New York Skate: Inline Skating Lessons, Group Inline Skating

HEALTH BENEFITS

Dear Skaters,

One thing about blading-- it's so much fun, you don't know you're getting fit. Blading is that safety predicates everything good and wonderful in this sport. You can appreciate that many people bring "adult baggage" with them - namely, fear and anxiety, embarrassment and -tons of- impatience! We at NY SKATE make it our business to mitigate all of those factors with patience and expertise. We specialize in taking you step by step, literally, so that by the end of class you will know you have found the most terrific sport ever, but you will also feel a great sense of accomplishment.

Welcome to in-line skating. There's a ton of reasons to love to "rollerblading" all year long, for a whole long lifetime. It's not only the sheer thrill of it all, its also the sport you keep improving at every time you climb into these little machines!

You'll have so much fun, you won't know you're getting fit. You'll be a happier person. You may find yourself telling your friends and family co-workers. You may get hooked.

You can love the skills, the fitness, the fun, but wearing gear is half the recipe.

We want you to be an intelligent blader:

take your time and enjoy the process so you don’t work too hard you won't have as much fun

avoid skating when you're tired

avoid skating in heavy traffic

avoid skating when you know you're really not ready for that next hill

No one is as important as yourself, no one cares about you as much you do, so please don't bother about what other persons think of your ability, or what you may perceive as the lack of it...If you decline to do the next loop or the steep hill, no one says you must do it - you don't have to rush...don't worry, you will develop the strength and NY SKATE endurance, but it takes time....can you be patient...do you have any other choice? "We often say to our skaters, "you can't hurry love".

For the most fun on pavement, Welcome to safe blading with Team NY SKATE.

FITNESS BENEFITS OF INLINE SKATING

Dr. Carl Foster, Coordinator of Sports Medicine and Sports Science of the U.S. Speed Skating Team, did a fitness study for Rollerblade, Inc. in 1991. He studied 11 volunteers who were competent skaters. Each skater was studied in the laboratory during incremental running and cycling tests at which time oxygen uptake, heart-rate and blood lactate were measured at submaximal and maximal exercise. All performed at 30 minute workout on skates, were instructed only to "roll around" for 30 minutes.

Heart rate was measured throughout the session and blood lactate was measured at 10 minute intervals. Also, workout, skating one mile 4 times at progressively increasing speeds, paced by a bicycle. Oxygen uptake and heart rate were measured immediately following each trial. The following questions were raised:

How many calories can one spend while blading and how does that compare to other fitness activities?

In-line skating at a steady, comfortable rate for 30 minutes will produce a heart rate of 140 beats/ minute and caloric expenditure of 285 calories in 30 minutes or 9.5 calories per minute. This compares to 350 and 360 calories burned at the same heart rate while running and cycling respectively. All these values are in the range 300 calories per workout recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine. The time required to burn 300 calories for running, cycling, easy continuous skating and interval skating are 25, 24, 32, and 22 minutes respectively. In short, the faster one in-line skates, the faster calories burn.

How do the aerobic and anaerobic benefits of inline skating compare to cycling and running?

The faster one skates, the higher the aerobic requirement it takes from a skater. Aerobically, that is, how the heart and lungs work together to bring oxygen to the heart, skating, in general, delivers a better workout than cycling, but a lesser workout than running. This is because it is easier for cyclists to coast and impossible for runners to coast. Anaerobic sprint and power workouts were designed to gage the hardest workouts one can do for a sustained period. Inline skating delivers a more beneficial workout than cycling and running. The reason inline skating is a superior anaerobic exercise as compared to cycling and running is that it is intrinsically easier or more natural for inline skaters to develop hip, rear end and knee extensor, thigh muscles that are not well developed in running and cycling. Inline skating, unlike cycling, also develops the hamstring (back of thigh) muscles. Running, although it supplies a superior aerobic workout, does not easily provide the anaerobic workout of inline. Inline skating is also a low impact form of exercise that does not render the pounding of hip, knee, ankle and foot joints that running does. In short, if one wants to lose calories and at the same time develop muscle tone, inline skating is more beneficial than running and cycling.

What is the best workout strategy when using inline skates?

Dr. Foster created the Rollerblade 10 Minute Workout for both recreational and competitive inline skaters. If a person wants a general fitness workout, they should skate a slow warm-up for 5 minutes, stretch major muscle groups for about 5 minutes, then skate a comfortable pace for 20 minutes, and then skate a slowed cooldown for about 5 minutes, followed with another stretch to the major muscles to avoid cramping. Data suggests that a person practicing this workout can increase their aerobic power by 15 to 20% and burns 14,000 calories by skating 3 - 4 times a week for 3 months. A serious fitness participant or competitive athlete should take a slow warm-up for 5 minutes, with stretch, then skate in 1 minute intervals for 20 minutes, alternating skating in a standing position and a racer's tuck position. As you become more comfortable with this workout, you will want to skate in the tuck position for longer periods. Thus, limiting the flow of oxygen to the heart, athletes can reach a higher aerobic limit through hard cycling or running than by inline skating on level terrain, so the use of uphill courses is recommend for skaters looking for the maximum aerobic workout.

What is the potential of inline skating contributing to body fat and cholesterol reduction?

Due to the anaerobic benefits, inline is more ideal than running, walking or cycling for people looking to burn fat, and at the same time retain muscle while working out. Women younger than 30, on the average, have 23% body fat, men of the same age have 15%. Studies show that women who use a diet to reduce weight from lean tissue - muscle. When combining a diet with exercise such as inline skating the weight loss comes from fat rather than muscle. Inline, like running, cycling or walking may induce favorable changes in one's serum cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol - ("good cholesterol? but the percentage of fat and saturated fat in one's diet make a difference more than any form of exercise.

What benefits does inline skating bring to the U.S. Speed Skating Team?

During interval training, blading produces a higher aerobic and anaerobic workout than ice skating because inline skates do not allow one to coast as easily as ice skates, and wheels on inline skates offer greater resistance on an inline skating surface than the blade of an ice skate does on ice. Inline delivers approximately the same aerobic and anaerobic benefits of speed ice skating and nordic skating. Inline also allows ice speed skaters and nordic skaters an opportunity to tone specific muscles, which running and cycling do not, plus the opportunity to work on specific speed skating skills as crossover turns and skating skills such as edging and poling. In addition, the US. Speed Skating Team has been using inline skates more often in training because coaches are more willing to accept the more upright marathon skating style. Welcome.