Pants Off Dance Off On Skates Work-Out

The following drill is a guest post by Smarty Pants of the Texas Rollergirls; she is the creator of this drill.

Alternative names: Pants Off Dance Off

Objective: Getting a great workout while having fun; improving your blocking skills

Typical length of drill: 30-60 minutes

Materials needed: 

• You will need a way to play music at a pretty good volume- think dance party.
• You will need a pretty good, upbeat dance mix. I prefer sometime from the 80s think Pretty and Pink or 90s hip-hop.
• You will need your skates and your pads if you want to skate. If you do not have access to a rink, you can do this off skates, which can be just as rewarding, simply different.
• Basically you will dance- practicing booty blocking and you will do other exercises for a set amount of time.
• I recommend at least 30 minutes if you are short on time and up to an hour if you’re also going to do something else that is active later that day.
• Be creative! Try to come up with some cool work-outs. Just imagine what would happen if you combined going out with your friends dancing with body circuits.
  

Skill level required: None

Description: I like to lead on-skates workouts that encourage skaters to sweat and exercise while having a good time and challenging their skater skills.

60 minute Pants Off Dance Off

Start with dancing for a 10-minute warm-up- pretend you are attempting to impersonate the ladies in music videos- you know the ones in short shorts and bras… I recommend the music mix start mild and build up over a 10-minute period.

Follow this warm-up with a 5-minute dynamic stretch and quick water.

Next go into hip blocking and sprinting for 10 minutes- have skaters hit hard and furious, attempting to get as many hip checks in as possible during a 60 second period, then have them sprint as many laps as possible during a 60 second period.

Throw in another 5-minute dynamic stretch and quick water.

For the next 15 minutes you will spend 60 seconds blocking on your knees (see description below), 60 seconds dancing, and 60 seconds sprinting.

• Hip blocking while kneeling is something I like to do with fresh meat who have yet to feel stable on their skates but who need to practice blocking- they can simulate many of the same movements while kneeling not having to worry about loosing their balance, but getting to hit hard.  For ladies with injured knees (hopefully not everyone…) have them stand and do regular hip blocking.

Throw in another 5-minute dynamic stretch and grab more water.
 
Finish your workout with 10-minute body circuits, 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off of the following:

• Kayak crunches
• Jack-knives
• Squats
• Right side plank
• Front to side crunches
• Left side plank
• Sculling sit-ups
• Push-ups
• Scissor kicks
• Plank

Quick 30 Pants Off Dance Off
 

Salt-n-Pepa in 1987

• 10 minute- warm-up dancing to your favorite hip-hop mix. Pretend that you are practicing to try out for a Salt n Pepper music video; you know what I’m talking about…
• 5 minutes- dynamic stretching with 2 sets of crunches for 60 seconds
• 10 minutes- 60 seconds dancing 60 seconds squatting x 5
• 5 minutes- dynamic stretching with 2 sets of crunches for 60 seconds
  

Additional notes: To see more of Smarty Pants' guest posts, click here.

Why Weight Train?

Hey Everyone,

The last six-eight weeks I’ve developed a real love for lifting weights. And naturally because I’ve been so excited about it, I thought I’d talk a little about it. Why? What’s the benefit? Are you hungry all the time?  These are the questions I get from my friends or team mates who see me daily.

I’ll be honest, when I first hit the gym, it was because I wanted to look better and I wanted to feel stronger.  I quickly became addicted to what I was doing. But the reality is that by lifting weights, you gain more power and explosion on the track, it helps your form, and who would have thought my endurance would get better from lifting some steel?

One of the most important benefits with woman and strength  training is bone health.  Strengthening your muscles also strengthens your bones. Bones are living tissue, just like muscle.  And, just like muscle, bones will respond to exercise by getting stronger.

I recently read an article about the average woman being afraid to lift weights because we don't want to be big like a man. I laughed because how true is that? How many of think that way? GOOD NEWS LADIES, we don't have the hormone makeup that a man does, therefore we will never get as big as them. So don't be afraid to lift.

