Inline speed skating events include a variety of distances and race styles, from marathon road races to indoor flat- and banked-track events. According to Alexander Bont of Bont Skates, jumping and plyometric exercises are key to improving a skater's performance. Combine that work with on-skates drills that perfect your stance and stride to become a more powerful and more efficient skater.
Leg Strength
To hold your body in proper speed skating stance--knees and ankles deeply bent, hips back, chest and head up--you must build the leg strength to hold this squat position for an extended time. Start with exercises that use your body weight as resistance, such as forward and backward lunges, squats, step-ups and wall sits. As you become stronger, incorporate more movement into these exercises by doing walking lunges, or "duck walks," keeping your upper body low while striding.
Explosiveness
Inline speed skaters must be able to react quickly to race situations and take advantage of openings. To build this power, incorporate plyometric drills, which stretch and then quickly contract your muscles, into your workout. Squat jumps, tuck jumps, lunge jumps and jumps onto or over a box or aerobic step will all help build lower-body power and explosiveness that will help your skating.
Plyometrics provide a challenging cardio workout and can place a lot of strain on joints and tendons. Work up to these exercises by building strength and cardio endurance first, then introduce any jumping exercises slowly and cautiously.
Agility
Along with being able to skate forward with speed, inline speed skaters need to move laterally and sometimes jump in different directions to avoid other skaters or obstacles. Plyometric exercises such as side-to-side jumps, and one- and two-foot zig-zag hops, will improve your lateral movement and quickness. Increase the difficulty of zig-zag hops by doing them up a hill or set of stairs.
Also, practice "quick feet" drills: Either on or off skates, work on taking fast, small steps over or around obstacles. Focusing on picking up one foot as soon as the other hits the ground, never standing or coasting on one foot for more than a second. Getting used to moving your feet this quickly will make you more agile and nimble.
Core Strength
Leg strength is not the only key to skating with power and endurance. Maintaining proper skating stance, especially in longer races, also requires solid abdominal and back strength. Alexander Bont recommends a combined crunch and leg lift for building core strength. "Superman" exercises, where you lie on your stomach and lift your arms and legs off the ground, are also useful for strengthening your lower back.
Stride
Speed skaters are constantly fine-tuning their stride to become more efficient skaters. While skating, focus first on your stance and stride mechanics before building speed.
Break down your stride by working one leg at a time: Push with only your right leg for 30 seconds, making sure to get full extension out to the side, then bringing the leg all the way back underneath you. Switch sides. If you're skating on a track, you can break down your crossover stride turns in similar fashion: Step only with your outside foot, crossing it as far over your coasting inside foot as possible and getting maximum push out to the side. Do this for five laps, then switch to using only your inside foot. When you go back to using both feet, you'll find yourself getting more out of each stride.
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