my feet are. But just the skating has strengthened my problem ankle in ways that everything else I tried in nearly 20 years didn't.
skate type -- as was said above, brands are really different. I used to use men's hire skates (typically more hockey than figure), and when I bought my first pair just went with the cheapest model of the common brand in the store. They were fine, but when one of my kids outgrew my size, and I got a higher model of the same brand, they were much less painful. And then I tried a different brand on when they were on sale, and I discovered how much of my pain while skating was skates, and not the fact that I've lingering pain from dislocating various joints in my feet!
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- core muscles -- the more you skate, the more you will use them. Straight lines not so much, but anything that involves turns or crossing the body (eg. crossovers to Australians, crosscuts to Canadians, no idea what anyone else calls them). Fifteen minutes of half-arsed practice at turns when you are starting them can lead to quite deep pain. Butt muscles can also get quite sore, if you are bending and straightening as you push.
- foot arch pain -- are you trying to hold on to the skates with your toes? There will probably be some habits of the way you walk that you will be transferring across that don't work in skates. Also, check that you haven't done the skates up too tight around the ankles and higher. My natural habit is to tie the skates too tight, do a couple of loops of the rink, and then have to loosen them when my feet start screaming in sharp sharp pain.
- other foot pain -- I found that doing calf raises (both feet, knees and feet together, so everything goes up straight) has helped. also, practice standing still on one foot. I think this is because I've become more aware of where my feet are. But just the skating has strengthened my problem ankle in ways that everything else I tried in nearly 20 years didn't.
skate type -- as was said above, brands are really different. I used to use men's hire skates (typically more hockey than figure), and when I bought my first pair just went with the cheapest model of the common brand in the store. They were fine, but when one of my kids outgrew my size, and I got a higher model of the same brand, they were much less painful. And then I tried a different brand on when they were on sale, and I discovered how much of my pain while skating was skates, and not the fact that I've lingering pain from dislocating various joints in my feet!