Bored with your exercise routine? Or looking for a new way to work out? If you've thought about trying ice skating for exercise or just for fun, you might want to start by hiring a personal trainer to help instruct you. Here are some things to expect and look for during the training process:

If you are a beginning ice-skater, the first thing that your personal trainer should do is to check that your ice-skates fit and are laced properly. As you're getting started, also remember to keep your skate guards on until right before you step on the ice.

You may fall down your first time on the ice. However, it is good practice to know how to fall relatively safely and to get up quickly--another good reason for having a personal trainer.

Your personal trainer should show you how to stop on the ice--the single most important thing a novice skater needs to learn. The snowplow method involves stopping by pushing your feet apart with your feet slightly wider in the back and narrower in the front in a slight V-shape position for your feet; and then using the flat of the blade to make some snow on the ice. A snowplow stop can be done with one or with two feet, depending on which method you find to be easier. Many find that a one-foot snowplow stop is the easiest method to stop.

After you master the stop, a trainer will probably encourage you to do a lap around the rink while pushing forward using alternating feet. Ice-skating can be fun with the instruction of your personal trainer, and ice-skating is a great way to stay healthy and fit. Some things that your personal trainer can also teach you, as a beginner, are to skate backwards, to skate on one foot, and to do twirls or spins.

Here is one way that your personal trainer might describe how to do a two-foot spin. When spinning to the left, you will feel like you are spinning forward on your right skate and backward on your left skate. The left skate will have most of the weight on the toe, and the right skate will have most of the weight on the heel. The next step is to lift up the right foot while you know you are skating backward on the left inside edge. As you stay forward over the left skate, you will make a small back inside circle which allows you to be spinning on one foot.

Your personal trainer should instruct you to hold your stomach in so that your balance is good while doing the spin. And your personal trainer will tell you to pull your right leg into your knee while you raise up a bit on the left, skating knee. Maintaining your balance, you can pull your arms into your chest while keeping your elbows up. To exit the spin, pull out backward on a back right outside edge.

There is other advice that your personal trainer may give you regarding a spin: To avoid getting dizzy, focus your eyes on a stationary object, such as a pole in the distance, as you come out of the spin. To get better at doing spins, practice as often as you can. To build up momentum, spread your arms like you are hugging the trunk of a large tree. And it is important not to spin on the blade toe-pick of your ice-skates.