Rollerblading is one of the most popular sports that’s very suitable among kids and adults. If you are a runner, you probably had skaters strolling past you, and have thought about trying it once or twice. Rollerblading involves physical activity. So, you’d wonder whether it could improve your stamina and running.
Rollerblading can indeed help with your running. Not only does it help you strengthen body endurance, but also helps you improve your overall balance. It aids you to have a healthier heart and maintain weight at the same time. All of which can improve your overall health and stamina and so help with your running.
Here in this article, I’m going to list 5 ways rollerblading helps with running for you to get a detailed idea. So, without further ado, let’s just jump into it!
If you are planning on running a marathon or taking part in a race then being at the peak of your health and having the highest possible stamina is a must. Jogging would be the first thing that comes to your mind. But, it’s kind of boring if you ask me. ,
Rollerblading can be a great alternative to jogging as it’s both fun and also enable you to task your physique enough for improvement.
As you already know, rollerblading does help with running, but what you don’t know is how it helps with running. Now, I’m going to talk about 5 ways rollerblading can help improve your running.
Hopefully, this will convince you to take a fun approach at improving your running capabilities.
1. It Helps Increase Your Stamina
Stamina is the physical ability of your body that helps maintain several difficult workouts for a long time. Therefore, how long your stamina lasts will depend on your body’s strength and energy.
To put it simply, going roller-skating is a good way to help strengthen and build your stamina to higher levels. Here are some ways of the ways it increases your stamina
Muscle endurance
One of the biggest and exciting advantages rollerblading can bring right away is that it can motivate you to build muscle endurance and health development.
Now, you might be thinking that jogging, running on a treadmill, cycling, going on a swim is more effective, well I would tell you to think again because rollerblading is more than it meets the eye.
It has been proven that inline skating puts all your body muscles to work ranging from your upper leg muscles, hip, lower back, abs, glutes, and arms, to even your buttocks!
Hence, if you pick up the habit of roller-skating by going harder for a longer period of time, you will soon feel yourself not getting tired too easily.
You will also notice an increase in your stamina when you’re able to keep rolling for a long time without even stopping, nevertheless improved stamina will also aid you to last longer in other exercises.
You might also want to include the practice of climbing uphill and downhill in your skating sessions as this is a useful method to involve all your body muscles to be active and control all of your body’s energy.
It’s safe to describe it as a full-body workout. Unlike other sports, rollerblading helps you to achieve better muscle endurance.
Improves lower body strength
Although roller-skating can be considered a workout for the whole body, there are some areas and muscle groups that act as the main spotlight when you are rollerblading.
It’s fairly obvious that inline skating benefits lower body muscles. The whole workout mainly focuses on your leg muscles.
Skating involves the legs and glutes as you power them to move forward. This helps build strength and muscles in your body, especially in the lower half.
Adding a few uphill climbing workouts to your session can not only boost your leg muscle training but also help with your cardiovascular system.
So, if you’re looking for a training routine that plays an important role in your lower body strength and stamina, rollerblading is the one you’re looking for.
Improving your balance
Some people are natural when it comes to stability. However, it’s not the same case for everyone.
Do you have difficulties maintaining balance and stamina in different sports and physical activities? If so, you should definitely give rollerblading a shot. Balancing is not only needed when it comes to running. It can also have an impact on your posture and how you naturally walk.
To maintain a steady core and staying upright during roller skating, the abdominal and lower back muscles will work all together to roll forward and backward; developing your overall balance.
The improved balance will mean better stamina and also reduce the amount of energy you spend every day, especially on regular activities. This results in you being more energetic and reduces fatigue.
2. Develops a better health system
So far, there has been only the mention of physical advantages. Runners often ask whether roller-skating has an effect on our health system. Here’s what you need to know-
Burning Calories and building muscle
Rollerblading is an excellent way to get in some cardio and burn calories. Do you want to get rid of your unwanted belly fat? Worry not because you can skate into the new season looking so much better! There are many great ways to lose weight, some of which are walking and running.
But, let’s face it, running isn’t the most fun way to get fit and seems more like a chore, plus not everyone’s a runner. If you’re a beginner, then the jogging phase will likely wear off after some time.
Rollerblading on the other hand can offer more than just a good full-body workout. You can strap them on and go out to your neighborhood or a park whenever you so desire. The more sessions you decide to have, the more calories you’ll burn.
Not only does it help in dropping a few pounds but also builds more muscle on your body. When you’re skating, your legs are constantly striding with the involvement of your upper body movement, which lets you advance forward. This results in toning your abs, thighs, and glutes as well!
Healthier heart
In this day and age, heart diseases are not uncommon. In fact, it is one of the most common leading causes of premature deaths.
Inline skating has been recognized to strengthen your heart’s condition. It has also been proven that roller sports are a very effective aerobic workout that strengthens your heart. Usual skating will increase the typical skater’s heart rate from 140 to 160 heartbeats per minute.
However, if you’re willing to take it up a level by going on joining daring forms of rollerblading such as speed skating or roller derby, you’ll like can notice a dramatic increase in your heart rate to about 180 beats per minute!
Defeat and control Diabetes
Just like heart disease, diabetes is one of the most common diseases that is the result of improper diet, unhealthy eating routine, and being overweight, especially among those who do not exercise.
Sports such as rollerblading which involves both strength and aerobic exercise are recommended to manage and prevent the possibility of diabetes.
Roller-skating is a great aerobic workout that can be a huge help to maintain insulin levels in your body and improves your heart’s condition from going bad. Not only that, but it can also be a huge stress relief by decreasing blood glucose levels and keeping your cholesterol level from increasing.
