Roller skating has been a fun outdoor activity since it became popular in the 1900s. Today, roller skating and rollerblading are performed as exercise, sports activity, or a hobby. With several skating parks, schools, and clubs all over Toronto, there's never been a better time to engage in skating activities than now.
Skating instructors in Canada typically take newbie skaters through beginner skating lessons that cover balancing, gliding, braking techniques, and other stunts. Learn more!
This article explains how you can start roller skating lessons in Toronto, its benefits, and why you should enroll on beginner skating lessons. Learn about rollerblading in Calgary.
What to Expect from a Rollerblading Class for Beginners?
In general, participating in a rollerblading class provides a lot of health and social benefits for the individual.
Beginning with exercise and stretch routines that prepare the beginner for a skating session, a roller blaring class for beginners also provides an avenue for socializing, boosting stamina, self-esteem, and heart rate.
Enrolling in a beginner roller skating class is always recommended for anyone without background knowledge whatsoever in rollerblading. Although, it is common for most individuals to already have background knowledge in rollerblading from childhood activities. While this may not be the case for everyone, a beginner class is generally recommended for teaching newbies and serving as a refresher course for people with fundamental knowledge in roller skating.
Rollerblading classes generally cover the following lessons:
- Balancing
- Braking Techniques
- Gliding
Advanced lessons in rollerblading teach the skater more complex skating lessons like maneuvers and stunts.
How Good is Rollerblading for Weight Loss?
Roller skating, as mentioned earlier in this article, is also an effective activity that can serve as an exercise. While roller skating, you can burn a significant amount of calories, making roller skating a fun way to lose weight, burn fat, get in shape and tone your skin. However, the amount of calories you burn is proportionate to your body weight.
During roller skating, the body experiences an increase in cardiovascular activities, making your heart pump faster and increasing blood supply to other body parts. When this happens, body organs have sufficient blood to function properly, increasing metabolism. This is how calories in the body burn to cause you to lose weight.
Who teaches roller skating in Vancouver? Find out!
Roller skating has a surprising calorie burn rate of about 255 calories per 30-40 minutes. This burn rate can translate into a whooping 1700 calories burnt if you roller skates for 30-40 minutes every day for a week! That's almost six pounds in a month if you plan your diet and include rollerskating in your daily routines.
Contrary to popular opinion, it is an excellent way to lose body weight if you don't fancy a tedious workout plan. Learn more about roller skating in Montreal.
However, like every other exercise routine, when it comes to losing weight via roller skating, the only way that promises effectiveness is by being consistent. Meticulously following your daily routine with roller skating is the most effective way to immediately see results. Since roller skating activities can be performed indoors and outdoors, it's pretty easy to stick to your routine during unfavorable weather conditions in an indoor roller skating session.
Is Rollerblading Easy To Learn?
How easy or difficult a newbie perceives rollerblading depends on the individual. Since the main aspect of rollerblading is maintaining balance while on the wheels, some people learn this part within a few hours of practice, other people can find maintaining it a little more difficult than it appears and can take a few days to get the hang of it.
When it comes to learning and maintaining body balance on roller skates, it might be difficult at first because of the shaky footing the wheel provides. Hence, it is best to anticipate falling. It is ideal for practicing falling and how to land safely whenever you fall. The best way to fall with roller skates is on your back or bum. Avoid falling head or face first, as this can mean severe injuries.
It is also ideal for learning to balance on a grassy surface or a carpet to avoid unwanted injuries from a hard or rough surface. Adequate protective wear is also advisable for beginner roller skaters. For older learners, it is also helpful to have rails or supportive surfaces around to help you until you fully gain control of your balance.
Discover how to hire an expert for roller skating lessons in Windsor.
Once body balance has been learned, the other aspects of roller skating can be learned pretty easily.
Advanced roller skating tricks and maneuvers can take months or even years to achieve mastery. Pay attention to your body while practicing roller skating to avoid pushing your limits while practicing into severe or lifelong injuries.
Is Rollerblading Better Than Running?
Running is a popular form of exercise for losing weight, burning calories, building muscles, and other aerobic benefits.
Roller skating, when compared with running, has several enhanced benefits that include:
- Calorie Burning
When it comes to the calorie burn rate of roller skating, an individual weighing 160 lb could burn around 913 calories within an hour of roller skating and burns 986 calories after completing an 8-meter run in an hour.
However, these figures are estimates and can vary depending on the individual's weight and exercise routine. Roller skating up a hill or at a faster pace can increase the calorie burn rate.
- Aerobic benefits
Just like running, roller skating also provides aerobic benefits. However, when compared with running, the individual achieves more aerobic benefits running than roller skating. However, the aerobic benefits from roller skating still outmatch cycling.
- Muscle building
In terms of muscle building, rollerblading provides a better workout for this than running. Roller skating requires the individual to perform a side-to-side body movement that utilizes most of the lower body muscle group. This includes the flute muscles, inner thighs, etc. The hamstrings, calf muscles and quadriceps strengthen their physiological structure via forwarding and backward skating. The consistent arm swinging movement while roller skating is beneficial and strengthens the body's core and arms. A consistent 20-30 minutes roller skating session each day can significantly strengthen these joints, muscle groups, ligaments, and tendons.
- Joint impact
When running, the hip, knee, and foot joints experience a brute impact when the foot gets in contact with the ground, which is better avoided by roller skating.
Can Rollerblading Help Me Stay Healthy?
In a short answer, yes. Roller skating has several health benefits that can help you stay healthy. A short list of these benefits is as follows:
- Losing weight
As mentioned earlier in this article, roller skating could help burn up to 400 calories within an hour. Though the amount of calories burnt depends on the individual's weight, roller skating also provides a cardiovascular workout routine with fewer impacts on the joints.
- Body Toning
Engaging in roller skating is also an excellent way to keep your lower body fit and in great shape. This is because while skating, the body core and lower body are exercised with the buttocks, calves, abdomen, and thighs toning.
- Socializing
Belonging to a skating club, enrolling in a skating school, or merely practicing outdoors at public rinks are great ways to meet other people. Most rinks organize concerts and concession stands that could be a fun social activity to engage with others. It is fun to listen to jazz performances and sip hot chocolate after an intense skating/workout session.
- Indoor and Outdoor Exposure
The best part about skating is that it is both an indoor and outdoor activity. This means you can stick with your roller skating routine even when it's raining or snowing. Hence, if you're a remote worker or you are constantly at your work desk and prefer to skate, you have an avenue to engage in an outdoor activity that provides a change of environment. Outdoor workers, as well, can benefit immensely from an indoor roller skating session.
- Feeling Exhilarated
While roller skating, several maneuvers and stunts project you into the air for a few seconds. This short moment in the air is known to be relaxing and exhilarating for skaters. This is a great way to soothe pressure and anxiety.
In general, roller skating is a fun, low-impact exercise that offers a variety of health benefits. Health experts recommend 150 minutes of cardio exercise each week, and roller skating is one of the best ways to meet this health quota. Being a low-impact exercise, body joints don't bear much weight or pressure while roller skating yet proves to be just as beneficial as high-impact exercises.
It is essential, however, to employ safety measures while skating or learning how to skate. Recommended safety measures include wearing elbow and knee pads and helmets, practicing on softer surfaces first, etc. Adhering to these safety guidelines guarantees low risks of severe or life-threatening injuries while skating.
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