Over the summer, without access to the gym, it was hard for many people to work out. So like many others, I took matters into my own hands.
I tried to do at home HIIT classes and go for runs, but it just was not something I was enjoying. I wanted to do a cardio workout daily to stay in shape, so I broke out my old roller skates and was roller skating for miles upon miles every week. Roller skating has many health benefits and all you need are skates and a road or sidewalk, and contrary to popular belief, skates do not have to be expensive.
Roller skating is a great aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Aerobic exercises increase heart rate, which strengthens the heart, helping prevent stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure and heart disease. Anaerobic exercise assists in muscle strengthening and toning. Roller skating uses the entire body: legs for strides, core for maintaining balance and arms from swinging with the strides. When skating, your core, back and glutes are engaged the entire time to maintain balance. The use of inline skates are great for dynamic balance, which is balancing while the body is in motion. Roller skating is also low impact, so it’s not hard on the knees, ankles and hips while still increasing agility, muscle mass and bone density. If you are trying to lose weight, skating may be an option for you. You can burn around six calories a minute at an average pace and the faster you skate, the more calories you burn.
I got my first pair of roller skates when I was around 12 years old. I found them at a thrift store and I used them for six years, only having to replace the wheels once and clean the bearings. My new skates are much nicer than the thrifted pair and were still not extremely expensive. They are K2 Kinetic 80 Pro Inline Skates, they were less than $100 and they came with good bearings, wheels and a light plastic frame.
Even with a busy schedule, it is easy to take time to skate in the day. In just an hour, you can skate around 10 miles and burn around 120 calories. Getting the hang of skating is fairly easy, and the better you get, the faster you can skate and even do tricks, which helps with gaining balance and agility skills. Roller skating is such a fun and easy way to exercise and get in shape when a gym is not available or if you do not enjoy other cardio.
