Rollerblading is not only a fun sport but also has various physical and health benefits. Professionals use this popular recreational sport as a cross-training exercise to build endurance and increase muscular strength.
Even medical research enlists rollerblading into the topmost beneficial activities to improve physical fitness and maintain overall well-being. Here are some benefits of rollerblading that you must know:
1. Builds Muscle Endurance
Rollerblading actively involves different muscle groups of your legs and core. It is a great exercise to develop muscular endurance. People often prefer exercises like running, bicycling, or a treadmill to develop muscular strength.
However, rollerblading can give you more benefits over these exercises by targeting the muscles of your upper legs, hips, buttocks, and lower back.
Not only does it improve strength and develop endurance but also helps in having better control and balance on your stance.
You have to maintain an upright position and a proper stance while rollerblading. Overall, inline skating helps you burn more calories and fat in comparison to similar sports [source].
Moreover, rollerblading increases your stamina when you skate continuously for long hours. Improved stamina can help you perform different activities for a prolonged duration.
According to experts, rollerblading is amongst the highly recommended exercises for building muscle endurance and developing physical stamina.
2. Helps Manage Weight
Researchers categorize rollerblading as a vigorous cardiovascular exercise. As per research by Mayo Clinic, an hour of rollerblading can help a 160-pound person burn over 913 calories.
Check our article Roller Skate Fitness Workout Tips
However, an hour of jogging by the same person at 5 mph will burn only 584 calories. Also, a session of walking for an hour at 3.5 mph will burn merely 277 calories. You can clearly notice the huge difference in terms of calories burned during the three exercises.
Therefore, if you want to reduce weight, rollerblading is an effective exercise to shed off some belly fat.
3. Improves Balance
Balancing is key to rollerblading. However, balancing on wheels also helps in improving your overall balance and stance. So, if you find it difficult to maintain balance while walking, running, or performing different sports activities, rollerblading can help you improve your balance.
Good balance not only improves your walking posture but also reduces the amount of energy you spend on regular activities like sitting and standing, thereby reducing fatigue.
The first thing you learn in rollerblading is how to balance on skates. You employ the muscles of your abdomen and lower back to tread forward and roll backward.
As you improve your balance on skates, you can perform various amazing rollerblading tricks. Read more about How To Keep Balance On Roller Skates
4. Boosts Heart Health
Over the past few years, heart diseases have become one of the growing concerns worldwide.
According to recent research, heart diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, heart attack, and stroke account for the majority of premature deaths.
Further, a study by the National Heart Foundation suggests that heart issues are increasing worldwide at an alarming rate. Rollerblading helps in boosting your heart health by strengthening it like any other muscle.
As per the American Heart Association, rollerblading is an effective aerobic exercise that works by increasing the heart rate and boosting heart health.
Rollerblading thereby provides a good workout to your lungs. A 30 minutes session of rollerblading at a steady pace can increase the heart rate to about 148 beats per minute.
Similar readings are observed in other cardio workouts such as running. You can further increase the aerobic benefits of rollerblading by increasing the difficulty level. Try uphill skating and practice interval skating to get maximum health benefits from your rollerblading sessions.
5. Tones Arms and Legs
Rollerblading is an effective workout for your arms and legs. The sport engages the muscles of your legs and glutes when you move forward.
Further, it engages your arms and core when you try to gain momentum. You must have seen inline skaters using their arms to maintain balance while moving forward and speeding up.
Develop the strength of your lower body, core, legs, and arms with regular sessions of rollerblading.
6. Helps Defeat Diabetes
Diabetes is another troublesome disease that may result from unhealthy eating habits, improper diet routines, excess weight, or lack of regular aerobic exercises. Often diabetic patients end up with Type-2 diabetes.
Health professionals recommend aerobics and strength training exercises to prevent and manage diabetes.
As per physicians, a diabetes patient must perform light to moderate aerobic exercises for about 30-minutes at least 4-5 times every week. It keeps the patients physically active and mentally attentive.