It also said, women who train inappropriately or who avoid weight room training won't increase the strength of their muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments. In contrast, female athletes who build more muscle with proper strength training will run faster, jump higher, be more flexible and fight off injuries better than their weaker counterparts.  So when you’re thinking about how to get MVP in that next game or practice, you might think of the benefit from weight training.

The Maim Drain

Alternative names: 25 in 5

Objective: To get a good endurance workout; to practice proper derby stance and form

Typical length of drill: 5-10 minutes

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: None

Description: In this simple endurance drill the skaters are going to work in pairs.  One skater will be pushing the other skater for 25 laps while the skater getting pushed stays in a proper derby stance the whole time.  After completing 25 laps the skaters switch (if possible).

Additional notes: This drill was created and submitted by Maim-Bow Brite of Kingsford Krush Roller Derby.  Maim says that this is one of her favorite drills ever.  "This will hurt the pushee just as much as the pusher.  The person getting pushed gets a good workout too because they have to stay in derby position the whole time."  Although you can switch after 25 laps, Maim says "we didn't because the people that got pushed couldn't skate very fast because their legs hurt so much from being down in derby position- so we are going to wait until next practice and then switch."  Whoa!  That's a good pain.

Bus Ride

Alternative names: Finnish Bus Ride

Objective: Conditioning, staying focused, speed control, skating in a low derby stance

Typical length of drill: 10-15 mins

Materials needed: A full track or just a few cones to mark the inside track line, + four cones to use as bus stops

Skill level required: None

Description: Start by setting up your four bus stops on the outside of the track – one cone at each apex and one cone at the very middle of every straightaway.  The skaters split into four equal groups and each group stands at a bus stop when the drill begins.  The coach begins as the bus driver (and it's up to you if you want to stick to one bus driver the whole time or switch it up and have a few of the skaters act as bus drivers too) and the drill starts when the bus driver begins skating around the track.  Naturally, s/he is “sitting” in her/his “chair” as s/he is driving the bus around the track.  The skaters at the bus stops can now start hailing the bus by sticking their arm out.  When the bus driver stops the bus in front of a bus stop the skaters who are at that bus stop can choose to get on the bus or to wait a little bit longer (in this drill the skaters themselves get to decide for how long they will be sitting on the bus).  When the skaters get on the bus they “take a seat” (meaning, they get into the 90° angle squat position, as if actually sitting in a chair) behind the bus driver, two people always next to each other so that there is a double line behind the driver.  Once the passengers are on the bus the bus begins driving.  Everyone on the bus follows the bus driver, whatever she does.  If she comes to another bus stop where other passengers want to get on, the whole bus has to slow down and come to a stop.  If the bus driver speeds up, the whole bus has to speed up.  If the bus driver has to navigate through multiple lanes of traffic, the whole bus has to do so.  The bus driver is in charge and gets to decide what obstacles the bus encounters and at what times, her/his job is to call them out to the rest of the passengers so that they know what to do.  Here are suggestions for the many different things that the bus can do during the bus ride:

• Driving through a tunnel – Everyone squats really really super low so as not to hit the ceiling of the tunnel
• Debris in the road – Everyone jumps over the debris
• Pedestrians or road kill – The bus has to weave around the pedestrians or the road kill
• Local roads – The bus goes really slowly
• Highway – The bus speeds up and goes really fast
• A tree in the middle of the road – Everyone splits up so as to make room for the tree to go through the middle of the bus and then everyone immediately comes together again
• A group of children crossing the street – Everyone weaves around like mad making sure not to hit any of the children in the middle of the road
• Red light / Green light – When the light turns red the bus comes to a halt.  When the light goes green again the bus takes off.

If passengers wish to get off the bus because they feel they can't “stay seated” any longer, they say the word “Pling!” nice and loud so that the bus driver hears them, and then the bus pulls over at the next stop.  At this point anyone who wishes to exit the bus may do so.  I like to tell skaters before doing this drill that when they start feeling like they want to get off the bus because they can't squat any longer, they should try to push themselves to one more bus stop and THEN press the button so that they get that extra benefit of pushing themselves just a little bit further.



An illustrated example of the Bus Ride -drill.  Click the image to view it larger.


