Look, we all know that it’s important to stay active for physical and mental health, but life is busy. From taking care of business at the office to playing chauffeur for your kids’ packed school and sports schedules, it’s easy to shift your own health and wellbeing to the back burner in favor of checking off your ever-expanding to-do list. That’s a recipe for boring gym workouts and maybe even choosing to just stay on the couch.
Fortunately, you can get a full body workout without feeling like you’re being punished for something. Roller skating to the rescue!
Roller Skating is a Full Body Workout
Here at Lanham Skate Center, we love sharing the joy of roller skating with people of all ages and abilities. Whether you have fond memories of skating as a child and would like to return to the rink, have never even put on a pair of roller skates, or have been tearing up the rink your whole life, you’re welcome to join us at any of our public skating sessions.
Skating is good for your heart.
Aerobic exercise (exercise that you can sustain for 10 minutes or more—think jogging, not sprinting) is incredibly important for your health, as it strengthens your heart and lungs. The American Heart Association even recognizes roller skating as an effective aerobic exercise, and researchers have found that roller skating can raise your heart rate from 140 to 160 beats per minute. Intense skating, like playing roller derby or speed skating, can even raise your heart rate to around 180 beats per minute!
Skating builds strength.
While it’s pretty obvious that roller skating can build up your leg muscles, it’s actually a better full body workout than you might think! In addition to strengthening and toning your quads, glutes, hamstrings, shins, calfs, and hips, skating also engages your core muscles. These super important muscles are located in your torso and are extremely important for posture, preventing back pain and injuries. The core muscles include your abs, pelvic floor, and the muscles that run along your spine.
Roller skating engages your core muscles, as well as your arms, because you are constantly having to shift your body weight to maintain balance as you roll. While these movements are less noticeable than the actions of your legs, the small balancing movements can be a surprisingly good workout for your core and upper body!
Skating is low-impact.
Some exercises are high-impact, meaning they put a lot of pressure on your joints. (Running, CrossFit, and sports like basketball, tennis, and soccer are all examples of high-impact exercise.) Low-impact exercise is more gentle on your joints, which is important for preventing injury and joint pain, especially in older or overweight people. Low-impact exercises include swimming, water aerobics, weight training, and—you guessed it—roller skating!
It’s never too late to learn to skate, so check out our Lanham skating lessons and get ready to roll your way to fun and fitness!