In-Line Skating

Considering in-line skating can burn as much as 700 calories in an hour during a vigorous workout and works many of the major muscle groups, few sports can offer a more efficient workout. But if you're feeling that your wheeling can improve, try these tips:

• Don't just glide: To improve your workout and skating ability, do sprinting intervals every few minutes. In other words, glide at a brisk-but-reasonable pace for about five or 10 minutes, and then go full-force for another minute. (Of course, be sure you're not in a high-traffic area.) This added intensity is especially useful when time is tight.
  
  
• Take a lesson from the slopes: Actually, in-line skating isn't walking with wheels. One of the biggest mistakes many in-liners make is they stand straight and keep locked, as though they were walking.
  Better: Skating position should be like a skier, with your nose, knees and toes in alignment with each other. That means you should lean forward slightly with knees bent, so the tip of your nose slight ahead of your knees, which should be slightly ahead of your toes. By skating in the knee-locked "walking" position, you'll go slower and fatigue faster because additional stress is placed on the knees.
  
  
• Hit the hills: Skating "upward" will improve the intensity of your workout. A driveway or another blacktop surface is preferred to the sidewalk or other asphalt surfaces because it's smoother and puts less shock on your legs. Remember to wear a helmet and safety gear!

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