Rollerblade Calories
Fitness

Rollerblade Calories

Rollerblading, or inline skating, is a popular form of entertainment for millions of people. It’s also an effective form of exercise that allows you to burn calories while also exercising your muscles and strengthening your heart and lungs. In this article, we take a close look at how effective rollerblading is to help you achieve your fitness and fat loss goals.

How Many Calories Are Burned by Rollerblading?

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The number of calories you burn during a rollerblading workout depends on how intensely you are doing your rollerblading workout. As a rough estimate, we can say that a person who is rollerblading at a moderate pace will burn 550-700 calories per hour. 

At a fast pace, the average calories burned in an hour of rollerblading is 1000-1350 calories.

Let’s break down how we arrive at these figures.

In order to work out how many calories are burned during a certain activity, we use what is called the MEF formula, as follows:

Calories burned per minute = (MET x body weight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200

MET stands for metabolic equivalent and relates to the level of oxygen consumption as measured on a scale. If you are sitting doing nothing your MET level is 1. Different activity levels and forms of sport and exercise.  

The MET for recreational rollerblading at a speed of 14.4 km per hour (9 mph) is 7.0.

For a faster pace of 21 km per hour (13 mph), the number goes up to 9.8.

At a maximum race speed of 24 km per hour (15 mph), the MET number goes up to 14.

Let us now look at an example of how this formula works, using a person who weighs 180 lbs (81.65 lbs) and is rollerblading at a moderate pace of 14.4 km per hour …

Calories burned per minute = (MET x body weight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200

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Calories burned per minute = (7 x 81.65  x 3.5) ÷ 200

Calories burned per minute = 10

So, our 180 lb person will burn 10 calories per minute while rollerblading at a moderate pace. If he was to keep up that pace for 60 minutes, he would burn 600 calories.

Is Rollerblading Good For Weight Loss?

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Rollerblading is a pretty good choice as a calorie-burning form of exercise. It burns a decent number of calories while also being a relatively low impact on your joints. It is also a fun activity that helps to overcome boredom so that a person can maintain their regularity of exercise. 

In order to benefit from rollerblading as a form of exercise to lose weight, you should do it 3-4 times per week for about an hour each time. [1]

How to Maximize Rollerblading Weight Loss

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To get the most weight loss and fitness benefits from your roller skating workout, you should intersperse periods of recreational paced blading with short bursts of maximal effort. This will have a HIIT-like effect that brings on the afterburn effect. This is when your body’s metabolism increases for several hours after the workout in order to supply the muscles with more oxygen. 

Nutrition for Roller Blading Weight Loss

The key to long-term fat loss is to achieve a daily caloric deficit where you are burning off more calories every day than you are consuming through food and drink. The first step to doing that is to find out how many calories you need each day to maintain your current activity level. This is your caloric maintenance level. 

You can find out what your caloric maintenance level is here

Once you know how many calories you need each day to support your energy level, you should then reduce your intake by 250-500 calories per day to achieve a calorie deficit. By doing so, you will be forcing your body to burn stored fat calories to meet your body’s energy requirements. 

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Extra Benefits of Roller Blading

Inline skating provides a number of benefits beyond losing weight. Here are four extra benefits you’ll get from adopting the rollerblading habit.

Better Balance

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Inline skating is a great way to improve your balance and coordination. The challenge of rollerblading is to maintain your balance in order to stay upright. Often people are very uncoordinated and lacking in coordination when they begin inline skating. Within a short period of time, however, they are usually moving with confidence. 

Improved Cardiovascular Health

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Roller skating for exercise will boost the health of your heart and lungs. As a result, your blood circulation will be greatly improved, with more blood being pumped with every heartbeat. This will supply more oxygen and nutrients to our muscles and bodily organs. 

Rollerblading can also help to lower your heart rate and blood pressure. 

Strengthens the Muscles

Naturade Blog Rollerblading

Rollerblading is a form of physical activity that will strengthen the lower body and core muscles. Your upper leg muscles, especially your quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings will get full contraction and extension throughout the course of your workout.  Your calf muscles will also get a terrific workout during your session.

Boosts Mood

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Unlike other forms of cardio, where you can easily zoom out and lose concentration, you have to be mentally present when you’re rollerblading. This keeps you engaged in the workout, providing a release from your normal thoughts and concerns.

Inline skating can help to release the feel-good hormones dopamine and serotonin that lead to an enhanced feeling of well-being after a workout. [2]

Rollerblading Safety

Rollerblading is a potentially dangerous activity, especially for beginners. That’s because of the chance of falling and hurting yourself. In order to minimize the risk of injury, you should wear protective workout gear when you are rollerblading. These should include knee and elbow pads, gloves, and a helmet.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is rollerblading good for weight loss?

Yes, rollerblading is an effective form of exercise for weight loss. It will burn between 550 and 1300 calories per hour, depending on your weight and the intensity of your workout. To achieve the best weight loss results, you should combine your rollerblading weight loss workouts with a reduced-calorie diet.

Can you build muscle with rollerblading?

Rollerblading may build muscle in the lower body for people who are untrained, especially during the first few months of beginning a rollerblading exercise program. You will especially notice muscle gain in the calves and quadriceps. 

Once you have gotten used to this form of exercise, the resistance of the exercise will not be great enough to allow for continued muscle gain. 

What are the health benefits of rollerblading?

Rollerblading will improve your balance and coordination. It will also increase your cardio fitness, strengthen the core and lower body and help you to lose weight.

Summary

Rollerblading will burn between 550 and 1300 calories per hour. That makes it an effective form of weight loss as well as a good joint-friendly form of cardio exercise. The fun nature of rollerblading also makes it a good choice when looking for a type of exercise that you will stick to. 

References
  1. Swift DL, McGee JE, Earnest CP, Carlisle E, Nygard M, Johannsen NM. The Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Weight Loss and Maintenance. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2018 Jul-Aug;61(2):206-213. doi: 10.1016/j.pcad.2018.07.014. Epub 2018 Jul 9. PMID: 30003901.
  2. https://www.rollerblade.com/china/en/the-rollerblade-experience/training/what-are-the-health-benefits-of-inline-skating

Steve Theunissen

Steve Theunissen is a former gym owner and personal trainer based in Tauranga, New Zealand. He is the author of six hardcopy books and more than a hundred ebooks on the topics of bodybuilding, fitness, and fat loss.

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