I usually end with 5 laps of highway at which time no one is allowed to get on or off the bus (I mean really, how often do you see bus stops on the highway?) so I warn the skaters that it's about to come up in case they want to get back on the bus before it's too late.

If you are lucky and have an off-skates assistant, you can ask this person to throw or place cones (or other things) onto the track in the path of the bus so that all the skaters have concrete obstacles to weave around.  If you have multiple off-skates people at practice you can ask them to be physical pedestrians or road kill or school children for the bus to navigate around.

Additional notes:  I came up with this drill in the spring when I wanted to have a fun drill that felt like a game but also gave our thigh muscles a good workout while at the same time forcing us to practice skating nice and low.  I've done this a few times with a few different groups and it has always been well received.  Because it's a short-ish drill (very effective even if you do it for only 10 minutes) it's also a really great filler – you can plug it in to any small spaces that you may have leftover in your practice schedule.  I like to do this at the end of practice because it's a fun way to end the day, but I've also been known to start practice with this (after regular warm-ups) to get everyone to squat low from the very beginning.  This is a good drill to help skaters who skate too upright.

Feel free to suggest your own fun bus obstacles in the comments -section below!  I know you've got some :)

Six Stride Hell

Alternative names: --

Objective: Work on acceleration from pack speed

Typical length of drill: 5-10 minutes

Materials needed: a skating surface

Skill level required: cross overs and the ability to skate on one leg in corners and straight aways (to be effective)

Description: Have all skaters on "the track" skating at their own "pack speed" spaced out randomly around the track.

On the whistle, all skaters take six hard, fast sprint steps from wherever they are then return to normal skating. Repeat whistle randomly for drill length. 

Additional notes: Generally at Pioneer Valley we use this as an ending drill, something to bring the heart rate back up, before skating a few laps to cool down and stretch.

This could be used as a pack drill to get teams of people used to speeding up and slowing down together.

While everyone is on the track, this is a drill about individual performance. Skaters should have a sense of urgency to skate the hardest and fastest six strides they can on that whistle. If it's 5 or 7 it's not a failure. The point is to begin the sprint from wherever you are and handle it through people also on the track.

One full off-skates workout session

Alternative names: --

Objective: This post is written to help you hold an entire hour's off-skates workout -session, and to give you ideas for new exercises to use at off-skates practice

Typical length of drill: N/A

Materials needed: None necessarily, though for a couple of the exercises in the videos below you need a step platform (noted next to the links), and for some it might be nice to have a yoga mat to lay on

Skill level required: None

Description: I was futzing around on YouTube one night, gleaning drill ideas and speed-skating technique tips from inline speed-skating videos, when I stumbled onto one of Ottawa Inline Skating Club's channels, chok-full of great skating-related plyometrics exercise demonstrations!  I know many leagues out there include off-skates hours into their weekly/monthly training regimes, and that it can sometimes be a little bit daunting to think of new, fun, useful exercises to do at each off-skates session (and particularly for those coaches who have no background in sports), so below is inspiration for a full off-skates workout session.  I have not embedded all 33 of the plyometrics videos below, just a couple of my favorites, but I have provided links to all of them so that you can easily click and check out on the ones that you wish to see/use!

Baby hops
Bicycle (the classic bicycle crunch; your skaters may want a yoga mat for this one)

Crossover steps



Crossover bounding
Depth jump (step platforms needed)

Dryland skating



Jump to box (step platforms needed)
Lateral jump to box (step platform needed)
Lateral hop (cones or other small items to jump over needed)
Leg lift (your skaters may want a yoga mat for this one)
Leg switch
Low walk

Ballerina low walk



Low walk elbow to heel
Lunge low walk
Rocket jump
Side lunge
Single leg leap
Single leg squat

Single leg squat with hold



Single leg vertical hop
Sit up + advanced version (your skaters may want a yoga mat for this one)
Squat (yes, the good ol' squat!)
Squat split jump
Star jump
Static squat (this one should be familiar!)
Tuck jump
Wall sit
Basic 45-degree skate leap
Single leg squat (position 2)
Skate leap with touch back (notice the back foot) 
Skate leap with hop