Many renowned doctors from all around the world will suggest diabetic patients to rollerblade as it is a great aerobic exercise to perform at least 4 to 5 times a week. This will improve your mental health and control your diabetes while keeping you physically strong.
3. Makes you happier
Aside from all the physical benefits of roller-skating, can it have an effect on your mental health? It can! You may not believe but it’s actually a fact.
Yes, not everyone’s day to day life is free from problems. Stress can keep even the happiest of people in a good mood, but you can surely try to find a way to reduce it. It’s unreal how too much stress can gravely impact your daily functioning in life not just mentally, but also physically.
Rollerblading might seem like a tiring sport at first, don’t get me wrong, it obviously is. But, if you get your blades on and go on a peaceful stride around your nearby park, it can help flush out a lot of stress levels from your body.
Before you get back to work, try to get in a few minutes of skating at your leisure, preferably with a companion such as a friend or your partner that can make the experience ten times better. This can bring loads of health benefits, especially reducing anxiety issues from social situations.
All you really need to do is find a peaceful location with calm scenery, strap in your blades and start strolling around the area. Let the feeling of fresh air overcome your mind and relieve you from stress.
It can also aid your depression, clear your mind from overwhelming thoughts, and reduce mood swings. With the increase in happy hormones or endorphins, you’ll soon feel happiness.
At the same time, the bad hormones that cause you to feel sadness will also be reduced. Endorphins will naturally make you feel good about yourself and everything throughout the day.
Needless to say, if you want to be generally happier with life, rollerblading is undoubtedly an excellent exercise for you to achieve some happiness.
4. Helps you with being a part of a new community
You might be wondering how being part of a community can help with your running. But it can. Going on lonely runs can be quite demotivating. But, heading over to a skating rink, meeting others skaters, skating with them and sometimes out skating them – these things can motivate you to head out and get some exercise done.
For most, jogging is a task. It’s not really fun, just something you have to do. But skating is actually fun and being part of the skating community will encourage you to skate more.
Roller-skating is an amazing way to be socialized if you want to go outdoors and be more socially active. From going out on a skate with a group of friends to also meeting new people and getting acquainted with them!
You can even find online rollerblading communities on different social media websites. There you can chat with members, make friends, and even plan to go on a friendly stroll. Not to forget, you can even take part in competitions and marathons.
5. It is a low Impact workout
Rollerblading is more than just a simple workout. Unlike the other exercises like power walking and running, rollerblading has surprisingly proven to be much safer.
However, keep in mind that it’s not the minor knee scratches or falling that’s being referred to as safe. It’s more about the serious ones like the typical muscle and joint injuries.
Let’s talk about knee joints. Walking and running both can wreak havoc on your knees depending on how carefully you carry out the exercise. It is no secret that working out in the wrong way can bring about permanent injuries from sports. This explains why rollerblading is considered to be a sport with much low-impact on joints than other sports.
You may ask, how is it easy on the joints as opposed to the other exercises? The answer to that is, there’s no brisk or jerking movement. By excluding the use of foot strike on every stride, skating naturally becomes much safer than running.
Due to this smooth fluid movement, your muscles and joints become stronger over time and the chances of developing joint damages will be highly unlikely.
Aerobically speaking, rollerblading is almost half as dependent on the joints as it is when compared to running, giving you the same health benefits while preventing any potential injuries.
So, if you’re someone with knee and hip injuries, you can always choose to rollerblade as a low-impact workout for cardio and leg training.
On the other hand, you can always be extra careful by choosing to skate in smoother surface areas. Rough surfaces are more likely to have a toll on your knees due to the increase in jerky movements, also maybe avoid making sudden stops, turns, or twists to reduce the pressure from your knee joints, will you?
How to Rollerblade Properly to Avoid Injuries?
Do you have trouble keeping balance and tend to take falls every now and then? If so, joining a roller-skating class would be the first thing you should do. This might seem like an excessive step but these lessons will help you learn the basics of how to skate safely and give you an idea of what route might be the best for skating.
Another essential measure you should take is safety gear. Wearing a helmet, elbow pads, shin pads to avoid knee scrapes and minimize big injuries for beginners. Some might not like going through all these protective gears and to those people, I would say it is better to be safe than sorry.
However, it really comes down to how you choose to skate. If you choose to rollerblade in such a way that’s meant to be practiced by advanced level skaters only, then you’re bound to face an injury sooner or later.
Beginners should always take it down a notch and their rolling skills will gradually improve. Trying harder will most often result in injuries.
Last but not the least, the quality of your rollerblades can play an important role when it comes to reducing injuries. Make sure that your blades fit your feet perfectly and the condition is alright to use. A poor fitting or poor conditioned roller blade will buy you a ticket to injuries.
Conclusion
Looking to get 2 birds with one stone? Rollerblading is a perfect mix of both mental and physical workout for any runner. Once you pick up your blades, a healthier lifestyle would be guaranteed. Not only does it benefit your mental health by relieving stress, but also improves your muscle endurance and stamina.
Keep in mind that you will not be able to see a change in yourself on the first day. It’s normal for your body to get fatigued after skating for a long time. I would suggest you set long-term goals of developing your stamina and balance before switching to roller-skating. If you’re not patient with it, then it’s probably not a good idea for you.
With the 5 ways rollerblading helps with running mentioned above, it’s safe to say that you have learned enough to know whether it’s worth it. I truly hope that this article is reliable to expand your knowledge on rollerblading and running, and helps to assist you in that regard. Have a nice day and thanks for reading!