Roller skating is a great way to burn calories and have fun at the same time. If you’re looking for a way to lose weight, roller skating is a great way to do it. Roller skating burns up to 600 calories per hour, which is more than walking or running. The reason roller skating burns so many calories is because you’re using your whole body while you’re skating. You use your arms and legs to propel yourself around in circles on the ice, which makes it easier for you to burn fat and calories.
Besides being good exercise for weight loss, roller skating is also good because it helps improve your balance and coordination. This can help prevent injuries in other areas of your life if they happen while playing sports or doing other physical activities such as running or swimming. The best part about roller skating is that anyone can enjoy this activity regardless of age or fitness level!
Right here on Buy and Slay, you are privy to a litany of relevant information on benefits of roller skating, roller skating for beginners, and so much more. Take out time to visit our catalog for more information on similar topics.
Is Roller Skating Good Exercise For Weight Loss
Yes, you can burn a lot of calories by roller skating. In fact, the number of calories you burn by roller-skating depends on your weight. So, yeah, it can help you lose weight! If you plan to incorporate roller skating into your weight loss journey, you must know all about its ins and outs.
Besides, roller skating can often be a better choice of exercise than most others, and it even helps burn belly fat, shape, and tone your thighs, legs, etc.! Hence, to analyze all these facts in detail, without any further ado, let’s get started!
Can Roller Skating Help You Lose Weight?
Yes, roller skating can help you lose weight to a great extent. Although it is a very unpopular opinion, it has incredible health benefits. In fact, most people do not even consider it more than just a sport. However, if you want to gain some bonus benefits besides losing weight, roller skating is the perfect choice for you!
Not everyone is familiar with roller-skating; that’s a given even though it is one of the most exciting sports in the world!
Especially in the chilly areas where it snows, ice skating, inline skating, etc., are very popular. Any kind of sport is a good stimulant for cardiovascular activity. In fact, roller skating is no different.
Sports help to boost your cardiovascular functions. During roller skating, your heart works faster, the blood supply increases.
So, all the organs in your body are perfused better. It causes the metabolic rate to accelerate. When your metabolism increases, you burn more calories, and thus you lose weight.
Moreover, many sports enthusiasts also promote roller skating as great cardio for fat burning. Usually, when you think of aerobics or fat-burning exercises, the first thing that comes to your mind is not roller skating.
You might think of running, jogging, or Zumba dancing as burning some fuel. Zumba dances are another enjoyable form of cardio!
Nevertheless, roller skating is a much more beneficial workout sport. You can be satisfied and lose weight at the same time!
In fact, if you want to enjoy and make an exciting workout routine to lose some weight, you can have the best adventures with roller skating!
It is estimated that a roller skating session of 30-40 minutes can burn 255 calories. Now, if you make a routine of seven days, at the end of the week, you burn more than 1700 calories!
That is to say, if you plan your diet chart accordingly with some roller skating on the side, you might be able to lose about one and a half pounds in just a week!
So, in a month, you can lose up to six pounds. Roller skating can be an excellent way to lose weight if you don’t like a monotonous workout routine.
You can have fun, enjoy, do what you love, and, at the same time, lose some weight!
How To Lose Weight By Roller Skating?
Basically, you need to follow a time schedule for any kind of exercise that is meant to lose weight.
The amount of time you spend and your regularity will bring about the best results. Moreover, it would be best if you also learned how to roller skate properly.
If you are doing it the wrong way, chances are you might fail in your attempts to lose weight.
So, to lose weight, let’s clear some basics first. Maybe you’ve only seen roller skating on TV or in the news, or maybe you just saw someone skating by at the park.
In that case, you need to have a good idea first. If you are unfamiliar with roller skating, read the next part to have a brief overview of roller skating.
How To Start With Roller Skating?
It would help if you bought a good pair of skates that are your perfect size. Because any measure that doesn’t fit you well will lead you to unwanted injuries.
