How Roller Skating Can Benefit Your Health
Roller skating, or blading, has a rich and multifaceted history. It has always been — and still is — a popular sport, performative art, means of transport, and all-around fun source of entertainment. When was the last time you had on a pair of roller skates? If it was in your skinned-knee youth or around the time The Spice Girls dominated the radio, you may want to consider making blading a part of your day-to-day life again. We can't overlook the many health benefits that it could bring our adult selves today.
"It's the closest feeling to flying. It's really great to just tune out the world and it's good for your mental and physical health," says Michelle Steilen, the founder and CEO of Southern California-based Moxi Skates to HuffPost. How so? Well, for starters, roller skating is a great way to build your muscles. Word of Health shares how your glutes and calf muscles are activated as you glide down the street. In addition, you're also working on your balance as you actively try to keep your knees from taking a skinning.
Roller skating is equally as healthy as jogging
This combined strength and balance training activity is a great way to improve your coordination and therefore prevent injuries in the future, notes Word of Health.
As you're having fun skating from point A to point B, you might not even realize how many calories you are burning in the process. The Roller Skating Association (RSA) shares that roller skating is equivalent in both caloric consumption and leg muscle building to the arguably more boring activity of jogging. In addition, roller skating has also been recognized by the American Heart Association as a healthy aerobic fitness sport.
In addition to these benefits — we've saved the best for last. If you love the feeling of going on a long run, but find that your joints are screaming at you the next day, then it may be time to pick up a pair of skates. Word of Health shares that in-line skating involves only half of the impact on the joints that running does. Plus, it's an extra bonus that roller skating continues to be a fun way to get from point A to point B today.