Adventures in Cross Training: Inline Skating

The old rollerblades. I thought purple was super cool when I was in 6th grade!

I’ve owned a decent pair of inline skates since I was about 11 years old. When I was that age, my sister and I loved to pretend we were Olympic figure skaters, spending hours choreographing routines in the cul-de-sac outside our home. By the time I was a teen the skates went in the closet rarely to emerge. For some reason I never sold them at one of the many garage sales we’ve had over the years. My feet never grew out of them, so I kept them.

This morning those old skates came out the closet for the first time in many years.  I also found my old knee and wrist pads. I laced them up, and after talking myself through a few moments of hesitation, I was off to explore the neighborhood via inline skates.

Initially I worried I might injure myself. There are no flat roads in Fountain Hills, so wherever I went, I knew I’d eventually have to face a long or steep downhill and I wasn’t so sure about my ability to stop. I didn’t have any problem wearing the dorky knee pads, but I decided to leave the wrist pads at home because for some reason I only had two left ones! I figured that I’d still be able to run with a broken wrist, but a busted knee would definitely put a damper on my Boson qualifying dreams. It was 6:15 am when I left and my neighborhood streets were pretty much dead besides the occasional dog walker. The asphalt in my neighborhood must be fairly fresh because the ride was nice and smooth.

I looped around my neighborhood for about 45 minutes. Gradually getting used to controlling my speed on the downhills and powering up the inclines. One article I found on the website for the American Council for Exercise (ACE) states that an hour of inline skating burns equal calories to an hour of running. While I highly doubt that unless one was going uphill the entire way, it is encouraging to hear. I’m guessing that even though it seemed fairly easy, my body was probably working harder than I realized.  I did notice my heart rate bump up on the inclines, and my quads, butt and hamstrings really working all the time (even on the downhills) trying to keep my center of gravity over my skates.

According to an article on the Rollerblading.com website, “In line skating was found to be a better aerobic workout than cycling, but not as good as running. This is because it is easier to coast while cycling than while skating, and impossible to coast while running.”

In my experience today, I definitely found this to be true. Here are some other interesting benefits of Inline Skating:

• Anaerobically, inline skating was found to be more beneficial than both running and cycling, because it is intrinsically easier and more natural for building hip and thigh muscles that are not developed in the other two forms of exercise. Unlike, cycling, inline skating develops hamstring muscles. And unlike running, inline skating is a low impact activity. (source: Rollerblading.com)

• A separate study conducted at the Human Performance Laboratory at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota found that inline skating develops muscles in the entire upper leg, rear end and hip, as well as lower back. (source: Rollerblading.com)

It’s been a few hours now since my rollerblade adventure and I can definitely say that my quads, butt and inner thighs are feeling a little rubbery. I’m expecting I’ll be a little sore tomorrow, which is good. That’s evidence that it was actually a good workout.

For me the biggest benefit of inline skating is more mental than physical. In some ways it feels little like running. You get to feel the wind in your face as you move down the road much like you do when you run. One of the things that I love so much about running is getting into a zone and just letting my mind wander. I think inline skating also allowed me to find that zone. Maybe not quite to the degree that I find it when running, but it’s a nice alternative when I need a low impact alternative to running, but still want the metal release.

If you decide to try inline skating for yourself, here are a few tips to get you started:

• You may want to start out in an empty parking lot or cul-de-sac to get the feel for the skates before you head out on the road. Make sure you practice stopping. I like to drag my right skate behind me to stop. Its not great for the wheels, but its more effective than the heel brake and when you need to stop, you need to stop!

• On downhills, definitely be conservative with your speed. You can get going pretty fast if you aren’t careful and all it takes is a pebble or crack in the road to send you flying. Don’t attempt any downhills until you are comfortable with your ability to stop and slow down.

• If you are clumsy, or have no experience on skates, you could try starting on a path that is lined by grass. Then if you fall, throw your balance so that you land on the grass and (hopefully) don’t hurt yourself.

• If you don’t own skates, try renting a pair before you buy.

• Try to find a place to skate that does not have a lot of vehicle or pedestrian traffic. Even experienced skaters have difficulty stopping quickly, so the more traffic you have to deal with, the higher the risk. Early morning worked great for me.

• The best workout is a long but gradual uphill. If the hill is too steep, you will just feel like your climbing with weighted boots on. A gradual hill will allow you to maintain your stride, while still boosting your heart rate.

• Don’t forget to wear protective gear! It’s easy to get injured while skating, even if you are not typically clumsy!

In conclusion, I will say that this is definitely an activity I want to keep in my cross training mix. I like that it works muscles that I don’t usually use, and gives me a mental escape just as running does. Stay tuned for more of my adventures in cross training.

Happy running!!

In case you wanted proof, here is the evidence.

Wear tall socks or you’ll get nasty blisters like I did!