How many calories does inline skating burn?
Advantages
Disadvantages
Who should participate?
Learning to skate
Skating guidelines
Protective gear
Glossary of terms

What is inline skating?

If your last experience with roller skating involved a skate key, metal wheels and sprained ankle, you're in line for a surprise. Modern skating has gone "inline." The new skating gear consists of four urethane wheels positioned down the center of a supportive boot complete with brake pads. No keys needed, although you will need protective pads and a helmet to lower your injury risk, which can be substantial.

Originated by Minnesotan Scott Olson in 1979, inline skating has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), some 32 million Americans over age 6 inline skated in 1998.

Inline skating can be a competitive sport- for speed or fancy tricks known as freestyle skating. Other sports, such as basketball and hockey, can be played on inline skates, and skiers may cross-train on inline skates off-season. But the vast majority of inline skaters do it primarily for fitness, recreation, or social purposes.

How many calories will inline skating burn?

During a 30-minute period, inline skating at a "steady comfortable rate" expends 285 calories and raises the heart rate of 148 beats per minute for the average skater, according to the International Inline Skating Association (IISA). By comparison, running and cycling for 30 minutes expend 350 and 360 calories, respectively, at a heart rate of 148 beats per minute. To make sure your heart is getting a workout, you must skate hard enough to break a sweat, Wayne Westcott, PhD, national strength-training consultant for the YMCA, told Prevention magazine.

Advantages

Inline skaters receive all of the benefits of regular exercise: relaxation, increased energy levels, lower blood pressure, weight control, and a reduced risk of cancer, stroke and heart disease, explains Kalinda Mathis, executive director of IISA. Once you've mastered this low-impact aerobic exercise, inline skating is also fun.

Researchers at the Human Performance Laboratory at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota demonstrated that inline skating builds musculature in the entire upper leg, including the hamstrings, as well as the buttock, hip, and lower back muscles. By swinging your arms vigorously during skating, you can tone your biceps, triceps, and shoulder muscles, too.

Mathis notes that inline skating is especially appealing to children, possibly because skating doesn't necessarily require kids to join a team or rely on a parent to drive them anywhere. In addition to promoting physical fitness, inline skating allows children to be creative and even offers a form of transportation.

Disadvantages

The IISA concurs with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that inline skating can be quite dangerous to skaters who don't wear helmets and other safety gear or who do not learn safe starting and stopping techniques. According to estimates by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, about 1 in 225 inline skaters sought emergency-room treatment for skating injuries during a six-month study. Only 7% of the injured skaters had worn safety gear.

Spontaneous loss of balance, debris or an irregularity on the skating surface, colliding with a fellow skater, or striking a stationary hazard, such as a tree, are the most common causes of falls by inline skaters, studies show.

The No. 1 injury site is the wrist, which can get strained, sprained or even fractured during a fall. Other common injury sites are the lower arm, shoulder, and knee. CPSC and the IISA recommend that a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, and gloves always be worn while skating to reduce the risk and severity of injuries.

Who should participate?

Most able-bodied people should be able to learn to inline skate, although people with balance problems may encounter difficulty. It is prudent to obtain medical clearance from your physician before trying inline skating or any new sport or exercise activity.

Learning to skate

If you've seen experienced inline skaters tooling around your neighborhood, you may think it is easy, effortless even. For the novice, nothing could be further from the truth. Taking a few skating lessons before venturing forth on your own just might save you a trip to the emergency room.

The first skill you will probably learn is the stable "ready position." In this skill, your toes are pointed outward in a "V" position with your knees bent, your body leaning slightly forward at the waist, your weight on the balls of your feet, and your arms stretched out in front for balance. You'll also learn how to stride and glide on skates, and most importantly, how to stop, which involves bringing bent knees close together and applying pressure to the right, or braking, heel, as you push the heel slightly forward. The instructor will also teach you how to turn and make emergency stops, among other things.

Stores that rent or sell Rollerblades and other brands of inline skates may be able to put you in touch with an instructor or local inline skating club. Some community colleges and universities offer inline skating classes. The IISA maintains a database of its certified instructors.

Skating guidelines

The IISA offers the following guidelines to make your inline skating experiences as safe and enjoyable as possible:

Skate smart

• You should wear protective gear, helmet, wrist guards, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves.
• Master the basics: striding, stopping, and turning.
• Keep your equipment in proper working order.

Skate legal

• Obey all traffic regulations. When on skates, you should consider yourself to be subject to the same obligations as a bicyclist or a driver of an automobile.

Skate alert

• Skate under control at all times.
• Watch out for road hazards.
• Avoid water, oil, and sand.
• Avoid traffic.

Skate polite

• Skate on the right; pass on the left.
• Announce your intentions by saying, "passing on your left."
• Always yield to pedestrians.

Skating gear

Inline skates are available in a spectrum of prices and styles. Before buying a pair, it makes sense to rent several different types of inline skates to discover which suits you. When shopping, talk to knowledgeable salespeople. You should tell them about your skating ability and how you prefer to skate. You may also wish to refer to annual buyers' guides that are published by inline skating magazines, or visit the Buying Guide for Inline Skates.

Like cars, skates require periodic maintenance and replacement parts. According to Trevor Miyamoto, manager of Consumer Services at Rollerblade Inc, you should rotate your wheels, wipe down your bearings, check your spacers, and inspect your brake system components either before or immediately after each outing. All these steps take 5 to 10 minutes, Miyamoto says. Wheels need to be rotated because they tend to wear more to one side of the foot. Your owner's manual will include wheel-rotation and other maintenance instructions.

Protective gear

When you rent or buy your first pair of inline skates, be sure to get a properly fitted helmet, knee and elbow pads, wrist guards, and specially designed gloves with extra padding at the palms. Treat protective gear like your seat belt; wear it every time you skate, even attaining a high level of proficiency. You may know what you're doing on skates, but the beginner careening down that hill and into you does not.

Glossary of terms

ABEC: A scale that measures the precision of a ball bearing, with ratings of ABEC-1, -3, -5, and -7, with 7 being the most precise.

aggressive: A type of skating where the emphasis is on stunts, performed either on street courses or specially built ramps or pipes.

ANSI: American National Standards Institute, which establishes standards for protective equipment; "ANSI-certified" means the gear complies with certain design specifications for safety.

ASTM: American Standards for Testing Materials, which establishes standards for protective equipment; "ASTM-certified" means the gear complies with certain design specifications for safety.

Bearings: Mounted in pairs in the hub of each wheel, these make inline skate wheels turn with hardly any friction.

black ice: A smooth, recently paved street; ideal skating surface.

diameter: Width of a wheel measured through its center, in millimeters (mm).

durometer: The measure of a wheel's hardness, on a scale from 0 (softest) to 100 (hardest); durometer is denoted by the suffix "A" (eg, 80A).

frame: Part of a skate that holds the wheels in place; also called the chassis.

freestyle: Type of inline skating most similar to ice figure skating, also called artistic.

half-pipe: A U-shaped ramp on which skaters perform a variety of moves.

liner: The inner boot of a skate that cushions and supports foot and ankle.

precision: Term used to describe non-ABEC-rated bearings.

recreational: Casual, non-specialized skating or skates.

Snell: A foundation that tests and certifies helmets to a high standard.