Roller-skating makes family fitness easy. It’s great for burning calories, improving heart health, and improving muscle strength and flexibility. If you want to maintain a good fitness level, all you need to do is skate around the rink to your favorite top 40’s tunes. But if you’re ready to take your skate fitness to the next level, we have everything you need right here.
Roller-Skating as Cross-Training
Athletes are always in search of new cross-training exercises. Roller-skating may not be the first one to come to mind, but once you add it to your rotation, you’ll never go back. Skating builds muscle tone, flexibility, agility, and endurance. It’s easy to learn and fun to do. Best of all, it’s low-impact, so you can give your joints a rest before getting back in the game. Ready to roll? Here’s what you need to know.
3 Tips for Toning Muscles on Skates
Speed skate. The faster you go, the better cardio. Warm up your hamstrings, thighs, and glutes with a few leisurely trips around the rink. Then it’s time to tackle speed work! Skate just under your top speed for 20 seconds. Reduce your speed for 40 seconds, then indulge your need for speed again. Repeat for 10 minutes. As you build muscle tone, you’ll also build endurance, allowing you to skate for longer periods of time.- Get low. Are you engaging your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back? You will if you squat! To squat while you skate, lean forward and stick out your derriere, sinking down about 45 degrees. Alternate off skating straight and in the squatting position. You’ll tone those hamstrings in no time!
- Weave. Introduce a new move to your skating arsenal by weaving around the rink as if you’re weaving in and out of traffic cones. This move will develop the muscles in your outer thighs, hips, and obliques. Just watch out for other skaters!
Whether you’re a semi-professional skater or you just want a fun way to tone your legs, skate fitness can help you achieve your goals. Skip the gym membership and skate at Wheels!
FAQs
Skating requires the engagement of various muscle groups, particularly in the legs and core. The continuous movements involved in skating help to build and tone muscles, improving strength and endurance. Skating primarily targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, and abdominal muscles.
Does skating build leg muscle? ›
Roller skating mostly works the muscles of your hips and legs. Your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves will all get a good workout. Skating also gives your backside a few unique advantages.
Does ice skating count as leg day? ›
Skating works nearly every muscle group in the body, and gliding requires synchronized movement of the legs, which is important for joint flexibility. It also builds up the leg and abdominal muscles. Like any workout, skating is great for cardiovascular health – it gets blood pumping and the heart rate up.
Does rollerblading build legs? ›
“Rollerblading actually stimulates a tremendous amount of muscular development,” says Matt Scarfo, a New York City based personal trainer. “The skating stride puts load on the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and inner thigh muscles that aren't stimulated during similar exercises like walking.
Is skating good for weight loss? ›
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.
What muscles do skaters work? ›
Skaters use their quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calf muscles to propel themselves forward, jump, spin, and land. The quadriceps, located in the front of the thigh, are responsible for extending the knee and lifting the leg.
Does skating slim your legs? ›
You can build and tone your muscle definition by practising skating regularly for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 4-5 times a week. While it's primarily a cardiovascular exercise, regular cardio can define your muscles, particularly your abs, glutes, thighs, and calves – the primary muscles engaged in roller skating.
Does skating give you big calves? ›
In general skating won't give you bulky legs unless you combine with exercise/diet that achieves that goal.
How can I make my legs stronger for skating? ›
Two of the best off ice exercises with weights are squats and hockey lunges. Squats help develop the overall legs muscles, glutes and back. Hockey lunges help strengthen quadriceps, hamstrings, groin, gluteal muscles, calves, and hip abductors.
Is ice skating good for your knees? ›
During spins or jumps, your knees can undergo damage because of the twisting force applied to perform these intricate movements. Knee injuries may include damage to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and the Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL). An MCL injury can result in pain and swelling on the inside of your knee.
Despite it seeming like your legs do most of the work, ice skating impacts all your major muscle groups—from your quads and calves to your core and your shoulders.
Why do ice skaters kiss? ›
The kiss and cry is the area in a figure skating rink where figure skaters wait for their marks to be announced after their performances during a figure skating competition. It is so named because the skaters and coaches often kiss to celebrate after a good performance, or cry after a poor one.
Is rollerblading good for toning thighs? ›
If you are looking to tone up your muscles, this activity will be particularly beneficial in toning your glutes, legs, shoulders, arms and core muscles. In terms of weight loss and fitness goals, rollerblading is significantly helpful.
Can rollerblading give you abs? ›
And that's not all: Rollerblading does an excellent job of working your core and activating your ab muscles. "Rollerblading requires you to keep your core engaged the entire time for balance," Pedemonte says.
Does roller skating tone thighs? ›
Any lower body exercise will tone your legs or make them stronger (however you want to call it) including skating which is a great workout for glutes, legs and core, posterior chain and lateral muscle chains.
Does skating build abs? ›
“You're in continuous motion so your leg muscles [calves, quads, and hamstrings] become really powerful. Your core is constantly engaged, so your abs are being worked, and all the while trying to look as graceful as a ballerina,” she says.