In addition to these, always keep knee pads, helmets, gloves if you need them, and elbow caps to ensure proper safety. Otherwise, you may encounter serious injuries.
Now, take your positions properly. Choose a comfortable place where you can sit down and anchor your roller skates. Fix them tightly so that they don’t fall loose during your flight.
Next, get up and balance both your feet on the ground. Most beginners stumble on balancing for the first time. You will gradually get a grip on this with practice.
For balancing, there is a clever technique. You can keep your feet in a V shape. It helps your weight to be distributed uniformly on both feet.
If you tend to fall off during your flight, keep kneeling down so you will get a grip on the speed.
Gradually increase your speed. Initially, it is very typical to feel you are going to fall down. But if you fear, you will be more nervous and prone to injuries.
There are reports of worst-case accidents with roller skating. Again, there are millions who have aced their way with a pair of skates.
It all depends on how much you have trained yourself. So, practice more and more!
Losing Weight By Skating
It is essential to keep track of how many calories you are burning. For this, you can save a rough record or use a smartwatch or fitness band.
Now, there is a popular opinion that the number of calories you burn by skating depends on your weight. It differs from person to person.
For instance, a person weighing 150 pounds will burn 540 calories in an hour of roller skating.
On the other hand, a person who weighs 200 pounds will burn almost 700 calories in an hour of skating. It mainly depends on how much force you exert when you are skating.
Of course, a person with 200 pounds will have more power and will exert more force. So, naturally, he can do more work and exercise more power at the same time as a person weighing 150 pounds can.
Now, if your goal is to lose five pounds, you can set your goal as such.
If you are burning 500 calories per day, by the end of the week, you will burn 3500 calories.
So, you can lose 1.5 pounds by the end of the week. So, to lose five pounds, you can set a goal for one month. If you are doing everything right, you can lose five pounds quickly by the end of the month!
Besides, when you are roller skating, try to make more bodily movements. Twist, turn, bend, make whatever movements you can.
It will help you to burn more fat and increase the tonicity of your muscles. That is why some people consider roller skating to be a good way of building carvings, shaping legs, or burning belly fat.
In addition, the speed of your rollers is also important. If you skate faster, you are sure to burn more calories.
Of course, you won’t be able to skate faster on the first go, and this is very normal. But slowly, with time, you will learn to skate faster and burn more fat!
Wear loose and comfortable clothes during skating. Wearing uncomfortable clothes will only worsen your experience and make you feel less interested in the rest of your skating schedule.
So, start with a goal and eat more healthy foods. Maintain a balanced diet. For this purpose, you must eat good proportions of carbs, protein, and fat.
Otherwise, the number of calories you burn from skating may not coordinate with your diet. Instead, it may actually harm you! Also, don’t forget to drink plenty of water during your sessions!
Can You Lose Belly Fat By Roller Skating?
Yes, you can lose belly fat by roller skating! It is the best workout that can get you in complete shape.
It can tone all the muscles in your body, including your thighs, legs, calves, and calves, and can even slim and trim your belly fat!
All kinds of aerobics are meant for shaping your body. Aerobic exercises mainly aim to reduce belly fat or any extra fat in any part of your body.
Basically, in aerobics, all the muscles in your body have to work out. The extra energy you consume is burnt from your muscle mass. It helps to reduce the size of your fat cells.
In the case of burning belly fat, you can never really eradicate fat cells from your body. When you gain weight, the fat cells actually store more lipids and increase in size.
That’s why doctors advise exercising. Because when you start to burn these calories, the fat cells reduce in size. Hence, you get a flat tummy! But the fat cells never really go away.
For burning belly fat, the exercises you do must stretch your abdominal muscles correctly. It should work up the muscles against the direction of the force you apply.
The Rectus Abdominis muscle is the primary ab muscle. You must ensure that it is in constant contraction and relaxation during your whole aerobic session.
