Things I want to correct...

[Adultsk8r509]

My spirals need more extension.  I do them on slightly bended knee, especially on edges vs flats.   

My sit spin is not in a sit position ...

I can't get into spread eagle position without feeling torque on my knees

.... anyone have good off ice remedies for these?

[sarahspins]

I work on spirals off-ice with weights (currently using 4lbs, which is almost twice what each of my skates weigh) not only for extension, but also endurance (my lower back muscles are still not used to the workout they get on the prelim/silver spirals pattern).

One thing that I find essential for "locking" the free leg is to basically lock it before raising the free leg fully, and really think about pushing your skating leg "forward" at the hip as your free leg comes up, and you should be balanced over your heel.  It's a weird stretch at first, but it helps get you balanced on the correct (back, but not on your heel, it just feels like it) part of the blade on a spiral so that the toepick isn't a concern.

Sit spins will come with time and increased quad strength... if you keep working at it, you'll get it.

As for the spread eagles, I still can't do outside ones and I'm not sure I ever will again.. you and I have similar knee histories and I'm not truly sure I want to push mine that far.  Even though the turn out is supposed to happen at the hips, it still puts a fair amount of pressure on the "weak" side of my bad knee, and I don't like the way it feels (some other things do this too, like back inside 3's).

[SynchKat]

I don't have a knee problem and I feel spread eagles in my knees. 

As for spirals I think you just have to lock you knee as the leg goes up just as Saraspins said.  Maybe start with just holding a nice long edge with high-ish free leg with a straight skating leg to get the feel and then move up to getting that leg up.

No advice for sit spins.  Just wanted to let you know that spread eagles hurt people without knee issues. 

[Adultsk8r509]

I work on spirals off-ice with weights (currently using 4lbs, which is almost twice what each of my skates weigh) not only for extension, but also endurance (my lower back muscles are still not used to the workout they get on the prelim/silver spirals pattern).That is a great idea.  The skates really are heavy, especially mine (big feet), I'm sure the gym has those ankle wrap weights ... + I will buy some for home.

One thing that I find essential for "locking" the free leg is to basically lock it before raising the free leg fully, and really think about pushing your skating leg "forward" at the hip as your free leg comes up, and you should be balanced over your heel.  It's a weird stretch at first, but it helps get you balanced on the correct (back, but not on your heel, it just feels like it) part of the blade on a spiral so that the toepick isn't a concern. Yesterday I practiced a few thinking about what the judges (and my coach) tell me about my bent knee .... I did feel that weird stretch when I pushed myself to straighten... I just need to concentrate more on the details of what I am doing.

Sit spins will come with time and increased quad strength... if you keep working at it, you'll get it. Went to the gym yesterday after skating, my personal trainer (short term) is helping me with increasing my quad strength .. doing squats and leg presses ... I'm really sore today!

As for the spread eagles, I still can't do outside ones and I'm not sure I ever will again.. you and I have similar knee histories and I'm not truly sure I want to push mine that far.  Even though the turn out is supposed to happen at the hips, it still puts a fair amount of pressure on the "weak" side of my bad knee, and I don't like the way it feels (some other things do this too, like back inside 3's).

[Adultsk8r509]

I don't have a knee problem and I feel spread eagles in my knees.  I had a feeling it wasn't strictly a knee issue for many .... but when I was a kid .. this was something I did really well.... I used to be able to do a long outside clockwise spread eagle ... leaning back ... it never hurt... so in my particular case I think it is directly related to my knee... but it could be just as we get older we can't turn out like we used to.

As for spirals I think you just have to lock you knee as the leg goes up just as Saraspins said.  Maybe start with just holding a nice long edge with high-ish free leg with a straight skating leg to get the feel and then move up to getting that leg up.

No advice for sit spins.  Just wanted to let you know that spread eagles hurt people without knee issues.  For adult skating they should just call it the squat spin .. and be done with it !!!! ha ha

[Skittl1321]

If your trainer is working on quad strength with you- ask him/her to give you some inner-quad specific exercises.

Skating really uses the outer quads, and the muscular imbalance can cause some major knee problems.  (Ask me how I know...)

Developing the inner quads is a good idea.

