Family-Friendly Fitness For 2018
For most of us, the turn of the year also means creating some new year’s resolutions. Among the top preferred lifestyle changes is whipping our bodies into shape. Creating fitness goals for 2018 may seem reasonable and sensible, but it’s not always that easy if we are parents. There is a good way to help get into shape that can also include your children. You needn’t join a gym and worry about childcare arrangements while you want to work out. Just buy a pair of inline skates for you and your children, and then you can exercise together.
The Birth and Rebirth of Roller Skating
Roller skates seem like they’ve been around forever, but the truth isn’t far off. The first patented design came in 1760 from a Belgian inventor called Joseph Merlin. During the 1860s a new design was developed using four wheels, and roller skating remained massively popular from that time until the 1930s. The decades-long roller skating craze died down a bit from then, and then there was a slight upsurge in popularity during the disco era of the 1970s, but it wasn’t until another redesign that roller skating regained its mass appeal. During the late 1980s,roller skates were redesigned with the wheels all inline, and they became known as ‘rollerblades’. Prior to this time, they had usually been quad skates, meaning they had two aligned front and rear wheels, much like a car does. The quad design does provide more stability and is easier to learn and master, but never as much speed and agility. If you’re able to be patient and dedicated in order to conquer the skill of inline skating, you’ll find that these kinds of skates provide much more maneuverability and are more liberating.
The Appeal of Skating
There are many advantages to roller skating over other kinds of activity. It provides a complete aerobic workout, burning 350 calories per hour if skating 6 miles per hour, or 600 calories if skating 10 miles per hour. On top of this, exercising using inline skates comes with very low impact on knees and joints, unlike jogging. Furthermore, inline skating targets areas where we may want to lose fat and build muscle, such as lower body and abs. Just think what a great way this is to exercise every morning whilst dropping the kids off at school. It means exercise for you and exercise for them and saves time compared to walking, and saves money compared to other forms of transport when doing the daily school run.
If you want to come and have a look at our product range of inline skates, for adults and children, then please drop by our store at 12 Gloucester Road, London, SW7 4RB. We’re easy to get to, just ten minutes’ walk from Gloucester Road Underground Station, which is on the Circle, District, and the Piccadilly Lines. You can also call Slick Willies on 020 7225 0004 (in-store) or 020 7225 0202 (online) to have a chat with us.
