Skateboarders are mostly in good body shape and always energetic. This might have raised a question in your mind, is skateboarding a good workout?
Well, sports scientists have confirmed that skateboarding is a full-body workout. Not only does it improve your cardiovascular system but also helps in building and strengthening muscles.
In my own experience, I have found that the core, back, and leg muscles play a vital role in skateboarding. Since this sport is all about balancing yourself on a moving board, you use your core strength to stabilize your body. You use the legs to push the board to get going and perform tricks while the core coordinates the upper body and arm to balance the body.
Deciding to get a skateboard? See which are the best skateboard brands and popular among professionals.
Wondering if skateboarding counts as a workout and if it is a good way to lose weight? Indeed, skateboarding is a good physical activity that requires full-body movement resulting in engaging every muscle of your body. The continuous strain on your muscles, while you are boarding, gives strength and builds stamina.
Let’s dive into the physical advantages of skateboarding and find out how is it a good workout;
Pushing a board requires force. The more you ride a skateboard, the more your body uses energy. For that, your heart pumps blood faster in every part of your body from toe to brain and stimulates energy to make you efficient. As a result, the cardiovascular system gets strong and keeps the heart healthy.
2. Build and Strengthen Core Muscles
The core plays a pivotal role in skateboarding. It coordinates the lower body with the upper body to ensure safe rides. You push the board using your legs and stabilize the body by moving your arms and upper body in different directions.
Plus, sudden shifts and twists in the body require force from the core – that’s how the continuous strain on the core muscles makes them stronger.
3. Works on Your Legs
Since skateboarding is mostly about pushing the board using your legs and standing on it, you work on your legs the whole time. This sport strengthens the leg muscles such as the calves, hamstrings, and gluteus muscles. Not only you stand on the board, but also perform squats and slight body shifts on the up-down direction while speeding or changing directions for stabilization.
We believe it is a good exercise for women to get in shape. The squats, jumping up the board and landing help with making your glutes stronger and building your bums and quad muscles like an athlete.
4. Helps with Weight Loss
Skateboarding is an immense aerobatic sport and a good session can burn an adequate amount of calories. A study states that skateboarders burn 450+ calories in an hour – which is excellent while enjoying the fun rides.
The faster and harder you ride (in hill areas) the more calories you burn, resulting in weight loss. However, we advise beginners should not push themselves for faster rides to prevent injuries.
Skateboarders have a strong cardiovascular system and their stamina is significantly enhanced. You stand on the board, but you also jump and twist to perform tricks that require speed and precision.
Failing multiple times while learning a trick encourages them to perform it efficiently and that’s how skaters repeat it over and over again. As a result, it strengthens their bodies and increases their stamina to perform for longer.
6. Improves Body Flexibility
Flexibility is an aspect of fitness that we mostly ignore. Longer and leaner muscles look better than buffed ones, plus, they are stronger. Skateboarders move their bodies in multiple directions while on board, which stretches the muscles and increases flexibility.
Skateboarding reduces the stiffness of the body and enhances the flex of the muscles.
Skateboarding brings various good changes to your body and mind. Not only it works on your health but also improves mental conditions. Skateboarding is a full-body workout. It builds muscles, provides strength and agility to the body, and improves stamina.
It also strengthens the cardiovascular system, builds core muscles, and increases flexibility.
On the other hand, skateboarding has many mental benefits. It teaches you patience and encourages you to perform the same trick after failing countless times. Since it is mostly about falling, so it works on your fear of pain and eliminates the fear of falling and getting bruises.
Skateboarding also teaches resilience, enhances self-esteem and boosts confidence. Best of all, this sport is a good stress reliever and reduces depression and anxiety.
Physical sports are all about using your body, and some can be a little dangerous to play. Although this sport has many benefits, the question still arises why skateboarding is bad? Skateboarders fall multiple times, every skater falls no matter beginner or professional.
However, the falling ratio drops once you learn how to balance your body – but still, you fall while performing or learning new tricks.
Skateboarding is bad because you get injured and some of them last for a long time. It demands physical activity, slow and intense depending on the type of ride. Sometimes, it leads to bumping and fall or a slight miss-balance, leading to bruises on knees, ankles, elbows, wrists, and faces.
Some of the serious injuries that you can get from skateboarding are;
Scratches and bruises from falling multiple times – areas of the target are knees, ankles, elbows, face, wrists and hip
Heel bruises if you lose balance in the air and land wrongfully on your heel
“Hot Pocket” (skateboarding term), your toe bends too much towards the shin while landing with too much weight forward
A sprained ankle is a common injury and it occurs if you partially land on the board and twist your ankle while falling on the ground
Broken joints of fingers and wrists because of landing on them while falling
Back pain is also a serious issue if you do not learn to keep the posture right while learning to ride. Putting too much strain on back muscles can be dangerous in the long run.
Note: It is advised to always use protective gears while skateboarding to prevent from injuries.
Final Verdict
Skateboarding is a good workout for the whole body and it also has various mental benefits. So, if you are bored of running or cycling and looking for an exciting way to burn calories, grab a skateboard and enjoy cruising around the city while losing weight.
This sport provides agility to muscles, improves strength, stretches them and increases flexibility. Also, it improves stamina and builds strong core muscles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is skateboarding a good way to lose weight?
Skateboarding is a good way to lose weight because it is an intense sport. Your body keeps moving the whole time and it burns calories. A study states that a good skateboarding session can burn 450+ calories per hour, resulting in losing weight while providing strength to the body during a fun ride.
Is skateboarding better than running?
Skateboarding is better than running only because it is a fun way of workout. Running has its own advantages, but both eventually help with increased strength, stamina and losing weight. skateboarding is better than running because it works on your core (that is the engine of the body), builds it and strengthens it to improve the body’s efficiency.
Will skateboarding give you abs?
Skateboarding is an immense cardio workout and it gives you solid abs. While you are on board, you are pushing the board and balancing your body. The core plays a vital role in coordinating the upper body to the lower body and continuous pressure on abs builds them stronger. Plus, skateboarding demands stabilization on a moving deck, the core stays active all the time and the abs get strength and good shape.
Is skateboarding good physical activity?
Yes, indeed! Skateboarding is a good physical activity and it has many health and mental benefits. It improves physical health, increases stamina, and provides strength and flexibility to the muscles. Skateboarding also burns calories and reduces fat to maintain body shape.
Can you get toned from skateboarding?
Yes, definitely you can get toned from skateboarding. Skateboarding is an intense cardio exercise that burns a lot of calories and tones muscles. Plus, it works on your core and builds the core muscles stronger for a good body shape and strength.
I got inspired by my father after watching him performing heroic tricks on a skateboard. Started at the age of 8 and performed in multiple competitions, now I coach professionals for tournaments. It's not just a sport for me - more like a passion and meditation! After years of experience with different skateboarding products, here are my reviews about Best Skateboard Brands and Best Skateboard for Beginners. It's an era of technology, you can also check unbiased reviews of Best Electric Skateboards. You can also read Benefits of Skateboarding.