[SynchKat]

I too used to have a beautiful spread eagle both ways and i rmember tacking a jump on the end of it too when I was younger. I don't feel a pull all the time in my knee and chances are I do have some kind of knee issues since they do hurt once in a while but I attribute that to old age.  So I have come to the conclusion that painful knees in spread eagles is caused by old age.  . Sucks when you think about how easy something's were as kids.  I have to do my spread eagle in a program at a competition coming up soon....I hope it's a good spread eagle day that day.

[Rachelsk8s]

For spirals, I practice them off ice, sometimes with ankle weights.  I have the kind that you can take out/put in weights up to 4lbs each.  When I got back on the ice, I got really frustrated with my spiral height, I knew flexibility wasn't the issue as I can do the splits.  But strength in my lower back/core was the problem.  My spirals are much higher now after really practicing them off ice.  I hold each side for about 30 seconds, but I think that I started at about 10 seconds in the beginning.  For sit spins, I also practiced the sit position off ice, holding each side for about 10 seconds to start and building up to 30.  They are super hard!!  I also use weights and do lunges and squats, I've worked my way up to 15 lb hand weights lol, but if you asked me a year ago I'd never thought I'd be lifting 30lbs all together!!  My sit spin is one of my better spins now, as I can truly get down into a low sit position, but it took awhile to get this...much more difficult as an adult than when I was a kid I don't have much advice on spread eagles, as I really don't attempt them...I really should as I can do them off ice You'll get all these moves, its just the off ice stuff that helps immensely, well for me at least it did Good luck!!

[Skate@Delaware]

When you are doing leg presses, try a few using just one leg. You don't need to bend as deeply as you do with both legs...it may be difficult anyway until you build more strength.  Don't overdo it as these are killer. 

[VAsk8r]

I've been doing squats to help my sit spins -- basically, you sit up against a wall or door with your knees bent at 90 degrees. I could barely do it at all when I first started, and now I can hold it for about two minutes. My sit spins still aren't completely at 90 degrees (I doubt they ever will be, or at least not anytime soon), but they've improved a lot.

[Adultsk8r509]

I've been doing squats to help my sit spins -- basically, you sit up against a wall or door with your knees bent at 90 degrees. I could barely do it at all when I first started, and now I can hold it for about two minutes. My sit spins still aren't completely at 90 degrees (I doubt they ever will be, or at least not anytime soon), but they've improved a lot.

I will try that, thanks!~

[Doubletoe]

Spirals:
(1) Hamstring and hip flexor stretches
(2) Off-ice leg lifts wearing skates or ankle weights (already suggested)
(3) Lifting your toes inside your skating boot to get your weight on the heel.  Also, lock the skating knee as you pull back away from the skating foot (others have called it pushing the skating foot forward, same thing).
(4) Press your belly button down toward the ice while squeezing your shoulder blades together. 

Sit Spins:
(1) Off ice, do squats and one legged squats in front of a mirror in high heels.  If you are a woman, your husband or boyfriend will enjoy watching this.  But seriously, the reason for the high heels (at least 2") is to simulate the position of your skating foot and the weight that will be on the ball of your foot when you are in a spin, with your heel lifted.  Fortunately, this is MUCH easier than doing them flat-footed, and will also hurt your knee a lot less.
(2) On the ice, do backward shoot-the-ducks with the heel of your blade lifted and your weight on the ball of the blade, just behind the toepick (a little toe scrape is fine).
(3) In both of the above, and in the actual sit spin, arch your back and push your chest and free leg forward as you lower yourself into position.  Keep lowering your butt and pushing the free leg forward until the inside of the thigh of your free leg is pressing against the lower calf of your skating leg.  If you feel that, it means your skating thigh is parallel to the ice.  It's impossible to achieve a low enough sit spin with your knees together unless you're doing a cannonball position.

Spread Eagles:
If you used to do spread eagles easily, it could be that you have open hips but your muscles have tightened up.  What helped me get my outside spread eagle was stretching my groin muscles by doing butterfly stretches http://gymnastics.about.com/od/trainingadvice/ss/centersplit_2.htm.  I would sit with my back against the wall and just rest my hands on my knees until they gradually relaxed and went all the way down.  I also do plies with the insides of my knees pressed against the boards as a stretch before doing spread eagles or Ina Bauers on the ice.  Even after doing them for years, I still need to do that stretch first or I risk catching an edge.