How Many Calories Does Rollerblading Burn?

Rollerblading is becoming a popular activity among people who are looking to keep their bodies healthy and stay fit by shedding a few pounds.

So, how many calories does rollerblading burn? The exact number of calories that you burn will depend on the speed and intensity of rollerblading as well as your weight.

Inline skating or rollerblading is a form of physical activity that breaks up the routine of going to the gym every morning and is a form of good exercise that you can add to your workout plan.

Rollerblading is great as it leads to caloric expenditure, and it is a low-impact exercise that is easy on your body.

Apart from burning calories, rollerblading works certain muscles in the body such as the hamstrings, glutes, and abdominals, to name a few.

There are benefits to rollerblading including improving your mood, reducing stress, and keeping your heart healthy.

Continue reading this article to learn more about the calories burned in rollerblading, its benefits, and the muscles used during this fun activity.

Calories Burned Rollerblading

The number of calories that your body burns during rollerblading will depend on your body weight. Therefore, the formula for calculating calories burned when rollerblading is:

Calories Burned per minute = (MET multiplied by body weight in kilograms multiplied by 3.5) divided by 200

MET is a measurement used to refer to the cost of energy from physical activity for some time. The MET for rollerblading at a recreational pace is 7.5.

For example, if you weigh 70kg and do recreational skating for 60 minutes, your calories burned will be:

(7.5*70*3.5)/200 = 9.2 per minute

9.2*60 minutes = 552 calories.

Remember that calories burned are different among individuals as there are other factors to be considered such as body mass, sex, age, adiposity, environmental conditions, and efficiency of movement. Hence, the calories burned can be higher or lower.

Muscles Used During Rollerblading

The following are the muscles that are used when rollerblading:

Glutes

The glutes are made up of the gluteus minimus, medius, and maximus. When rollerblading, two movements work these muscles and include hip abduction and hip extension.

Hip extension happens when your thigh moves backward while hip abduction happens when your thigh moves just before your foot pushes you off the ground.

This movement also makes you work the roundish, small muscle on the outer hip, known as the tensor fascia latae.

Quadriceps

They are positioned at the front of your thighs and are made up of the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius.

These muscles are activated whenever you flex your hip and bend your knees. Hip flexion also works on the iliopsoas, which is a muscle group that starts from the stomach base to the thigh top area.

Hamstrings

The hamstrings are made up of the semimembranosus, biceps femoris, and semitendinosus, and sit on the back of the thighs.

The hamstrings are activated when you flex the knees and extend your hips during rollerblading.

Adductors

Adductors are small muscles located in the inner thighs and you work these muscles when you move your thigh inward.

The adductors are made up of adductor magnus, brevis, longus, gracilis, and pectineus.

Abdominals

The abdominals are made up of the obliques and rectus abdominis. You work these muscles when rollerblading to balance your body, produce force, and stabilize your spine.

Additionally, you work the transverse abdominis during breathing when you draw your stomach, which is a deep abdominal muscle.

Benefits Or Rollerblading

Rollerblading has been known for its recreational or professional purpose. Most people do not know it has benefits for their bodies.

Medical research also explains that inline skating is one of the top 3 activities that maintain and improve overall well-being and physical fitness.

Rollerblading is great for your health because you can burn up to 500 calories in one hour, depending on your weight.

The following are the benefits of rollerblading:

Maintains Weight

Rollerblading burns calories because it is a rigorous cardiovascular exercise. Mayo Clinic explains that one hour of rollerblading can help burn 913 calories for a 160-pound skater.

However, jogging at 5mph or walking at 3.5 mph for a 160 pounds person will help burn 584 calories when jogging and 277 in the case of running.

This is a huge difference if you want to reduce your weight and get rid of fat around the belly. Rollerblading will give you a head start.

Muscle Endurance

This is one of the biggest benefits of rollerblading. Rollerblading involves a lot of action for the hips, buttocks, lower back muscles, and upper leg muscles.

It helps build up the leg muscles that build strength and improves balance and control.

The muscles of the legs are the largest muscles present in the body; therefore, this helps the body to burn more fats and calories.

Improves The Health Of Your Heart

Diseases of the heart are on the rise every day across the world. It is among the leading causes of premature deaths in the USA.

Many heart diseases are cardiovascular diseases, strokes, and heart attacks that lead to death.

Approximately 787,000 deaths are from heart-related issues as reported by the National Heart Foundation in the USA. This figure is even larger across the world. Heart diseases are increasing at alarming rates.