When you make movements of your body, the recti muscles also work up. They are in constant contraction, which is the prime requisite.
As a result, the belly fat cells work with the movements and ultimately reduce their size. After a few days, you will notice how close you are to a flat tummy!
Roller skating can also shape and tone your butt. When you squat, the gluteus muscles are working, which makes them toned.
Of course, there are specific movements that you need to practice for a perfectly toned butt.
The butt muscles are mainly the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. For proper shaping and toning, all these muscles need to work in unison.
When you are skating, the force is evenly working on all your muscle groups. Hence, you are not so far from a toned butt if you are a regular skater!
Besides, for shaping legs, roller skating is very helpful. Because the entire sport is based on your leg work.
The force directly acts on your hamstrings and adductors, making them perfectly toned. So, for sexy legs and perfect shape, buy a pair of skates and get started today!
Are Roller Skating Better Than Other Exercises?
Roller skating is undoubtedly an excellent way to burn calories. You can run or go jogging or simply just walk as a regular part of your workout.
Even the ab workouts seem less attractive after a few days. Many even become reluctant to work out just a few days after starting over.
But if you are to do something that you will enjoy to the fullest, why not add that to your aerobic routine?
If you can burn the exact same amount of calories by doing something that you will enjoy, of course, it is the best to do! Furthermore, there are several health benefits of roller skating. Below I have listed some of these.
- Good For Your Heart
Your body performance depends on how well you keep your heart. A good heart will operate correctly only when it lives in a good and healthy body.
When you do roller skating, your heart will increase its power as it receives more blood supply. You will feel more energetic, and your stress threshold rises.
The added bonus is that you can lose weight too! You can sleep more peacefully than before and stay in a good mood for the whole day! It is a boon for your heart.
- It Is The Safest Sport!
You know how you can get injured from football, soccer, or rugby. But roller skating is the safest alternative.
It’s just the initial few days when you can get hurt the most. Because then you are just a beginner and still have a lot to learn.
However, when you gain experience with time, you will see that it is safer than any other sport of equivalent nature. You can be happy and gay and still lose weight! So, buy your pair of skates today and go on rolling!
- Safe For Your Musculoskeletal System
Actually, all sports can’t be called healthy or safe for your joints. In most sports, there is a great chance that you might injure your knee joint, elbow joints, or even tear a ligament or tendon.
But in the case of roller skating, if you take proper precautions, there is very little risk of even breaking a bone!
Even if you fall down during skating, it causes a very low-impact collision. The force of this contact is not big enough to cause any significant accidents.
Besides, if you wear helmets, knee pads, etc., the chances of injuries become very negligent! So, it is gentle and safe for your musculoskeletal system.
- Brings Out A Positive Vibe!
When you notice that you are also feeling very happy about yourself, your attitude towards yourself changes automatically.
You start to feel energized and always radiate positive energy. It is essential for your mental and personal growth too.
We all love to do the things that we enjoy. But if we are forced to do something that is unpleasant, it ultimately impacts our mental wellbeing.
So, our first choice should always be something that we enjoy doing. In this regard, roller skating is a sport that is loved by all!
Weight loss is like an incentive here. Nevertheless, the benefits of roller skating are innumerable.
From personal to professional life, in all aspects, you will enjoy all its benefits. So, bring out your positive energy and skate around with pride!
- Reduces The Risk Of Cardiovascular Diseases
Sports are vital for your health. In fact, if you want to stay in good health, with no heart diseases or other disabilities, you must practice sports at least once a week.
Doctors recommend that even if you can’t do heavy cardio or maddening exercises like insanity, it is incumbent that you at least walk every day.
Exercises and sports reduce the chance of atherosclerosis, decrease blood cholesterol levels, and do not let excess fat deposit in places.
You are surely going to burn the excess fat! All these promote cardiovascular health and, most importantly, reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases.
A healthy heart will keep the rest of your body and soul in perfect health for the rest of your life. So, roller skating as a sport can do wonders for your body.
