Stretching Before Skateboarding – 8 Things to Do

Sports are physically tiring. They require body coordination, strength, agility, and other aspects that test our physical capacity.

And like any sport, skateboarding entails working with balance, power, and endurance. While being tired at the end of every ride is almost inevitable, there are ways to counter exhaustion, such as by stretching before skateboarding.

Today, I’ll share a few helpful skateboards stretches to prepare your shoulders, hips, calves, legs, and feet for a day-long skate ride.

Stretches to Do Before Skateboarding

By giving your muscles some warm-up before any physical activity, you set them up for challenging moves later. You can perform standing warm up exercises or work more with your lower extremities. Here’s how to do them.

1. Loosening the neck

Neck stretching is typical in almost all sports. It gives a person a light feeling in the head and a better sensation of what is happening.

To stretch your neck, perform 360° rotations with your head while keeping your shoulder and the rest of your body stationary.

Hold your stretched neck for five seconds in its maximum rotation before returning to your original position. You can start clockwise or otherwise.

Do more rotations until you feel your head and neck loosened up.

2. Stretch the upper body

There are a lot of things you can do to prepare for skateboarding. Let’s get into some upper body exercises for skateboarding.

Place your arms behind your head while standing with your feet apart. Then, bend your upper body towards the left side, and repeat this step with the right side.

Next, put both arms in front of you at shoulder level. Then, swing your upper body to the left and right.

3. Working on the hips

Perhaps, the hips hold most of the pressure while skating between your upper and lower body.

Hence, try doing hip rotations. Begin by putting your hands on your hip and rotating it clockwise or in the opposite direction. Do the exercise for around ten cycles on each side.

4. Prepare your thighs

There are a lot of tricks and stunts you can do with skateboarding. Thus, giving your thighs enough stretch will prepare them for agile skating. Consider the following thigh exercises for skating.

Start by putting your right foot back with a broad step while lowering your hips. For the latter move, make sure your left or front knee forms a 90° angle. Keep your upper body and right leg straight.

Try to bounce in the same position by raising your upper body slightly. Then, lower it, and you’re done.

Of course, we don’t want to suffer the inner thigh pain skateboarding all day.

Like the previous step, start by putting your right foot one to two feet behind your left foot. Keep your left leg straight and your right slightly bent.

Once you get your stance, slowly reach for your left foot with your hands. Do this procedure while keeping a straight back. Repeat the same steps on your other leg.

5. Longboard exercises for the quads

This exercise is slightly similar to the previous one; only we’ll tuck the calf behind us. So, in a stationary position, pull one of your feet behind while aiming for your lower back.

Keep your body balanced as you hold your foot up for seconds. Perform the entire process on both feet.

6. Tuck your knees

Knee injuries are dreadful. Let’s ensure you don’t experience it.

Stand straight. Move one of your knees up towards your chest. Wrap your arms around your raised calf and keep your body balanced.

Hold such a position for a few seconds and perform it on both legs.

7. Stretching the calves

The calves give you the power to pop your skateboard. Here’s how to do calf stretches for skateboarding.

First, find a ramp. Face the sloped side of the ramp and raise the front part of your feet, leaving your heel on the ground.

Next, transfer your weight forward as you rest your feet wholly on the ramp’s surface. Repeat this exercise until you feel your body loosened up.

8. Loosen your ankles

Sprained ankles don’t heal that fast. Moreover, partially healed ones can still limit your movements on the skateboard. Here’s how to avoid them.

In a stationary position, bend one of your feet to the side with your arch opening towards your center. It’s as if you’re about to sprain your feet off a corner.

Ensure you don’t overdo the process. Otherwise, you’ll injure your foot. Repeat the process for both feet until you feel them loosen up. We are now done with your longboard workout.

Should I Stretch Before or After Skating?

Both.

We need to stretch before and after skating. While doing a pre-workout prepares your body for agile skating, doing the same exercise after the ride will help maintain your range of motion.

Why Are Calves So Tight?

Tight calves are usual to many. See what people experiencing them have in common.

How Do You Loosen Tight Legs?

Based on the steps and methods we discussed, there are many ways to free your legs from tightness. Let’s add some more to them.

Conclusion

Like any physical sport, skateboarding makes us fit. However, this achievement may not be possible if we skip necessary routines before skating, such as warming up.

Now that you know about stretching before skateboarding, you can finally prepare your body to do more in the sport. Besides performing better, we can reduce the risks of injury and fatigue after our rides.

Remember, always stretch before and after skating!