Showing posts with label Cross-training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cross-training. Show all posts

Thursday, February 9, 2012

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.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

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.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Roller Basketball

Alternative names: Roller BBall
Objective: Agility; forcing yourself to pay attention to what's going on around you at all times; to have some fun on skates; to get some cross-training
Typical length of drill: 10-30 minutes (this depends entirely on how serious of a game of roller basketball you want to have at practice)
Materials needed: A basketball, at least one hoop/basket but preferably two if you want to make a real game of it. It is also recommended that all the skaters bring a white shirt and a black shirt with them to practice so that you can split them into teams, OR, that you supply half of them with vests/jerseys.
Skill level required: Basic skating, stopping, and falling skills are a necessity
Description: Know basketball?  Know roller skating?  Then this will be a breeze.  Roller basketball can be played both indoors and outdoors (so great for those summer outdoor practices at the public basketball courts), and can be played on both inline skates and roller skates (so let those referees join you!).  You can play this with as little as two skaters playing one-on-one, and up to eight skaters playing four-on-four.  A simple breakdown of the rules of basketball for those who don't know: Bounce the ball (also known as "dribbling the ball") while you run/skate.  If you stop you have to either a) keep dribbling the ball, b) shoot it into the hoop, or c) pass it to a teammate, because you can't move while holding the ball in your hands.  Other skaters are allowed to steal the ball or knock it out of your hands.  Each basket is worth two points, the team with the most points at the end wins. Any kind of illegal block/contact is a foul for which the penalty is the possession of the ball goes to the team of the player who was fouled.  Only call penalties that have an actual impact on the game, not just incidental contact.

Video: Helsinki Roller Derby plays basketball on roller skates


Additional notes: Ok, full disclosure here, I've never played roller basketball myself but MAN does it look like fun!  I've only recently learned about the sport (thanks to the National Museum of Roller Skating and Blood and Thunder Magazine) and as soon as I found out about it I just had to share it with y'all.  This is actually a sport of it's own that's been around since 1992 when Tom LaGarde, an ex-NBA player, started playing it, and believe it or not, there are (or at least used to be) world championships in roller basketball.  The sport is traditionally played on inline skates but that doesn't mean you can't try it on quads.  For more information about the sport of roller basketball read this short About.com article!

If/when you've tried playing this, please share your experience with the rest of us through rating and/or discussing it in the comments -section below!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Cross-training: Ice Skating

Alternative names: --
Objective: To be able to practice roller derby and improve your skills even when you don't have an indoor space to use, and even when the weather outside is frightful
Typical length of drill: N/A
Materials needed: A pair of ice skates, good thick gloves, knee pads, and depending on your own skill level and comfort, you can choose to deck out in the full derby protective gear (and I definitely did it myself the first time)
Skill level required: None
Description: Ok, so, this is not really a drill, but I really want to inspire all of you to try ice skating to see how you can use it to your advantage as a roller derby skater.  Your roller derby skills are totally transferable to the ice.  I don't think that we should be playing straight-up full-contact roller derby on the ice what with the dangers that the sharp blades pose, and the difficulty of fitting all the appropriate protective gear over winter clothes, but those of us who live in countries where the winter comes on hard we can really take advantage of the ice skating opportunities.  There are several different things that you can practice on the ice, and we've covered just a handful of them in the video.  The video is meant to get you started and motivate you to try some simple things just to see what you're capable of, and then you can start trying out some more advanced things yourself.  Some of the things that you can practice on the ice (most of which we demonstrate in the video) are: Endurance, agility, balance, stops, and assists.  Balance in particular can be practiced really effectively on ice skates because it can be much harder to stay up on two thin blades on slippery ice than on eight grippy wheels on hardwood floor.

Disclaimer: Although ice skating is very similar to roller skating, it is NOT the same.  If you're great at roller skating, don't assume that you'll naturally be great at ice skating.  I did and was sorely disappointed when I discovered that it was like month two of derby training all over again.  The good news is though, that it doesn't take long to improve.  Just like when you started practicing roller derby, every time you skate you'll learn something new.  The improvements are tangible.  If you keep practicing, you'll be doing gliding swans and shooting the duck in no time!

Video: Roller derby cross-training: Ice Skating



Additional notes: This video was made by All Derby Drills and some really determined skaters from Helsinki Roller Derby who had no qualms about braving the -12°C weather for two hours (and did I mention it was snowing the whole time too?).  Plans for a video demonstrating some actual derby drills that you can do on ice skates is in the works too, stay tuned.

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