It will benefit you and your heart too. If you go skating even once a week, you will notice its benefits in no time! Not to mention that you will lose weight faster than ever before!
Conclusion
Roller skating is a very basic kind of workout for losing weight and enjoying leisure at the same time.
The health benefits of roller skating know no bounds. So, why not incorporate something into your everyday routine which you can enjoy and make use of simultaneously!
If you are still in doubt on whether or not does roller skating make you lose weight, buy a pair and check for yourself! You have my word that you’ll be amazed with the results.
Benefits Of Roller Skating
1. Roller Skating Burns Calories
It’s a well-known fact that to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume everyday. In other words, you need a negative calorie deficit to drop the pounds.
There are plenty of ways that people try and lose weight, but if you’re serious about losing weight, you need to be sensible.
Walking and running are great ways to burn calories, but let’s face it these aren’t always fun ways to get fit. If you’re not a runner, it’s going to be a chore, and the novelty is soon going to wear off.
Skating for weight loss on the other hand can just mean putting on your roller skates and going for a leisurely skate in the park. All you need to skate are a good pair of skates and one of the many places to practice roller skating.
Both indoor and outdoor roller skating are great ways to burn calories. Whether you use indoor or outdoor roller skates, skating is a cardiovascular activity. It gets the heart working harder, it works up a sweat, and if you skate regularly and follow a healthy diet, you’ll soon see the fat melt away.
Skating to lose weight is an effective method of getting healthy. No matter what kind of skating you do, you’re still going to burn calories.
How Many Calories Does Roller Skating Burn?
A leisurely 30-minute roller skating session down the boulevard is going to burn 250 calories!
So, if you do the math skating for 30 minutes five times a week will burn approximately 1250 calories. This together with a sensible reduced diet will help you lose one pound a week.
Of course your weight influences the amount of calories burned in an hour from skating. If two people of different weights skate at the same speed for the same distance and on the same terrain, the one who weighs more is going to burn more calories roller skating – this is the same for every type of exercise, not just roller skating for fitness.
As well as your weight, the type of skating you do will also determine the calories burned skating.
Fitness Magazine carried out a study on different people of different weights who use roller skates and rollerblades for exercise. According to them, a person who weighs 150lbs will burn 482 calories every hour when quad skating.
But did you know that calories burned rollerblading or skating wearing inline skates is even more? That same person, who weighs 150lbs, burns around 600 calories per hour rollerblading. I guess it’s all of that extra balancing on a single roller blade of wheels that accounts for it.
2. Build Muscle Definition From Roller Skating
Not only will you drop a number of pounds over a 3-month period if you roller skate for weight loss, you’ll also be able to tone up and build more muscle definition skating as well.
Every time you go out roller skating you’ll notice an increase in muscle definition. Skating is a cardio exercise, but it’s so much more. Roller sports help flex and firm up a number of areas including your abs, glutes, thighs, and also calves.
Your glutes are the scientific term for your butt, and this is the area that gets the best workout. A person’s glutes is actually made up of three different muscles: gluteus maximus, medius and minimus. Every time you skate, you twist, turn and bend as you navigate turns and corners, and it is these actions that really engage your backside, making it firm, pert and well defined.
If you’ve endured an intense skate session, you’ll feel a number of areas of your body no matter how fit you are. Your quads, hamstrings, and thighs will all feel the burn from moving your legs forwards and backwards. The first parts of your body you’re likely to see tone up is your calves. Getting toned calves from skating is normal as it is this area of the body that sees a lot of the action – they help stabilize the Achilles tendon, which supports the ankle as it works extra hard while you’re doing your roller skating or rollerblading workout.
If you’re carrying excess weight, it will obviously take a bit more time to notice muscle definition from rollerblading and skating, but as soon as you do manage to drop some pounds and lose the excess weight, you’ll notice that you look significantly leaner and toned. Who would have ever thought that the best way to tone up is by skating?
