Now that the intense summer heat is behind us, the possibilities of doing exercise outdoors are looking brighter. Not a fan of jogging? Nor team sports? Looking to have fun whilst toning up your body? Perhaps roller skating is the answer.
One of the best feelings in the world is to grab your pair of roller skates and take them on a smooth ride to the stunning Parque del Retiro in Madrid, the Parc de Joan Miró in Barcelona or the surroundings of the Palau de la Música in Valencia. It’s not only a type of exercise apt for cities though; where there’s a flat surface, there’s a way to skate.
Roller skating also offers plenty of great benefits for your body’s health. It makes your heart stronger. It can also help you burn calories—you can burn between 300 and 500 calories if you skate for a full hour, for example. Check out the top 5 health benefits of roller skating.
Given that it’s an aerobic exercise, a skater’s heart rate can range between 140 and 160 beats per minute. This exercise will help keep your heart strong and ready for the ups and downs of life.
It’s also one of the cheapest ways to embark on a new active life and one of the fastest and environmentally-friendly ways to move around your city. In Barcelona, for example, you can use the lanes especially built for bikes, skateboards, roller skaters, etc.
It’s not only cheap but also helpful for anyone whose diet is on the unhealthy side, or who are slightly overweight or in need of some form of aerobic exercise, all of which can be triggers of diabetes. Roller skating can help you control or prevent diabetes because it strengthens your heart, helps you to relieve stress and improves your cholesterol levels.
If you're looking for more ways to improve your diet and health, check out our 7 tips.
Lots of people choose to walk or run, but some find this type of exercise boring or lacking in stimulation—let’s put it this way, the level of excitement is relatively low if you compare walking or running with having wheels under your feet.
As we said before, you can burn between 300 and 500 calories if you skate for a full hour. This is a cardiovascular activity; it pushes your heart to work harder than ever before, and if you combine roller skating with a healthy diet, your body will stay fit and the chances of losing weight are greater.
We said above that running and walking can be boring for some, but did we mention that skating is also safer? Skating is a low-impact sport, so this type of exercise will help you avoid straining your joints and muscles.
Compared with the impact of running, the impact skating has on your joints is 50% lower. But make sure you always wear a helmet, wrist guards, elbow pads, and knee pads.
If you want to explore ways to heal any current sports injuries, check out our post on physiotherapy.
Like all forms of exercise, our body releases endorphins (you know, the happy hormone), so, in turn, our mood and mind can improve greatly. However, we forget that sometimes simply by grabbing our roller skates and hitting the street, our mind is telling us that we need to get away from something. It’s a form of escapism and a stress buster, on top of a way to exercise our body.
It is also a very common sport that can be enjoyed with a group of friends or family, so it can also be fun and interpersonal. The benefits of roller skating are endless.
What’s your favourite sport? Let us know what you think about roller skating in Spain— perhaps you have a favourite spot in your Spanish city where you can perfect your roller skating skills?
Although the dangers of roller skating are minimal and the health benefits plentiful, it’s never a bad idea to take out health insurance. If you need any advice on which Caser health plan is suited to you, discover our guide below: