Submitted to the Grand Forks Gazette
Whether it’s winter or summer, skating can be a great year-round activity to keep you active and fit. Of course, you don’t always need a frozen lake to enjoy skating – there are many areas is the Boundary that will make great roller blade routes. The stability, control and strength involved in skating are key elements in the activity that make it a fun and healthy activity for all ages and abilities.
Here are the top health benefits of skating:
Better balance: skating helps improve your balance through fun and positive exercise. Travelling across an incredibly slippery surface should quickly train you to stay on your feet.
Improves joint flexibility: If your leg joints creak every time you rise from your bed in the morning, skating can offer a real solution. With its emphasis on quick foot movements and strong knees, your leg joints will receive a great workout and hopefully feel more flexible in no time.
Builds leg muscles: Focusing on lower-body movement, skating offers great exercise for the leg muscles, building and toning them up over time.
Cardio: Aerobic exercise is an important aspect of cardiovascular health, and skating can provide a great aerobic workout. The best part about skating is you get a great cardio workout without even knowing it.
Endurance: skating requires energy over an extended period of time, making it a great way to build your endurance. The longer you skate, the more you’ll improve your endurance, not just for skating and playing hockey but for other sports and activities as well.
Weight management: If you are trying to lose or maintain weight, skating and playing hockey are good ways to burn calories while having fun.
Instructor Kevin Horne will be offering a skate conditioning and hockey skills development program on Friday mornings from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. from Nov. 3 to Dec. 15. The program is open to ages seven years to adults and full gear is required.
Registration fee is $50 for six sessions and the deadline to register is Oct. 30. There will be no session on Nov. 10 due to the Remembrance Day holiday.
This is a great opportunity to improve your skating abilities, helping to increase your endurance and movement on the ice. Kevin will work on the basic hockey skills, working on correcting your stride and proper stick placement to help improve your shots and stick handling skills.
For more information on our programs and schedules, please give GFREC a call at 250-442-2202 or visit the website at www.rdkb.com.