3. Improve Your Balance Roller Skating
Some people have natural balance, but for many this is not something that comes naturally. Your balance can affect how you walk and how you do certain sports and activities. Having good balance is important; it reduces the amount of energy you expend when doing regular activities like walking or even sitting, and it also helps reduce fatigue. And because balance in skating is necessary to successfully roller skate, you’ll soon learn the necessary roller skating tricks and techniques to improve it.
Roller skating improves your balance thanks to the muscles used during roller skating. Improve your balance roller skating as you use your lower-back and abdominal muscles to roll forwards and backwards. Skating requires you to keep a steady core in order to remain upright, which is the perfect recipe if you’re looking to achieve better balance.
4. Roller Skating For Better Heart Health
Heart disease is prevalent. It’s also the leading cause of premature death in the USA. Heart disease, which includes heart attacks, strokes, and other related cardiovascular diseases, is a killer, and according to the National Heart Foundation approximately 787,000 people die from heart disease in the USA alone – this is a shocking statistic, and thanks to the everyday stressors we endure, it’s on the increase at alarming rates.
Roller skating, inline skating and rollerblading strengthen the heart, and The American Heart Association has deemed roller sports as an effective form of aerobic exercise. Moderate roller skating and rollerblading will increase the average skater’s heart rate from 140-160 beats a minute. And if you’re the more daring type and like to strap on a pair of roller derby skates, speed skates or inline hockey skates and play a roller sport, you can increase your heart rate dramatically up to about 180 beats a minute.
5. Defeat Diabetes Roller Skating
Diabetes is on the rise, and it’s almost as common as heart disease. But it’s all interrelated. Unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles, being overweight, and a lack of aerobic exercise often trigger type 2 diabetes.
The American Diabetes Association recommends two main types of physical activity to manage and prevent diabetes – strength training and aerobic exercise, both of which are already two health benefits of roller skating and rollerblading. Therefore, with these things in mind, you can effectively control diabetes roller skating.
Roller skating is an excellent example of an aerobic exercise, and the aerobic exercise from skating helps your body use and control your insulin better. Roller skating strengthens the heart and bones, relieves stress, lowers blood glucose levels, and improves cholesterol levels. All of these factors influence diabetes, so in effect, you could roller skate to control diabetes or perhaps even prevent it.
Doctors recommend diabetes patients and those deemed “at risk” to aim for about 30-minutes of light-to-moderate aerobic exercise 5 days a week. If you really want to take control of your diabetes roller skating, skate more than the recommended 5 times a week. It’s really important that you keep your roller skating regular and don’t allow two or more days to pass without your skating workout to get healthy.
6. Strength Training Benefits Of Roller Skating – Get More Body Power
Another great health benefit of roller skating is that it helps build strength. This is especially true in building muscle and lower body strength. Strength training, which is also known as resistance training, is also another way of controlling diabetes. However, strength training shouldn’t just be limited to disease, you should always want to make your body stronger. A strong body not only fights off disease through building up a strong immune system it also reduces the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures in your later years.
An advantage of roller skating is it’s a whole body workout, but there are of course some areas and muscle groups that get more of a workout roller skating. Your improved body strength from skating will also improve your skating coordination, help you prevent roller skating injuries, and also help keep you more active and lithe as you get older.
7. Go Harder For Longer – Endurance Roller Skating
Another health benefit of rollerblading and roller skating is that skating improves muscular endurance. We’ve already learned that roller skating increases strength but with this also comes a huge boost in muscular endurance, meaning you’ll be able to go harder for longer. All of a sudden you’ll be able to roller skate for longer, run further without stopping, and do other exercises for an extended period of time.