Skate leap with forward travel

Additional notes: For those leagues out there who don't currently have any off-skates sessions built into their training schedules, let this serve as your inspiration for your first off-skates workout day!  The benefits of cross-training are myriad.  If you're interested in the topic of cross-training, read the following interesting Runner's World article: "Eight Benefits of Cross-Training".  It's about cross-training for runners, but the list can certainly also be applied to roller derby!  And here is an additional article specifically about cross-training for skaters, from Skating to Better Health.  It includes descriptions of multiple different cross-training exercises and sports that you can do!  I for instance never thought about the fact that "basketball and racquet sports also develop agility."  Excellent.

Suicides

Alternative names: Charlie Sheens

Objective: Conditioning; to practice stops/slides/falls

Typical length of drill: 7 minutes timed

Materials needed: 6 cones

Skill level required: None

Description: Have all of your skaters line up at the short end of your space next to each other with their backs against the wall.  Along the wall on the long end of your space place one cone about 20 feet (ca. 6+ meters) ahead of the skaters, another cone about 20 feet ahead of that, and a third cone about 20 feet ahead of that.  Place matching cones along the other wall.  These will serve as the markers for the skaters.  Depending on the size of your space you may simply want to divide it into thirds and place the cones at the divides.  The diagram below the description should help you visualize.  For the duration of the drill the skaters are going to sprint to the cones and do a specific fall/slide/stop, then sprint back to the wall to turn around and repeat.  Tell the skaters in advance what fall/slide/stop you want them to do at which cone.  This should be selected based on what your skaters need to work on.  In the diagram below I have suggested the double knee slide at the first cone, a single knee slide at the second, and a baseball slide at the third.  I like to have them practice turning toe stops or transitions when they get back to the wall.

-------------------------------------
       *skaters start*

o  double knee slide  o


o   single knee slide  o


o    baseball slide     o   

------------------------------------- 

So, here's what it looks like: A timer blows the whistle to start the drill and starts timing.  Skaters immediately sprint to the first cone, do a double knee slide, sprint back to the wall, do a turning toe stop, sprint to the second cone, do a single knee slide, sprint back to the wall, do a turning toe stop, sprint to the last cone, do a baseball slide, sprint back to the wall, do a turning toe stop, sprint to the first cone, do a double knee slide, sprint back to the wall, do a turning toe stop, etc. etc.  This continues for the specified time.  If they are pushing themselves they should be quite tired at the end of the 7 minutes, and they should have gotten the chance to practice your choice of falls/slides/stops quite a few times. 

Additional notes: This is another classic drill that's been around for a very long time.  This one can be done both on and off skates and is practiced in many different sports (I even remember my high school sweetheart doing this at wrestling practice).  I learned the derby use for it while skating with New Hampshire Roller Derby.  There are many different variations on this one as well which will be posted over time.  This drill can also be used for warm-ups.  Please note that because all the skaters will be doing this at their own pace it should not be a problem that they are all lined up next to each other at the start, everyone will quickly be at different speeds and parts of the track.  This is also a good way to practice looking ahead while skating and dodging other skaters :) 

Whether or not they are open about it, many skaters' lives have been touched by suicide and it's not something you want to remind them of at practice.  For this reason I suggest you call this drill something else (and please share your creative names with the rest of us in the comments below!).  I have playfully given it the nick-name Charlie Sheens because after only 5 minutes you want this to end...

Photo by Mick Dagger, Helsinki Roller Derby

The Scarecrow

Please note that this is an OFF-SKATES exercise and it is definitely NOT recommended that you do it on skates! 

Alternative names: --

Objective: To get a good and interesting muscle workout while getting up-close and personal with some of your teammates; to practice balance

Typical length of drill: 2-10 minutes depending entirely on how capable your skaters are and for how long you want them to keep trying

Materials needed: None

Skill level required: None, though it does help to be nimble and strong

Description: To begin, all the skaters should pair up with someone of their own size and weight.  All the pairs should make sure that they have plenty of space around them when doing this exercise.  Partner #1's job is to be "the scarecrow" while partner #2 acts as "the climber."  The scarecrow starts by putting their hands behind their head and taking a wide, somewhat low stance.  The scarecrow's job is to stand still during this whole exercise and act as a climbing pole.  Once the scarecrow is in place the climber begins.  The climber's job is to get up on the scarecrow and try make their way all the way around the scarecrow without touching the ground.  The climber should try to do as many revolutions around the scarecrow as possible and once s/he feels that s/he can't do any more (or once s/he touches the ground), the partners switch tasks.

