Rollerblading vs running/walking

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SpitfireStacey
SpitfireStacey Posts: 158 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I put on my skates and did 3miles in roughly 25mins tonight. I was taking it easy for the first lap, so I'm certain I can get my time down a bit but I was wondering about the comparison to walking/running as far as cardio exercise goes since I'm not nearly as sweaty or out of breath as when I run a 10min mile. So obviously, it's better that I blade since I can do that for longer periods of time, but I want to know if the blading can help my heart (cardio) as well as toning my legs, or if I should just suck it up and occasionally bang out a mile as fast as I can on my treadmill for the cardio heart boost. If so, how often should I do the sprint compared to how often I do the blading?

I think this is mostly a question of whatever exercise I actually DO, being better than any exercise that I can't make myself get out there and do, but I'd like to know the cardio benefits vs toning, and if anyone has any tips of specific "strokes(?)" that might help with thighs, balance, stopping (!) that would be really useful as well!

I really enjoyed my 20minute jaunt around my subdivision and I think I could be persuaded to do it regularly if I had a bit more confidence. Thanks in advance for any help!

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  • Jinx1
    Jinx1 Posts: 9
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    They are about the same, however roller skating burns 316 calories per 1/2 hour. Check out this site for all comparisons :happy:

    http://www.fitday.com/webfit/burned/calories_burned_Jogging_general.html
  • SpitfireStacey
    SpitfireStacey Posts: 158 Member
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    Thanks!
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Calorie-wise I've found skating to burn the same as running. But I also skate at 12 MPH for 45-60 minutes at a time, so, for example, the last time I was out I covered over 10.3 miles in 53:24 minutes. So it's a much faster pace than what you were keeping, so you're probably not going to have as high of a burn. (especially since, if that's you in your picture, you're in MUCH better shape than I am, meaning you'll be burning even less)

    And having grown up on skates (literally, I started skating when I was 10 months old...yes, months), you will likely see increases in the size of your legs and also in your butt. Skaters have what is commonly called skater's butt, which is a very round bubble butt. So if you are trying to reduce the size of your legs/"tone" them, then skating probably isn't your best option.

    That said, I do love skating, so I would never tell someone not to do it, because it's fun and good workout when you start getting your speed up. But maybe do more days of running and just one day of skating each week, and mix in some strength training to help with strengthening the muscles as well.
  • Jinx1
    Jinx1 Posts: 9
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    Not sure where you live, but if you want a really kick *kitten* workout and love to skate you should check and see if there is a Roller Derby league in your area ;-)
  • ptak1sm
    ptak1sm Posts: 172
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    I would recommend alternating blading, jogging, and walking. If you stick with one exercise for too long, your body will get used to it and your weight loss/muscle development will slow down or plateau completely. With blading, you also want to be careful with coasting...the wheels wind up doing the work, instead of your body.

    If you want to really keep track of how many calories you're burning, I would recommend getting a heart rate monitor. A decent one will cost upwards up $80, at the very least. You can program it according to your age, weight, height, and it will establish your target heart rate zones accordingly. Be careful with websites. They can give you vague estimates about how many calories you could burn during an exercise, but they're just that...estimates. Not everyone will burn the same amount of calories in a given time span.

    Good luck!
  • SpitfireStacey
    SpitfireStacey Posts: 158 Member
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    Thanks for the advice Wolfchild : I'm newish to skates, having only taught myself to stay up as a kid and never really learning proper control so I'm still nervous about goign slowly enough so I can stop for the roads in my neighbourhood, but my tentative goal was that I might be able to do 10laps in an hour so a 10mph pace but I learned last night that I need to go MUCH faster than I was lol I will build up to it. Also interesting about the bum thing since toning up is definitely what I want to do. I already have huge thighs/good bum on me (pear shaped) so I hope that skating would just keep those muscles building and lean out the fat covering the muscles but I will take measurements and see if I notice a change either way! The pic is me in April at the end of a challenge I did. I'm now 6 lbs more than that which is why I'm panicking that I have to fit in a particular dress in three weeks and I'm not going to!

    I'm not interested in a HRM, I honestly don't do enough cardio for it to really matter, and since I only have 10-20lbs to lose (max) I'm not really that bothered about cardio. I'd rather spend the money on a bar and weights to lift at home!

    Thanks for all the comments guys. I will focus on pace and time while I'm out tonight :)

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