Ahhh, ye olde blades of glory.
A stalwart on the ’80s and ’90s fitness scene, if you grew up on Australia‘s sunburnt streets of Suburbia, you most probably rocked a pair of these bad boys with reckless abandon.
Although there is a difference between rollerskating and rollerblading, Chet Faker‘s 2014 clip for Gold gave the trend a revival and made the whole getting-around-on-wheels business look pretty damn appealing:
We spoke with Roller Derby coach and referee, Matthew Clanahan, about why adding wheels to your feet is an A+ fitness move.
1. It’s easy on your joints.
“If you’re doing it recreationally, say along the beach, it’s a low-impact sport, but of course, if you go to a skate park and into the bowl it’ll be much higher impact,” says Matthew. And, unless you trip on a stick and go arse over head, it’s a relatively fluid movement.
2. It’s a cardio workout.
When it comes to calories burnt, leg strength development and health benefits, skating is just as beneficial as jogging. During a 30-minute period, on the average, in-line skating at a steady, comfortable rate expends 285 calories and produces a heart rate of 148 beats per minute.
“It’s interesting to see how some people are very skate-fit, and can skate for hours on end and for long distances, but when they take off the blades to go for a run they can’t go further than 1km. When you’re blading, you decrease friction and your stride can cover metres at a time.”
3. It gets your muscles pumping as well as providing a top class mode of transport.
“You can tell if someone is a skater,” says Matthew. “Like when you can tell if someone is a cyclist because of their developed quads – a skater will have very developed calves.” says Matthew.
Two birds, one stone, folks. Almost all your muscles are activated when you’re blading – you’ve got to use your arms to balance, tense your core to stay upright, use your legs and toosh to drive your body forward… all while using the force of a million queefs to keep that cheesy grin off your face while you roll past the haters.
There isn’t much not to love about rollerblading, really. And if it means we can skip leg day…
Sign us right up.
Photo: Barbie x Photoshop.