Alternatively, you can pair up your smallest skaters with the largest skaters and have the large skaters act solely as the scarecrows while the smaller skaters act as the climbers.  No matter which position you hold during this exercise you will still get a workout.

Video: The Ultimate Fighter Championship Scarecrow Challenge



Additional notes: This is something that I learned in my muay thai course a little while ago and it's pretty awesome.  The exercise can be made to look so simple when done by some (i.e. the UFC competitors in the video or my muay thai instructors), but it's actually a really tough workout and it isn't easy to complete even one revolution.  Why should you do this? Because it's fun and it brings teammates closer to each other as they struggle to climb all over each other's bodies.  You shouldn't be surprised though if you have many who are unable to complete even one revolution.  If you run this drill at every practice for an extended period of time those people will have the chance to practice it over and over again and they will finally get to the point where they are able to complete at least one full revolution, and that will definitely make them feel good about themselves.  So I guess you can also file this under self-esteem boosters :)

Why off-skates strength training and fitness?

Alternative names: --

Objective: Learn about the importance of off-skates strength training for roller derby.

Typical length of drill: --

Materials needed: --

Skill level required: None

Description:
First of all I want to welcome you all to my guest blog on Estro's All Derby Drills. My part is obviously to show you all how important off-skates strength training and fitness is for roller derby.

Roller Derby is a really intense and multifaceted team sport. We all know that besides a great understanding of rules and tactics, passion for the sport, motivation and team spirtit we need agility, endurance, speed and strength to play roller derby. Tactic, passion, team spirit and motivation are kind of psychological elements of a player. But beside that, we need the ability to move and react very fast. Within a jam or a bout we have a repetition of very fast movements, stops, lateral movements, we need to be able to sprint out and react quickly and repeat those fast and quick movements in the short amount of time during a jam over and over again PLUS we maybe have to recover sometimes within 30 sec until the next jam is on. But to develop THAT - which is agility, endurance, speed and strength - we NEED our muscles to be trained. The following abilities are the base of a good muscle work:

a.) the connection between muscules, muscle parts, nervous system and brain:
- intramuscular coordination
- intermuscular coordination

b.) the different types of strengths:
- strength endurance
- maximal strength
- fast strength
- explosive strength

Here are some examples which make it easier to understand... You will see that all parts and facts of strength and muscles relate to each other and/or are part of each other.

1.) If we try to sprint out as fast as we can from the jammer start position, all parts of our hamstring muscle have to react as soon as we hear the whistle blow. We not only want to start as quickly as possible we also want to be faster than the opposing jammer and we want to maximize our speed in an adequate amount of time. What we here need is a fast connection between our brain, nervous system and muscle - we want to have control over our legs and tell them to start with max power, a high stride frequency and gain speed as quickly as possible. Therefore we need a good intra/intermuscular coordination, which is the ability of coordinating all parts within the front part of our hamstring muscle at the same time AND also be able to relaxe the back part at the same time. If you are good in coordinating your muscles your getting better with explosive strength and fast strenght which is also of importance for a fast jammer start.

2.) As a jammer we need to have a good endurance and be fast. So the link between endurance and speed are fast strenght and strength endurance plus speed endurance. A jammer doesn't have the same speed during one jam. That would be easy to train. But she mostly switches beetwin stopping, falling, sprinting out, moving around quickly - sometimes up to 2 mins. Also, if she's done, she needs to recover sometimes within 30 secs to get on the track again. Without the ability of the muscle to repeat movements a lot you can't go fast over 2 mins and recover quickly.

The two examples have been random. Basically, it doesn't matter if you're a jammer or a blocker, you need to move your feet all the time and be in control of your body and muscles whenever you are on the track PLUS recover quickly between jams.

