Friday 24 May 2013

No street hockey? What will we do . . . ?

Sadly there's no street hockey tomorrow, pesky bank holiday weekends tend to muck all sorts up . . 
See you next Saturday 1st June . . 

Friday 3 May 2013

Winston the sage



Fitness Benefits of Inline Skating Are Huge!

Find more 'knowledge' @ www.wilsa.org


A lot of people take up inline skating because they see others doing it and think that it looks like fun. Well, double bonus; it is a lot of fun and it also has huge fitness benefits!

Inline skating transcends many age groups, from young kids to older adults. It can be done outdoors during nice weather, or indoors during more inclement weather at many local skating rinks or even at some community centres.

In general, when you add at least 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise to your lifestyle 3-5 times a week, you have health and fitness benefits. These general benefits include: reduced coronary risk, weight loss, stress release, improved body composition (decreased fat tissue), increased bone strength (if the exercise is weight-bearing) social contacts, a feeling of vigour  improved sleep, and a feeling of empowerment by feeling in control of your body. Fortunately, skating is so much fun that a workout rarely lasts just 20 minutes!

You are probably wondering what are the fitness benefits specific to inline skating? Inline skating benefits include: cardiovascular, strengthening, muscle toning, calorie burning, developing better balance, coordination, and agility, and finally, it is low impact on the joints! Now wait a minute, how can one sport do so much and still be both affordable and fun! The answer is simple, just try it!

Cardiovascular benefits to inline skating are roughly equivalent to those derived from cycling and running, especially once you are skating at approximately 10-12 miles per hour. Suffice it to say that studies have shown that inline skating burns lots of calories. As an aside, last week I saw on TV a couple getting married on skates. It was the most fun wedding I ever saw. I can only imagine what the wedding invitations looked like. Kudos to the fun couple.

Muscle strengthening and toning are obvious when you look at anyone who has been skating for a while. Skating develops the muscles in the lower body, particularly the quadriceps (front of thighs), glutes (rear end) abductors and abductors of thigh (inner and outer thigh/hip), and also the lower leg muscles (calves and shins). Postural muscles (abs and back extensors) get a workout too, by stabilizing the body during skating. Beginners should maintain fairly upright posture, while speed skaters lean forward to decrease air resistance.

Another fitness benefit is the fact that inline skating is “low impact”, at least if you don’t fall! It is much easier on your joints (especially knees) than running and as I mentioned previously, can actually help stabilize certain joints such as knees by strengthening the muscles that support it. A lot of people take to skating because they can’t run any more, but want to still get good exercise.

When you skate, you spend a lot of time on one foot. Skating is about dynamic balance, or balance in motion. Skating requires a lot of coordination. By learning to do more advanced moves on your skates, such as skating backwards, crossover turns, inline hockey, aggressive skating, and even hip hop dancing, you can challenge both your coordination and agility while you are learning and having fun.

Finally, probably the greatest fitness benefit of all is that inline skating is fun and gives you a sense of accomplishment and mental well-being! If it is fun, than you will stick with it and if you stick with it, then you will derive these benefits from it! Remember to wear the safety gear, because there are no benefits to getting hurt because you didn’t wear the gear!