Rollerblading has been considered by researchers as a great aerobic exercise. It helps in improving heart rate and controlling insulin levels. Further, it is an effective strength training exercise.
It strengthens your muscles, bones, and heart. Besides that, it reduces your blood glucose levels, improves cholesterol levels, and helps relieve stress. Therefore, you get multiple health benefits from a single sport.
7. Improves Mood
Stress is considered bad for your mental well-being and physical health. It can further lead to different disorders and diseases. A session of inline skating can help minimize stress levels.
Rollerblading not only provides physical health benefits but also alleviates your mood and improves mental health. It stimulates your happy hormones and makes you feel jovial. So, if you need a boost to clear your mind, put on your rollerblades and hit the rink.
Further, regular rollerblading sessions can help minimize unexpected mood swings. Research has also found inline skating beneficial for patients with a history of depression.
Rollerblading helps in reducing depressing hormones in your brain, thereby stimulating the release of endorphins or happy hormones. Endorphins are responsible for keeping you in a good mood and relieving anxiety.
A single session of rollerblading can keep you cheerful throughout the day. On top of that, endorphins and other neurochemicals like endocannabinoids released during rollerblading make you feel more relaxed by relieving stress and reducing the perception of pain. Endorphins also improve your concentration levels.
Therefore, you can stay more attentive and happy all day long. Do you need some help in regulating your mood? What are you waiting for? Put on your shiny skates and enjoy a jaunty ride.
Breathe in the refreshing air and calm your mind. Even doctors recommend rollerblading as a stress-reducing exercise to patients with chronic stress.
8. Improve Joint Strength
Rollerblading creates a smooth fluid motion within your body. Regular sessions of rollerblading not only improve your muscular strength but also strengthen your joints.
Research by different universities suggests that rollerblading can have a long-term positive impact on your muscle and joints in comparison to other high-impact sports such as cycling and running. Restore the suppleness of your joints by regular sessions of rollerblading.
9. Improves Coordination
Rollerblading involves the proper coordination of different muscle groups. Inline skating is a perfect activity that forces you to maintain balance and locate your center of gravity.
Regular practice of rollerblading can help improve flexibility and overall coordination of your muscles and bones.
10. Strengthens Core
Rollerblading gives a good workout to your abdominal, postural, and back extensor muscles. Every glide and push motion of rollerblading activates your core to support your stance and provide stability.
This consistent effort to maintain dynamic balance further strengthens your core. A strong core is essential to perform more advanced moves such as crossovers and skating backward.
11. Increases Self-Confidence
Many athletes pursue rollerblading for the sheer joy of this sport. However, many sports enthusiasts also use rollerblading as a cross-training exercise. Rollerblading gives a sense of accomplishment every time you master a new move.
Further, you can participate in inline skating events and join rinks to coordinate with other skaters. It boosts self-confidence and motivates you to perform better next time.
So, do you need any more reasons to pick rollerblading as a regular sport? Are you still looking for traditional modes to get in shape and lose some pounds like hitting the gym, cycling, running, and yoga?
Why not give inline skating a try and experience the wonders of rollerblading by yourself?
Get a whole body workout with inline skating. Strengthen your core, arms, back, quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, and other lower body muscle groups without hurting your joints. Let me tell you another secret.
Rollerblading is a fantastic way to socialize with like-minded people. So, put on your rollerblades, get outdoors, glide on the pavements, and spend some quality time with your sporty pals.
If you want to hear it from the horse’s mouth, I have been rollerblading for years, and believe me, the health benefits of the sport will surprise you once you pursue it every day.
If you are also a rollerblading enthusiast, now you have even more reasons to pursue the sport. To me, rollerblading is my daily dose of motivation to stay fit and healthy.
It keeps me cheerful and lively. Plus, it helps me stay in my best shape. And certainly, being a rollerblading enthusiast myself, I love this sport. How has rollerblading helped you on your fitness journey?