As you all know, you can train endurance, speed, agility and strength on skates. But hey, to be honest... who has the time to work out 5 times a week or the halls/ venues to have an additional on-skates practice for endurance and strength? Who hast the money for that? And, most of the roller girls never played a sport before. So it is hard enough to skate and train agility. But practice speed and strength at the same time? Not possible. Also, as soon as we start with roller derby we have start practicing strength and fitness - so we need to give our newbies the possibility to practice that, too.

I think, it's better to break it down into an extra session of off-skates strength and endurance training. There are many more arguments for off-skates training and after all you can see that at the end we need to develop our ability "strenght and fitness" fo becoming the roller girl we want to be. Within the next weeks I'll prioritize my posts and give you drills so you can all start to practice your strenght and fitness level.

Additional notes: My idea is teach you easy ways of strenght and fitness training and clincic as well as drills. I really want to prioritize the topic off-skates strength and fitness and break it down on simple drills step by step with each new post.

Leg Burners

Alternative names: --

Objective: To get a muscle workout; to practice getting and staying really low

Typical length of drill: 7-10 mins

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line, and one additional cone in a different color to use as a marker

Skill level required: None

Description: Set up your marker -cone on one of the corners, next to the track boundary.  On the whistle all the skaters start by skating one lap around, and when they pass the cone, they begin to sprint.  When they pass the cone the next time, they get into a proper squat position, with their arms out straight and all eight wheels on the floor, and then they coast/skate this way until they pass the cone again, at which point they sprint again.  Repeat this cycle of alternating a lap of sprinting with a lap of low squat coasting/skating for about at least 5-7 minutes or for a certain number of laps (i.e. start with 25 and see how your skaters do and feel).  The coach should make sure that the skaters' squat stances are proper and that their knees are not turning in (everything should be aligned so as to prevent knee -damage: toes, knees, hips, shoulders).

Additional notes: This drill was originally posted by Marc Schneider on the roller derby coaches Yahoo group here.  I really like this drill, it's a really great workout and a good way to practice staying low even after getting tired and sore.  It's also a really easy drill to do and I think it can thus very appropriate for freshmeat.

Jammer Relay Race

Alternative names: --

Objective: To give the derby muscles (aka quads) a good workout; to practice passing the star

Typical length of drill: 10 mins

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: None

Description: This drill pins the skaters against each other in a race around the track, one skater and one lap at a time, while all of the skaters' teammates are holding a squat.

First, set up two cones next to the track -- they should be about 5 feet apart and about 5 feet from the track to avoid any skaters running into each other as they enter and exit the track.  I usually set up the cones between turns 3 and 4 because most practice spaces I've been in have allowed for more leeway on the outside of the turns than the outside of the straightaways.  Then split the skaters into two equal-sized teams (if one team has one more skater than the other team, make sure you tell the team skating one player short that the first person will have to skate twice).  Have each team line up behind one of the cones and give the first person in each line a jammer panty with which to cover their helmets.  On the whistle the first person in each line should immediately take off and race each other around the track for one lap, and all the skaters left in the lines should immediately pop down into squat positions.  Once a racing skater has completed her/his one lap and s/he comes back to the cone, s/he hands off the jammer panty to the next person in line and then skates to the back of the line and assumes the squat position.  The new "jammer" now races someone from the other team around the track and once s/he's completed her/his one lap s/he hands off the jammer panty to the next person on her/his team and gets back into line to squat.  The relay race continues like this until all skaters on the team have sprinted one lap around the track, and only then are the skaters allowed to get up out of their squat.  The winning team gets to un-squat sooner so there's the reason to push hard in the race.  Usually I repeat this game three times in a row, with about a 60-second reset time in-between each game (I allow the teams to strategically rearrange their skaters during that time if they want to), and finally the team that lost the most games does 10 or 15 push-ups as "punishment" (and sometimes the winning team wants to do 10-15 sympathy push-ups together with the losers, which I think is pretty damn cool!).

Note: I usually tell the skaters that they do not have to wait until the jammer panty is completely covering their helmet, that they are allowed to begin skating as soon as they are in the process of placing the jammer panty onto their helmets.  No one is allowed to skate with the panty in just their hand.

