At our Gwinnett medical weight loss center, we understand that it can be hard to find the motivation to go outside and exercise during the winter. Fortunately, we’ve found that the cold weather does create several seasonal sports that are both great for losing weight and a lot of fun. Ice skating is a perfect example of this: It’s a hardcore workout for your entire body and an exciting and fun sport.

The Benefits

Ice skating offers a whole host of benefits to anyone who chooses to pursue it. For one, it’s a family-friendly activity that almost anyone can do. It can be very reasonably priced and it requires minimal equipment.

The benefits also extend to your body: Ice skating offers a moderate to intense aerobic workout that you can customize to fit your weight loss needs and ability level. You can also choose from a variety of styles, including figure skating and speed skating, to best suit your interests.

Burn Calories

Ice skating can be an amazing calorie burner, which means it can be a huge help if you are trying to lose or maintain weight. Our Lawrenceville clinic notes that ice skating recreationally can burn anywhere between 250 and 810 calories in an hour, depending on your weight. This intense calorie burn is almost equivalent to running.

Build Muscle and Endurance

Because ice skating can be a physically intensive sport, it naturally causes you to build muscle tone throughout your body. Leg muscles and core muscles receive the main workout, as your legs are used to move you around and your core helps you to maintain your balance and posture.

In addition to your muscle tone, your endurance will also increase over time so that you can skate for longer durations. Our Gwinnett family medicine specialists encourage you to take increasing your endurance and muscle tone slowly, as pushing yourself could lead to an injury or other setback.