I'm a figure skater, been doing it for 15 years now. It is the best workout, and definitely beats the gym
How old were you when you started. Do you have a coach? And what standard are you at now? I always fantasised about being a figure skater but my nearest ice-rink is 5 hours away. (We have a Christmas one, but it's awful.) But this year, I started roller and inline skating and discovered that artistic roller skating (figure skating on roller skates) is a thing. I'm only learning from youtube but it's absolutely great and I'm amazed with how quickly it's coming to me. I'm just about at the 3 turns and waltz jump stage, as in I can do them but they take obvious concentration. But in the next few weeks, when they come naturally, it will open up a lot more jumps. I can't believe that at 40, I've become able to do things that seemed as out of reach as super powers. I know that they are only entry level figure skating moves but they seemed genuinely unobtainable even 6 months ago. Something that would never be for me. So the thought of what the next 6 months will bring is insanely exciting.
There are also some great aspects of roller skating from it's own history like jam and rhythm skating which are just great for their own beauty and fun. Vert or aggressive skating, which is honestly just amazing fun. I never had any desire to ramp skate but DS asked me to take him a few months ago, so I brought my skates along and fell in love with it. I'm pretty basic at the moment but I've a long term goal of doing a handstand at the top of the half-pipe. I also do endurance and slalom freestyle on inline skates. While I love to dance on my skates, I've also developed a deep need to just skate and skate for a very long time. I like to do a couple of 20km+ skates a week on my inlines and when I get the opportunity, enjoy just doing a marathon distance for the heck of it.
The fitness benefits are amazing. My body is so toned and really nicely muscular. My 40 year old butt looks like it did when I was 22. Once I started working on waltz jumps and some jam skating moves that require serious core strength I started to form visible abs. It's like a dream I never even had come true. An accidental 6 pack! My whole stomach area was a horrendous mess after a number of surgeries on my stomach and pregnancy with a giant baby ending in an EMCS. I had just accepted it as how it would look forever as I wouldn't be getting surgery for cosmetic reasons. And now it's nearly so toned that even the excess skin is being pulled back and the pooch over the section scar is shrinking and pulling up. I don't skate for the fitness and cosmetic benefits, I skate because it's like flying and truly living what's always been a fantasy but I can't say that I'm not also completely delighted with what skating has done to my body.