Roller skating strengthens your heart. Every average skater’s heart rate increases from 140-160 beats per minute while rollerblading, according to the American Heart Association, is the most effective aerobic exercise. If you are an aggressive player, it can go up to 180 beats per minute.

Improves Your Body Balance

If you have difficulty maintaining your balance in different activities or sports, rollerblading can help. Your body balance is not only needed in sports but also for walking.

Good balance improves your walking posture and reduces the energy you expend in your normal activities like sitting. It reduces fatigue.

Balance is needed for better roller skating and will help you do your rollerblading tricks. You will get better balance when you use your abdominal and lower back muscles to roll backward and forward.

Works In Defeating Diabetes

Diabetes, like heart disease, arises from being overweight, having unhealthy diet routines, and those who lack aerobic exercise. It is a common disease.

The American Diabetes Association recommends aerobic exercises and strength training as two types of physical activities to manage or prevent diabetes. Hence rollerblading involves both activities.

This exercise is great for using and controlling insulin in your body. It also relieves stress by lowering cholesterol and glucose levels and strengthens your bones and heart.

Worldwide, doctors recommend diabetes patients exercise 4-5 times a week for at least 30 minutes. This helps control your condition and makes your mind strong, and physically active.

Prevent Injuries

Rollerblading is one of the best forms of exercise that is safe. It prevents injuries from joints and muscles which you can get from different sports.

When you skate there is a fluid motion that occurs in your body. These fluid movements decrease the risk of muscle and joint pains and strengthen them.

Works The Legs And Arms

Rollerblading helps work out your legs and arms altogether. Your glutes and legs are directly engaged when you are building up your momentum when striding.

Your arm and cores get the workout through movement and balancing. Rollerblading can help you build strength in the lower body.

Makes You Feel Happy

Rollerblading does not just keep you physically fit but rather makes you happy which is a great thing for your mental health. It helps clear your mind and minimize depression or mood swings.

As a result, bad hormones are reduced, and good endorphins (happy hormones) are released and increased.

Endorphins also relieve brain pain. Because of the extensive workout, you receive from rollerblading, you can feel good naturally most of the time.

Endorphins make you feel good and improve your concentration levels. Therefore, if you want a good way to manage your moods often, try rollerblading.

Stress-Free Life

Rollerblading keeps you in a good mood and stress-free. Too much stress can result in different types of disorders and is bad for the body and mind. It helps minimize the stress levels in your body.

The best thing is to identify a scenic and peaceful location and skate around the place. The fresh air and the surroundings help in relieving your body and mind of stress and tension.

Currently, most doctors recommend trying out a new activity or doing some sports to reduce your stress. Therefore, rollerblading is the right choice for you.

Harder For Longer

Since rollerblading helps in muscular development and endurance, it makes you go harder and longer without getting tired easily. It increases your stamina, and you can roller skate longer without stopping. This will help you perform other exercises longer.

Rollerblading is the most beneficial and highly recommended endurance-building exercise. It gets you in the best shape by building your muscles quickly.

Tips And Tricks For Rollerblading

To ensure that you rollerblade correctly without any risks of falling and injuring yourself, the following tips and tricks will help you:

• Find the right gear – ensure that the rollerblades you get are the right type for your style of skating, are the best in quality, are the right size for you, are comfortable, and fit your budget.
• Assess the set – up of the rollerblades once you have found the right one and ensure that you regularly check for maintenance. The wheels should roll freely and the bearings should be tight enough.
• Wear your protective gear every time you rollerblade to protect yourself from injury in case you fall. Ensure that you purchase comfortable, durable, and high-quality protective gear such as elbow pads, knee pads, and a safety helmet.
• Take it slow and enjoy the ride. Do not rush into learning risky tricks as you may injure yourself. Instead, start with simple tricks and progress to the hard ones.
• Find an ideal place to practice rollerblading such as skate parks as there will be necessary elements for training such as trails and low-height obstacles for learning downhill skating.
• Master the basics for rollerblading such as maintaining your balance, then proceed to controlling your speed and making quick turns.
• Start with basic tricks such as heel-toe, fishtail, flat spin, wavers, backward skating, one-foot skating, barrel roll, and crossover.

Final Words

So, is rollerblading good exercise? The answer is yes which is evident from above.

Rollerblading enables you to burn some calories without putting pressure on your joints and bones. It is also an exciting activity as you can involve your friends and family.

You can use rollerblading to help you lose weight by calculating the number of calories that you can burn daily depending on your weight.

Get yourself an inline skate and start your journey of getting healthy while having fun.