Turn off the TV and get onto the ice.

As the cold weather sets in each year, we tend to hunker down, turn on the TV, and tuck in for the season. But this year, it’s time to take part in some wintry fun.

Ice skating is one of the cold-weather sports that provides great exercise.

Angela Smith, MD, an attending surgeon at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, isn't just a fan of ice skating. She's also the former chair of the U.S. Sports Figure Skating Committee and competes as an adult masters skater.

"I think [ice skating] truly addresses all components of fitness at any level," she says. "It can be done across a lifetime and can be done individually or as a group sport. All those things [together] make it a pretty unique sport in my mind."

Ice skating is a low-impact exercise -- unless you're doing a lot of jumps -- that's good for building lower-body muscles including the hips, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves. Performing jumps can build bone mass, Smith adds.

Skating also boosts balance, flexibility, quickness, and agility. Different kinds of skaters develop different muscle tone. Speed skaters get larger thighs; men who lift a partner have stronger upper bodies; and people who do lots of jumps and other skills are less muscular in the upper body, Smith says.

Another benefit, Smith says, is you can burn calories even as a beginner. If you're a new skater, you may use a lot of energy just getting around a rink a few times. As it becomes easier, you can skate longer and continue to build strength and endurance.

People have different fitness personalities. Some prefer to work out alone; others like group activities. For groupies, ice hockey may be the perfect winter sport.

Michael Bracko, a consulting exercise physiologist, says, "It’s fun in the dressing room before getting on the ice, and it’s usually an absolute riot after the game. Everyone is having fun and making jokes and making fun of each other."

Aside from the camaraderie, the sport exercises the same groups of muscles as other types of ice skating do. That includes the lower body and abdominals, which maintain balance, and the upper body, which is used to move the hockey stick.

Bracko says most players spend one to one-and-a-half minutes on the ice then rest on the side for two to four minutes. While playing, a person’s heart rate can get as high as 190, he says, and when off the ice, the body is burning calories to recover.

To get the best return from playing hockey, Bracko recommends playing one league game a week and also playing a couple of pickup games two more times a week.

Turn off the TV and get onto the ice!

Come on out the Ashburn Ice House this winter and experience some ice skating fun!

We offer daily public skating times, learn to skate lessons,  kids hockey leagues, and adult hockey leagues.