Additional notes: This is one of my favorite drills ever!  Doing this at practice usually lifts everyone's spirits because everyone is always cheering for each other and skaters even forget that they are in pain from squatting because they are so excited about the racing.  It's a really simple drill that doesn't require much skill or many materials, but it's an effective muscle workout and it's great at lightening the mood at practice.  I'm proud of this one!

Lire cet exercice en français!

One Ring to Rule Them All

Alternative names: The One Ring

Objective: To get a serious quad workout; to work together as a team and to support each other through a hard workout

Typical length of drill: 10 mins

Materials needed: None

Skill level required: None

Description: In this drill all the skaters are going to work together as a team to do multiple sets of slow squats.  Get all your skaters to stand next to each other in a circle with their arms across each others' shoulders.  With their arms around each other the skaters all begin to lower themselves into a squat, getting down to a 90-degree angle at their knees, and then without letting go of each other they all slowly stand back up again.  Repeat this squatting motion 9 more times, take a 30-second breather, and then begin another set of 10 squats.  Depending on what level your skaters are at in their training (and what level of competitive play your skaters are trying to reach) you may want to stop after two sets of 10 repetitions, or keep going with three, four, or even five sets.  This is also a team building activity since the skaters must do the squats together and support each other to get through it.

Additional notes: The credit for this drill goes to my BFF who doesn't play derby but is an honorary rollergirl and a slight exercise addict.  She did this exercise in a bodycombat course and thought it might apply itself well to derby training.  I think it sounds *great* but I must add the disclaimer here stating that we have NOT tried this on skates ourselves so we're not sure how big the chance is of skaters losing their balance and falling during this exercise.  I have a feeling that the chances of losing balance and falling are pretty small since everyone is holding on to each other and thus have a great deal of physical support, but, there is also the small probability that since everyone is on skates if one heavier person begins to fall s/he may take all the other skaters down with her.  I would really like to hear comments from someone who has tried this (or something similar to it) on skates before!

Also, keep in mind that this drill can totally be done off-skates at any off-skates practice that your league might have!

Lire cet exercice en français!

Don't Leave Me Hangin'

Alternative names: --
Objective: To build up endurance and muscle; to practice proper skating form
Typical length of drill: 15-20 mins
Materials needed: A full track or just a couple of cones to mark an inside track line
Skill level required: None
Description: Have all of the skaters pair up with a partner of similar speed.  The partners split up: one skates 5 laps at a sprint while the other does calisthenics off the track (push-ups, crunches, planks, mountain climbers, etc.).  The skater tags her/his partner when s/he's done with the laps, and then two switch.  Keep this going for 15 to 20 mins and give prompts for maintaining good skating form as the skaters get more tired.
Additional notes: This is a drill by Lady Shatterly of the Boston Derby Dames that originally appeared on the roller derby coaches Yahoo group here; it is being re-posted with permission.  This was indeed a good endurance and workout drill!  The skaters were dripping sweat and expressed being sore the next day (in a good way).  Definitely good for freshmeat because they got to practice their stance and form AND they got a really good workout.  I would also like to add that this can be a good drill to do in the clockwise direction.

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The Build A Bitch II

Alternative names: -- 
Objective: To build up endurance and muscle while keeping it interesting
Typical length of drill: Unknown (please share if you know!)
Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line 
Skill level required: None 
Description: At the beginning of your training session have the skaters sprint for 30 seconds then drop and do 30 jumping jacks, 30 push-ups, and 30 crunches / abdominal leg raises.  Then go for another 30 sec. sprint, drop for 25/25/25, and continue with a 30 sec. sprint and go down to 20/20/20.  Keep going down by intervals of five on the jumping jacks, push-ups, and crunches, and when you complete the last set of 5 do another 30 sec. sprint and end with 1/1/1.  Repeat the whole series at the end of you training session.
Additional notes: This is a drill by Tara Bitch Down and Mr. Bitch Down of the Romsey Town Rollerbillies, posted with their permission.  It originally appeared on the roller derby coaches Yahoo group here.  Tara Bitch Down says "For my skaters I make them encourage each other and push each other and if I don't get that then I make them go back up the [...] pyramid of intervals until they work together to get thru it."  I have not tried this drill myself yet but I really like it on paper and I enjoyed the comment that Tara Bitch Down made in the original post: "It's tough and should make people too winded to be bored!"