As an endurance-building sport, inline skating is one of the most advantageous forms of exercise, especially when it comes to muscle development. Skating builds muscles like nobody’s business, even more so than your standard forms of exercise such as running and cycling. If you go back in time and remember what your fitness and endurance levels were like before you took up roller skating as a hobby and compare them to now, you’ll notice a huge difference. So, it’s fair to say skating and endurance go hand in hand.
8. Prevent Injuries Roller Skating
Roller skating is one of the best forms of exercise. Forget what they say about running and walking for exercise, roller skating is much safer. We’re not referring to the falls or scrapes to the knees you might get from roller skating (that’s what skating knee pads and elbow pads are for), we’re referring to the typical muscle and joint injuries from sports.
Running and walking wreck havoc on the joints, especially the knees, and if you’re not careful, you might cause yourself a permanent injury from sport. This is where roller skating is different. All disciplines of skating are low-impact sports.
Why is roller skating so easy on the joints? When you roller skate, there’s a fluid motion; there are no jerky movements like in running, walking, aerobics, and dancing. Thanks to this fluid movement in roller skating and inline skating, you’re less likely to endure joint damage skating. So in short, you’ll still be able to enjoy the same results that running and dancing on the body have, but without the harsh impact.
According to university studies, the impact skating has on the joints compared to other higher-impact sports like running was 50 percent less. So, in short, roller skating is an aerobic workout just as worthy as other forms of aerobic exercise, but without the associated joint damage.
9. Roller Skating Makes You Happy
There are obvious physical health benefits of roller skating, but there are also mental health benefits of roller sports as well. Roller skating clears the mind, minimizes mild forms of depression, and it just makes you happy.
Roller skating reduces bad hormones and while it does this, it increases the good endorphins, which are commonly known as the ‘happy hormones’.
The endorphins from roller sports relieve ‘brain pain’, and thanks to the extended aerobic workout from roller skating you’ll feel naturally good. You’ll also be able to take advantage of the good endorphins from skating, as these will improve your concentration levels and allow you to hone in on your basic skating techniques. So not only does roller skating make you happy you’ll also be able improve your roller skating and inline skating techniques. So, essentially you can regulate your mood roller skating. And if you like to roller skate in a group of friends, you’ll have even more fun, because roller sports are great group activities.
10. Live A Stress-Free Life Thanks To Your Roll
Stress is synonymous with everyday modern life. Almost every person you speak to is stressed out about something or someone. It doesn’t matter whether they’re stressed about their health, work, family, personal relationships, or money, stress can be very dangerous, and if it isn’t reduced and controlled, it can lead to more serious results, namely death.
It is absolutely essential to try and reduce your stress levels, and skating minimizes stress. Many people who’ve never done any kind of roller skating, view it as a tiring sport. Yes, roller skating and rollerblading can definitely knock the wind out of you, but you can also roller skate peacefully as well.
If you’re in need of some much-needed quiet time, skating is a relaxing activity. Choose a peaceful scenic location that’s ideal for roller skating, and take advantage of the moment focusing on your surroundings, breathing and fresh air.
Doctors suggest taking up sport or new activities to reduce stress, and this is great advice. But there’s no point in doing an activity you hate such as walking or jogging; this is likely to exasperate your stress levels even more, which is why you need to do a fun activity to reduce stress such as roller skating.
The fitness benefits of skating are simply mind-blowing. If you’ve been contemplating taking up a roller sport like artistic roller skating or jam skating for fitness, roller skating and rollerblading workouts are some of the best kinds of workouts you can do. Now you can have fun and get fit skating and forget about all your worries. So, if you haven’t already started skating, now’s the time!
Roller Skating For Beginners
Have you always wanted to learn how to roller skate but were either too afraid to try or just didn’t know how to get started? Then, this blog post is for you!
Today, I will go over everything you need to do to go from roller skating newb to a pro skater. Okay. Maybe you won’t be a pro when you are done reading this, but you will be ready to lace up those skates, head to your local roller skating rink and have some fun, too!
