For those looking to exercise regularly but suffering from chronic joint pain, roller skating may be an excellent option to consider. Compared to more mainstream forms of exercise like running or jogging, roller skating is a great alternative, as it provides the same aerobic benefits while causing less joint pain.
Sit ups, crunches in particular, and bicycle sit-ups especially, target your abdominal muscles more than through the stabilising role they play in inline skating, but the skating activity burns more fat which is the key to a six-pack. Rollerblading may help you get abs sooner if you have a layer of fat to burn away.
The calories expended during Rollerblading depend on your weight, since larger people burn more calories than smaller people doing the same activity. Another factor to take into account is how vigorously you skate. A gentle cruise over flat pavement burns fewer calories than quickly Rollerblading up a hill.
It is not a surprise to most that inline skating is a great aerobic and cardiovascular workout. However, it is also a great way to build muscle. Unlike cycling, inline skating develops the hamstring muscles. While inline skating also helps preserve your knees and joints, unlike running.
What Muscles Does Rollerblading Work?
- The Glutes. Your gluteal muscles -- comprising the gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus -- are some of the largest and strongest stabilizing muscles in your body.
- The Quadriceps.
- The Hamstrings.
- The Hip Flexors.
- The Abductors and Adductors.
Rollerblading or inline skating is an athletic activity that requires you to skate on wheels that are aligned in a straight row. This low-impact activity can shape your legs and provide a cardiovascular workout. However, rollerblading can have adverse side effects, including causing back pain.
Protective gear is an absolute must when skating. Wearing protective gear will eliminate most injuries and improve the overall safety and enjoyment of your inline skating experience. This may result in a more severe injury because your instinct will be to grab your helmet rather than brace for your fall.
Are there helmets that I can wear for more than one activity? For example, you can wear a CPSC-compliant bicycle helmet while bicycling, recreational in-line skating or roller skating, or riding a kick scooter.
Helmets are required for everyone, not just minors, at skateboard parks, however some parks don't enforce the rule and it becomes a skate-at-your-own risk situation. Generally, it's a good idea to wear both helmets and pads, Kaufman said. "They could save your life or at least help you to avoid injury."
The name of the game here is comfort and mobility. You want to wear comfortable clothing with plenty of give like shorts, sweatpants, or athletic pants. If you do decide to go with jeans, make sure they are very well broken in. You also need to wear socks, but just any old pair won't do the trick.
Because of the nature of inline skating, wrist guards are an essential piece of equipment. It is natural for the inline skater to use their hands as a way to prevent injury when falling, therefore, having proper wrist and hand protection for your inline skating activity is recommended.
A helmet, wrist guards and knee and elbow pads are essential when inline skating. Studies have shown that when wearing wrist guards, wrist injuries will decrease by 87 percent.
Choose a Safe Environment
- Avoid skateboarding on irregular surfaces.
- Do not use homemade skateboard ramps.
- Never use your skateboard in wet weather.
- Avoid skateboarding in crowded walkways or in darkness.
- Never hold onto the side or rear of a moving vehicle while riding a skateboard ("skitching").
The short answer: Roller skating absolutely can be good exercise. It can improve your strength, balance, core stability, and cardiovascular endurance.
It takes about 5-10 rides for 1-2 hours of rolling with skates. You should learn very basics such as keeping balance, turns, accelerate, stop and feel comfortable on skates.
You burn nearly as many calories on skates as you do running (for a 125-pound person, that's 210 calories inline skating for 30 minutes versus 240 calories running 12-minute miles for the same duration, according to Harvard Health Publications).
Frequent bouts of cardio exercise, such as roller skating or roller blading, can help you burn that stubborn fat you're carrying on your belly. Roller skating is an efficient way to burn a large number of calories in a relatively short amount of time, which makes it a quality exercise if you're trying to lose fat.
Studies reveal that the sport provides a complete aerobic workout involving most of the muscles, including the heart. Also, skating puts 50% less stress on your knees and joints in comparison to running.
The sport not only serves as an effective cardiovascular workout but also helps in building muscle strength and provides endurance training. Regular skating can improve your balance and coordination, and build strong muscles in your pelvis and legs. Regular roller skating can help strengthen and tone your legs.
Regular Inline Skating not only burns about 6 calories a minute, or 360 calories an hour, but also turns fat into muscle - a double benefit. For best result, it is recommended that you skating on a regular basis. That's easy to do in our climate controlled facility.
Ready to Roll! The challenge with inline skates is to build your ankle strength as balancing on one line of wheels does put pressure on your ankles and feet. The truth is BOTH types of skates - inlines and quad roller skates - are hard at first as they require balance, core strength and leg strength.
Brisk walk = 222 calories. That's almost 100 calories more, or about 40% more calories burned while rollerblading over the same time period. Over two hours you'd burn 356 calories more. So, if you've got two hours to kill and can't run for that long, it's not a bad way to burn the calories.
Which burns more calories: inline skating or bicycle riding? For a 145-pound woman, inline skating burns approximately 500 calories per hour, while bicycling at a reasonable 12- to 14-mph pace burns about 560. But if you up the intensity to 16 mph, cycling can burn as many as 835 calories in an hour.