Work out is fun when you skate!!

Skating away……

Variety is the spice of life and even while working out this is a good adage! I follow this in most things in my life and most importantly during work out! So one night I would run, the next day I would play badminton, weekends and summer is for swimming and the next day I would cycle! Many days though I do my favourite work out which is roller skates! Now if that widened your pupil then rest assured I will blog about that only since there are better players in the other work outs I mentioned above!

It all started with the fact that we (my brother and me) were young and restless! (could not resist adding that!). So one fine day when we were playing in the colony ground we saw our neighbour girl flying on the ground! Of course we later realized that it was just some wheels over shoes or skates!

At first look though we were hooked (on the skates people and not the girl!). So we started our annual campaign to pester dad to buy us a pair of Roller Skates and since it did not come cheap we reached a compromise that we would be sharing one pair!

It was very convenient that our birthdays were only one month apart (different years of course!); so this essentially meant to the delight of my parents that one gift for both will do!

So anyway we finally got our very own pair of skates and we were literally flying (before we strapped on the skates of course since after that we were just falling!). We took turns to hold one another but it was not as easy as we had seen the girl do earlier! Then the little brother of that girl who was incidentally my friend came on the ground with just one skate and we could see that he was able to skate quite well!

We followed suit and soon we were each strapped to one skate and doing things similar to skating! Very soon in days we were quite good in single skates and I was ready to move up to two! My brother very soon lost interest in skating altogether when one fine day he decided that this was for girls and that was that!

So to my delight I got myself a pair (of skates of course!) and soon after some practice I could ride well enough and how!

My love for skating continued even when dad got transferred to a place called Missamari (most Indians would not even know such a place exists!) and even though there was not many options of places to skate (since it was a small army cantonment); I used to make do with whatever tar road I could find! So much so that I used to ride in my bike to my school ten kilometres’ away so that we could skate in our school basketball court!

Then came 9th class and reality and life and my roller skates went into the dingy and dusty corner of the attic. Then came the academics and being the self proclaimed nerd I had no time at all for any sports let alone skates. But I guess that desire to skate was always there.

So after close to thirty years my daughter decided to learn skates and I was just excited to buy her a pair and this time she did not have to ask me more than once!

While in the shop selecting her colour I chanced upon skates for adults and the way I was looking at that set made my wife to cajole me into buying it for myself! She added that you both can learn together! There is no age to start following your passion right?!

The first problem was that I used to ride Quad Skates which are easier and you do not fall much from while the skates now are the Inline ones which are more difficult initially! The shop advisor urged me to go for this only since apparently it was the in thing (that of course from the guy who is basically selling footballs to teenagers!).

The first fitting and trial was of course done inside and within the corridor and of course it met with a disaster and I promptly fell on the ground which thankfully was carpeted!

Witnessing this my daughter promptly announced that she does not want to skate since she does not want to fall! I of course told her that it is the only way to learn! The more you fall, the more you learn and get better!

In any case I decided to practice when she was not witnessing my baby skate steps and in around a month I did get better and the childhood muscle memory helped of course!

Then when she saw me skate and enjoy she joined the bandwagon and now she skates regularly in her school while I do the same in my apartment in the night (do not want anyone to see me fall!)

The two most important things in skating is that you must know how to turn and other is how to stop (which essentially is an extension of sudden turn!). Once you master this then you can do decent skating and enjoy it!

I have had my fair share of falling down and thankfully they have been just superficial wounds though my pride had some deep cuts!

Since at my age it is better not to fall I have started taking some precautions and these may help anyone above thirty years who is interested in skating as a workout and not as a sport!

If you do listen to music then make sure your ear is open to receive ambient noise; you can either use the bone conduction earphones or the soundbar or no music is also a good choice! (you can check out my previous blog on Music gear for more details!)

The ground anatomy must be ingrained in your memory and you must watch out for brittle ground or small stones which are very dangerous especially when you are turning.

If you feel you are falling then you just bend forward and try to sit (this nifty suggestion is my daughter Kashika’s contribution!)

After some point in life just like skates you must understand that it is the length and not the speed which is important!! So initially I used to concentrate on riding fast while now I just maintain a good nominal speed and time my workout which is the final aim anyway!

Never skate in Rain or after rain since like Bon Jovi says, “It is slippery when wet!”

Finally you must get a trainer if you have not done skating before and wear adequate protection like the helmet and knee/elbow guards.

For now whenever I skate or put on my skate I always feel that it may be the last time I am putting on this pair and so I try to ride as it is my final ride! Slow and steady covering around 5 KM in under 30 minutes and maintaining that speed!

I am not implying that this is the way to skate but this is the way I enjoy and you can too! Since after all it’s not the destination but the journey which is pleasant many times!

So get your gear, strap your helmets and skate away!!