Cold feet, how to keep feet warm?

[Sushi]

I took my first LTS lesson today, I worked on forward swizzles, backward swizzles, half swizzles, and one foot glides.
My feet and hands were frozen during class, I don't get these problems during  public sessions. Next time I'll wear 2 pair of gloves and maybe some boot covers.

Maybe "Ice Light Boot Gloves" will work or my feet are cold  because I tied my skates laces to tight?

[Skate@Delaware]

It helps if your feet and boots are warm to begin with. I have hear that the boot gloves help, although I have no first-hand experience with them.  Moving around and keeping your trunk (abdomen area) warm also helps. I have Raynaud's which makes my hands/feet really cold so I use a stick-in warmer (toasty-toes is one brand I use, can't remember the other brand). Sometimes, I get in an 80's mood and wear leg warmers pulled down over my boots-that helps as well.

[davincisop]

I have raynaud's as well, so keeping my hands and feet warm is a challenge, but for my feet currently my skates are too big so I've been using wool socks to fill in the extra area in my boot and keep my feet warm. I also get those air activated heat packs for my skates and stick them in there a few hours before skating on cold days and then I bought some wool legwarmers that have really been the biggest savior. I felt a HUGE difference when wearing those as opposed to not wearing those.

Another thing is in your LTS class you may not be moving around as much as you would during a public session. If there is a session before your class see if you can make it there to warm up a few times around the rink before the class.

[Skate@Delaware]

If you lace your skates too tight your feet will get cold.  Also, if your rink's bathroom has heated air hand-dryers, you could pop your skates under them a bit before you put them on-it pre-warms them and helps keep them warm longer.

But moving around definitely helps! Keep skating around.

[Doubletoe]

Yes, I find that if I lace my skates too tight over the arch of the foot, it will cut off circulation and make my toes numb.  So I lace fairly tight in the toes, a little looser in the arch, then tighter again at the ankle.

[jjane45]

A video of Sheila Thelen endorsing a battery operated boot warming system
http://www.icoachskating.com/site.php/spgs/read/VT_ShTh_026 (subscribers only)

Sheila Thelen shares a coaching secret for keeping her feet warm. Sheila uses battery powered boot warmers that she inserts into her skates. Sheila offers some tips on how to use the boot warmers as they are not designed specifically for figure skating. Notice that she tapes the heating unit down and then puts the insole back in over the heating unit...

The product she mentioned uses similar technology as this, just without actual insoles. Slightly bulky powerpack battery hangs outside of each skate, secured by a mini bungee cord. I imagine it would get the job done nicely if you don't mind the battery pack

[sarahspins]

Yes, I find that if I lace my skates too tight over the arch of the foot, it will cut off circulation and make my toes numb.  So I lace fairly tight in the toes, a little looser in the arch, then tighter again at the ankle.

I think it's interesting how different some of us can prefer to lace our skates.  I can't have my toes too snug or they'll get cold and numb faster.. my toes already fit pretty snugly in my skate, so I only snug up the laces to take out the slack in the toes for the first 4 holes or so, then a little snugger over the instep/arch (not very tight though), then I tighten it up a lot towards the ankle, I keep it tight for the first two hooks, then loosen up a bit towards the top (if I don't, I get blisters at the top of my boot)... that seems to work best for me, to keep my feet comfy and my heel locked in tight.

Anyways, I haven't personally found a good solution for the "not moving around much" coldness and eventual numbness that goes along with LTS other than trying to move more - which is hard in limited space, but try to spend as little time as you can just standing in one place - just doing rocking horses while your coach is talking to the group can help a lot.  I know being in the opposite position as an instructor, I try to keep moving as much as I can, and that does help, but it's hard sometimes depending on what is going on in class.

[iomoon]

Are you wearing snug-fitting clothes? After I switched from a loose fleece sweater to a snug skating jacket, I was much warmer. XD

I wonder if Bunga Pads could help, but probably not.

[Willowway]

I don't use them for skating in a rink or my feet would get too warm but if I'm outside for any length of time in extremely cold weather, very thin (not much heavier that skating tights) silk socks insulate the feet very well - they stay toasty. This...http://wintersilks.blair.com/product/Women/Accessories/Legwear/Knee-High-Sock-Liners/pc/207/c/229/sc/232/8902.uts

[Sk8tmum]

I took my first LTS lesson today, I worked on forward swizzles, backward swizzles, half swizzles, and one foot glides.
My feet and hands were frozen during class, I don't get these problems during  public sessions. Next time I'll wear 2 pair of gloves and maybe some boot covers.

Maybe "Ice Light Boot Gloves" will work or my feet are cold  because I tied my skates laces to tight?

Put some handwarmers in your gloves ... there are reusable ones available that are reasonably environmentally friendly, better than the one use ones.  You boil them or microwave them after use, and they're usable again.

[Sushi]

Thanks everyone, I solved the problem by warming up my skates by putting a reusable hand-warmer in the toe box of each boot and by not taking LTS at 9am.

[jjane45]

Thanks everyone, I solved the problem by warming up my skates by putting a reusable hand-warmer in the toe box of each boot and by not taking LTS at 9am.

Haha, very glad to hear it's resolved. 2 years old thread notwithstanding

Cold feet is more of a problem for coaches teaching long periods of time on ice. My feet get frozen for standing thru a 60 minute show rehearsal, I don't know how coaches teach hours and hours!

[AgnesNitt]

Thanks everyone, I solved the problem by warming up my skates by putting a reusable hand-warmer in the toe box of each boot and by not taking LTS at 9am.

When the arthritis in my feet acts up I stick an electric heating pad in my bag and plug it in for a couple of hours before I drive to the rink. Then I stick the bag in the passenger seat so the heat from the car blows into it.

Not elegant, but effective.