Roller Skating’s popularity is on the rise. In the past three years, sales of quad & inline skates have risen dramatically. One major contributing factor is increased media exposure in recent years. Roller skating is ranked among the best aerobic exercises according to the American Heart Association.

Roller skating is a workout that involves almost all of the body’s muscles and in particular the heart. The US National Institute for Fitness and Sports claims that roller skating works most of the major muscle groups – glutes, quads (no pun intended), abdomen, calves, and arms. The AHA proclaims that roller skating is equivalent to bicycling and jogging as a cardio workout. As you have been told a million times by “fitness experts”, many people quit their exercise regiment out of boredom. It’s not a lot of fun to exercise by yourself, which is the case with most forms of exercise. Roller skating is a sport where you can find yourself in a group of literally hundreds of people doing the same thing. They are not at the skating rink for exercise; they are there for the fun, music, lights, and socializing. However, if you are there with the exercise benefits of roller skating in mind, I suggest staying away from the snack bar!  It’s easy to burn an hour of roller skating, whether you are at a rink or skating outdoors. Let’s look at what you got out of that hour of fun from an exercise perspective. First, you had a low-impact workout. According to a study by the University of Massachusetts, roller skating causes 50% less impact on your joints than running. In other words, an aerobic roller skating workout has the same benefit as the same amount of time spent jogging without joint damage. Second, an average 143 lb. person skating at 10 mph can experience caloric burn-off of as much as 600 calories in an hour of roller skating. Most people average in the 6 mph range and will burn an average of 350 calories or greater. Lastly, let’s consider the mental benefits. There are not much scientific data (none that I could find) to support the positive mental benefits of roller skating. I don’t think it takes a multi-million dollar government-funded study to recognize the fact that you never see a person roller skating and frowning at the same time. Between the music, lights, social aspect, health benefits, and fun; roller skating could simply be the best total body workout there is.

Key benefits of roller skating:

• Low-impact exercise for joints
• High caloric burn
• Aerobically as good as jogging or cycling
• Involves all the major muscle groups
• Mentally uplifting
• Fun, hip, and glamorous

Where and when to roller skate:

• Roller rinks
• Parks and paved exercise pathways
• Any occasion worthy of celebrating
• As a way to regain strength after an injury
• When you find exercise boring