How to Roller Skate Step-by-Step
1. Sit on the Floor and Put Your Skates On
First, start by sitting on the floor. Grab your first skate and put it on. Next, lace up your skates. I like to make my skates tight enough so the skate feels secure but not so tight that the circulation gets cut off and I can’t feel my foot anymore. 🙂
Seriously, though, you want your skates tight so you feel secure when you are skating. Tie them just like a pair of shoes. If you have high top skates, which I recommend for beginners, then make sure that as you lace to the top of the skate it is tight. Then, I usually tie a nice bow and double knot it just so it doesn’t come undone.
2. Practice Getting to Your Feet & Falling Down
Now that your skates are on, lets practice standing up and falling down.
Practice Standing Up
- First, head over to a carpeted area in your house or onto a nice patch of grass. Make sure the space is flat.
- Next, spin your body around and kneel on both knees.
- Then, take a knee – all Tim Tebow like. Bring one leg up and have the other knee on the ground.
- Next, put your hands on your lifted leg and push down on your leg as you stand.
- Now, make sure you keep your knees slightly bent and lean slightly forward. If you fall, you want to fall forward – never backwards if you can help it.
- If you are rolling unexpectedly when you stand up, stand instead in a t position. The T position looks just like it sounds. You turn 1 leg 90 degrees and place it behind your front foot with one foot facing forward and the other skate facing out. This position will keep you from rolling.
- Stand straight keeping your upper body centered over your skates with a slight lean forward and your knees bent.
- Next, practice putting yourself back into a kneeling position by bending one of your legs and slowly moving down to 1 knee.
- Repeat this process over and over again on carpet or grass outside where you will not roll. Skating is all about balance. Once you master balance, it gets a whole lot easier.
Practice Falling Down
You may ask, “Why do we practice falling down?” Simple. Because the more you practice falling down the better you’ll get at it. Everyone falls sometimes when they skate – even me and I have been skating for almost as long as I have been walking.
Drop to One Knee
- Stand up on your skates.
- With your knees bent and your feet shoulder width apart, slowly drop down to one knee.
- Now, in the one knee position, stand back up.
Fall Forward on 2 Knees
When you are roller skating, you are going to fall. It’s just going to happen. And while preparing for a fall by taking a knee sounds great, it just isn’t going to be possible to predict every fall. So, lets talk about and practice falling forward.
- Stand up on your skates
- Next, stand in the skating posture (knees bent) and lean your body slightly forward.
- Then, fall down onto both knees and lean forward as you fall.
- Your hands will come down onto your wrist guards. If you fall haphazardly, you may also bang an elbow pad onto the ground.
When you fall forward, try to have your pads take the brunt of the force. Wrist and knee pads are pretty much a necessity when you are first learning because most people fall forward on their hands and knees.
3. Getting Up from a Chair or Bench
Next, let practice getting up from a seated position from a chair or bench.
- Turn your legs to the side of the bench or chair.
- Use the back of the chair or bench as support to balance yourself as you stand.
- Continue to use the back of the chair or bench for support.
4. How to Use Your Toe Stoppers
Next, lets practice the toe stop drag without rolling.
- First, get onto some carpet or grass. If that’s not available, stand in a T position to keep your feet from rolling.
- Then, take your back leg, lift your heel and point your back foot down until your stopper touches the ground.
- Next, return your back leg to it’s starting position.
- Practice this over and over again. You want to get good and understanding this feeling when you are not rolling first.
- Later, after you get rolling, practice dragging your stopper as you roll. It’s the exact same motion as before, except now you are rolling. Drag your toe stop until you come to a complete stop.
5. Posture and Taking Your First Steps
Next, lets practice the right posture or what I like to call skating posture.
- First, bend your knees. Put your skates next to each other a little closer than shoulder width apart.
- Next, lean slightly forward. Keep the muscles in your core tight. You want your body weight to be towards the front center of your skates (more leaning forward than backwards). You should feel your thigh muscles engaging from the bend and slight lean forward. Do not stand like a straight legged mummy please!
