Today we are more health conscious than ever before and along with that we are more knowledgeable about our health than ever before. Inline skating is one of the best ways to get fit and in shape while having a load of fun at the same time

What are the health benefits...?

• Lowers blood pressure
• Lowers cholesterol
• Reduces stress
• Strengthens bones
• Reduces the chances of cardiovascular disease
• Burns calories
• Improves muscle tone
• Targets hips, thighs and buttocks
• Low impact
• Develops cardiovascular and muscular endurance
• Controls weight
• Improves balance and agility

Lose 20 pounds and have fun doing it!

How to Skate Off One Pound

For each pound of weight you want to lose, you will need to burn off approximately 3500 calories. A 150 pound person skating 11 miles per hour burns about 10 calories per minute. This means a 150 pound person skating 11 miles per hour would have to skate 6 hours to lose 1 pound (3500 calories / 10 calories = 350 minutes. 350 minutes / 60 minutes per hour = 6 hours of skating)

How to Skate Off 20 Pounds

If you skate enough to burn off an extra 800 calories per day, you will lose 20 pounds in approximately 3 months. If you give yourself 6 months to lose 20 pounds, you only need to burn off an extra 400 calories per day. The amount of skating required to burn off 800 and 400 calories will vary widely from person to person, because it depends on your personal body weight and skating speed.

How Those Calorie Levels Were Determined

In order to lose 20 pounds, you will need to burn off a total of 70,000 extra calories during your weight loss period (3500 calories * 20 pounds). A typical 3 month period will have 13 weeks. 70,000 calories divided by 13 weeks = approximately 5400 calories per week. Divide that by 7 days in a week, and you can see that you would need to burn off 800 extra calories per day to lose 20 pounds in 3 months without altering your eating habits.

Calories Burned by Skating

The blue numbers in the following table are the number of calories a skater will burn at different skating speeds. I have listed calorie burn rates for skaters weighing 120 and 200 pounds. Skaters who don't weigh 120 or 200 pounds can use these numbers to estimate their own calorie burn rates.

Dr Marc writes

“I started inline skating as a mid-life challenge! Instructor Mark was excellent, supportive, patient and challenging as appropriate. I'm a GP and find skating a really good, non-impact, aerobic and co-ordination developing exercise. As an added bonus skaters generally are a friendly bunch and the various group skates are great fun and not too difficult after a few lesson.”