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Pyramids

Alternative names: Hot Laps
Objective: To build up strength and endurance
Typical length of drill: 20 minutes
Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line
Skill level required: None
Description: Split the group of skaters in half.  The two groups are then going to take turns sprinting on the track and doing calisthenic exercise inside the track, first for the duration of 1 lap, then 2 laps, then 3 laps, and so on, until 5 laps -- this is called going up the pyramid -- and then they come down the pyramid again and end with one final explosive lap.

To illustrate: Group A stands inside the track while Group B lines up on a designated start line on the track.  On the coach's whistle all the members of Group A immediately get into a squat position whilst all the members of Group B immediately begin sprinting.  Once everyone from Group B has completed their 1 lap the coach yells "Switch!" and that's when everyone from Group A is allowed to get out of the squat position and hustle to the start line.  On the next whistle Group A sets off sprinting while Group B holds a squat (again holding until the last person in Group A has finished).  On the next round, Group B sprints 2 laps while Group A does planks.  Then they switch.  On the third round Group B begins by sprinting 3 laps while Group A does push-ups.  Then they switch.  Etc.  Sprinters should practice using their outside voice by yelling out the number of laps completed every time they pass the start line.  This also signals to the coach and the skaters inside the track when the switch will happen.

Some calisthenics suggestions: Regular squats, hold-a-squat, push-ups, crunches, planks, side planks, leg lifts, ab straddles, hydrants, lunges.

Additional notes: Learned this one a few years ago while skating with New Hampshire Roller Derby and I believe it is a widely practiced drill.  I still heart pyramids to this day but IMO it can lose its endurance effect once skaters reach a certain level so this may be best for newer skaters or skaters who struggle with endurance.  Please comment if you agree or disagree.  Either way, I am always a big fan of anything that combines both calisthenics and skating!  I'd also like to add that this is a great drill to do in the clockwise direction.

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Stop, Drop & Roll

Alternative names: --

Objective: To practice getting up off the ground quickly; to get used to skating as fast as you can in short bursts; to build endurance and strength

Typical length of drill: 7 minutes timed

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: Skaters must know how to stop effectively

Description: The skaters all sprint around the track and on each whistle blow they immediately drop to the floor and do five push-ups followed by five crunches in rapid succession.  Then the skaters jolt back up and go back to sprinting around the track.  Typically the skaters get about 15 seconds of sprinting in-between the calisthenics.

Additional notes: This is a really simple drill but really good for exercising and exhausting skaters.  I learned it while skating with New Hampshire Roller Derby and when coaching Helsinki Roller Derby we used this drill during every freshmeat training period to show the freshmeat at the very beginning that roller derby is definitely a sport.  Counting all the push-ups and crunches out loud together helps the quiet skaters practice their outside voice and keeps everyone going at the same rapid pace.  I'd also like to add that this is a great drill to do in the clockwise direction.

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Blocker Hell

Alternative names: --

Objective: To build up endurance and stamina; to build up muscles

Typical length of drill: 15 minutes

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: Skaters must know how to stop effectively

Description: This is a variation on the Jammer Hell -drill.  All the skaters skate around the track at 80% capacity for two full minutes, then do 30 seconds of plyometrics or calisthenics (i.e. planks, push-ups, crunches, flood kicks, ab straddles, etc.).  Repeat this cycle until the 15 minutes have gone by.

Additional notes: I learned this drill at Rally in the Valley 2010, Germany's first roller derby bootcamp organized by the Stuttgart Valley Roller Girlz.  At the camp it was used as a warm-up exercise.  Although you are not sprinting at 100% during this drill it can sill be considered an endurance drill (particularly for blockers who don't usually skate at 100% during a game anyway) since you are skating quite hard for quite a long time.  This drill can of course also be lengthened to make it more endurancy.

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