- Next, you can turn your toes inwards slightly if you are rolling. This will also insure you don’t roll backward.
- Feel free to shoot your arms out from your side in a T shape for balance.
- Next, walk around in your skates on the carpet or grass. Get comfortable walking in your skates without them rolling. If you can’t find carpet or grass, you can always tighten the nut on the end of your wheel. The tightening of this nut on most skates will keep the wheel from rolling.
6. Balance is the Key
Practice Standing on One Foot with Skates
Superior balance is the key difference between beginner skaters and experienced skaters group. More experienced skaters are fabulous at balance. To start, lets practice standing on a single foot with your quad skates on. Again, do this on carpet or grass so you don’t roll.
- Stand in the skating position with bent knees and a slight lean forward.
- Now, pick up one skate from the ground and lift your foot.
- Balance on your other leg for a count of 5 seconds.
- Then, place your foot down and switch to the other foot.
- It is completely normal for this to be hard when you are first starting out. Many people just do not have good balance. If this is you, don’t worry. It just may take you a little more practice to get good at balance. So, instead, practice all of the above but without skates on. When you get good at balancing without skates, then try it again with skates on.
7. Gliding – Forward Skating like a Pro!
Now, lets get to gliding – or what we call skating.
- Stand in the skating position with bent knees and leaning slightly forward.
- Now, stand on your dominate leg and push with your other leg.
- Take a baby push to start. Turn your leg 45 degrees, have all 4 wheels on the ground and push.
- Put the leg you pushed with back down on the ground. You should now be rolling slowly forward.
- When you start to lose momentum, repeat the steps above and push again.
- Keep paying attention to your body posture. If you start to shake, you can always use your toe stop to slow down. Also, feel free to take a knee if you get tired.
- Keep practicing pushing side to side and rolling forward. As you get more comfortable, you can use more power in your pushes to go faster.
8. If You are Completely Out of Control on Your Skates
If you have been following along and you are just completely out of control on your skates, then these tips may help:
- Move to the carpet or grass – When your wheels can’t roll, its really a lot easier to get used to your skates and not get hurt. Move to carpet or grass when you first start and you will get more comfortable in your skates faster.
- Tighten Your Wheels and Walk in Your Skates – Another trick is to tighten the nut that secures your wheel to your plate. If you tighten this nut on most skates, your wheels will eventually stop rolling. Now, your skate is just a big, tall, heavy shoe. Practice walking around in your skates to get used to them. I have taught 1000s of little kids (2-3 year olds) to skate using this trick. It works.
- Bad Balance – If you have tried everything, then I have one word for you. Yoga. Yep, it works. And trust me, I didn’t like yoga. Not me. I’m a manly man. It may take you months (or even years), but start practicing and you will find balance (in more way than one). It’s free, check out Yoga with Adriene on YouTube, and it’s totally awesome for you. This will go a long way in helping you out in a lot of things in life including stress reduction, balance, flexibility, better mood, weight control, etc.
- Find a Roller Rink (or an Experienced Skater) and Ask for Help – If you are really struggling and thinking about quitting, please reach out for help. I know not everyone has a roller skating rink around them, but if you do, they are usually a great resource for roller skating lessons.
9. Practice Regularly
As with every new activity in life, practice make perfect. Many beginners want to know how often they need to practice to get good. The simple answer is practice as often as you can.
Protect Yourself – Getting the Right Roller Skate Protective Gear
Now that you have your roller skates in hand, lets talk about protecting yourself. We’re going to cover all of the roller skating pads and roller skating helmets that every beginner roller skater needs to get started.
The most important pads to get are knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards. If you want to protect your tailbone, then check into a butt pad (or padded shorts).
Last but not least is the helmet. Please wear one especially if you are park skating or skating outdoors. It’s hard to know when a loose pebble is going to send you down.
