skateinstructor.com

Beginner to Intermediate Evenings Intensive Skate Course - April 2009 in London

2009-03-18T12:00:00Z

Rollerblade Skate Course in London

"GETTING STARTED" Beginner to Intermediate Group Courses

Four hours of fun packed skating course over 4 lessons for only £85. That's just over £20 an hour for some great tuition from one of the UK's highest Qualified ICP Instructors.

Spring is upon us, the nights are getting lighter and the days a "little" warmer so now is the time to learn to skate and take part in London's three free weekly skates or even beat the credit crunch and save some money on expensive monthly travel costs and skate to work in the mornings - It's an amazing way to start the day! And you may even shed a few pounds and live a little longer!

Almost everyone feels nervous and apprehensive when they first put on a pair of Rollerblade's. Mark specializes in putting you at ease and getting you skating quickly as well as having loads of fun at the same time! This workshop has been designed and run by one of the UK's finest, Mark Davies who is one of only two qualified ICP Level 3 Master Instructors and examiner currently in the UK.

Inline skating (Rollerblading) is a great exercise, it works your major muscle groups, and helps improve your balance. Plus, you can burn up to 600 calories per hour.

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"Your never too old to learn: Rollerblade Beginner Bootcamp is inexpensive and allows most new skaters to learn to skate quickly."

You will need to make sure that you have skates with a heel brake on them, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist pads and a helmet. Don't have skates and pads? No problem, you can hire them from the Club Blue Room Skate Shop at Marble Arch.

BOOK NOW, call Mark on 07753 489 669 or email Mark: mark@skateinstructor.com

Mark says: "I've been running this course for the last five years and it's always been a great success as well as a whole load of fun and it's a great way to get you skating with confidence"

The course covers:

Safety and equipment
How to fall over correctly
Beginner starting (Stride 1). Watch the Video...
Beginner stopping (Heel brake stopping). Watch the Video...
Beginner turning (A-frame turns). Watch the Video...
Advanced beginner movement (Stage 2 and swizzle) Watch the Video...
Advanced beginner stopping (Spin stops) Watch the Video...
Advanced beginner turning (Parallel turns) Watch the Video...

(Please note that the video clips are approx 1.5Mb each and may take a few seconds to load)

The sessions take place at The Royal Albert Memorial from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on:

7th April 2009
14th April 2009
21st April 2009
28th April 2009

Take a look at the health benefits of inline skating

London Street Skates

Our safety policy

Video footage and editing by Dave White.

Photography by Nicolas Sergent.

Beginners starting and stopping drop in session

2009-03-13T15:40:00Z

Pretty much everyone feels nervous and apprehensive when they first put on a pair of Rollerblade's. We specialise in putting you at ease and getting you skating quickly as well as having loads of fun at the same time!

If you are a beginner and can't stand up on your skates yet, if you can't stop, or if you are a more advanced skater and want to learn some cool stuff, you have come to the right place to learn.

Beginner starting and stopping group Rollerblade skate lessons are great way to give you the kick start and confidence you need in the beginning.

The sessions take place at The Royal Albert Memorial each Sunday at 2pm and cost just £15 per person.

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No need to book, just come along. As long as the ground is dry it will be taking place.

You can also attend a follow on lesson to this lesson each Sunday at 3.30pm which covers turning and how to get on and off kerbs safely for also just £15 person.

You will, as with all of our lessons and courses need to make sure that you have knee, wrist and elbow pads as well as a helmet to attend this class. If you don't have all of these you can buy or rent them from The Club Blue Room skate shop at Marble Arch.

Please feel free to call Mark on 07753-489 669 or email if you have any questions.

Please note that as from the 21st March 2009 this session will be starting at 2pm each week and the follow on session will be starting at 3.30pm

Amsterdam Skate Trip - June 2009

2009-03-12T14:46:03Z

Amsterdam; smooth tarmac, generous cycle lanes and the most respectful motorists ever seen. And of course the obvious advantage, not an uphill in sight (the only slopes are bridges).

The skateinstructor.com and skatefresh tour hooks up with local skaters for their own Friday night skate starting at 8pm which tours the city and ends at about 10.30pm with their own version of the Vic. Amsterdam's Friday night skate is not as fast as London's Friday night skate and anyone capable of the Sunday stroll will only need to extend themselves a little to keep up. The lovely surfaces will make that achievable with ease. Instructors will be on hand to help you out if you need it. Some new obstacles (tram lines) may need negotiating but skating in Amsterdam is easier than London.

]]> On Friday 19th June, we meet up in the evening before the Friday night street skate, at 7.30pm for the official start of the weekend tour. If you are in Amsterdam earlier than that then we will be organising a short skate to a local skate shop (great for speed skates), starting at 4.30pm and will include some dinner before the street skate.

Saturday 20th June sees us leaving the city to the east and skating to Marken, (an island community connected to the mainland by a road) along elevated cycle tracks surrounded by fields and water. It isn't very often that we get the opportunity to skate in the countryside, away from traffic, noise, pollution and the urban madness that is London. It is a whole different experience being surrounded by water, big skies and space while you skate. This skate will help you work on your stamina and skate technique while you enjoy the spacious views. Countryside obstacles include low flying herons and geese. We break for lunch in Marken and then skate back on a different route, completing a 44km skate day.

On Saturday evening before dinner a special tour of the red light district is included in your package. Asha will be eating in her favourite Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam's own china town, where the house speciality is incredible wonton soup, but their prawn toast is also not to be missed (more prawns than toast). You are free to join Asha for dinner or make your own arrangements after the red light district tour.

Sunday 21st we will explore the city in more detail with a route around the central and outlying areas, including Vondelpark. The tour will finish by 4pm on Sunday so as to leave sufficient time for flight connections home.

The package for the weekend is inclusive of all skate tours and tuition over the weekend and also includes the red light district tour. Several opportunities arise for lesson spots where gaps in skills can be filled in and we will use the long, flat, smooth roads and tracks to really polish our speed skating technique and work on stamina.

2.5 days of skating is £120 per person (discount of 15 pounds if you have been to Paris with us before). You are responsible for all your meals, snacks and water while skating.

Accommodation

Accommodation and flights are yours to arrange but Asha and Mark will be staying at the Stay Okay Hostel (Vondelpark branch) where double and quadruple rooms are available.

Aim for hotels in the central area or south and east as this will make it easy for you to get to our meeting points.

Here are some other hotels of various prices for you to look at. Prices at all hotels vary according to availability so printing them here isn't very useful as they will change as we get closer to the skate date.

Stay Okay Hostel www.stayokay.com

You need to make your bookings individually at the Vondelpark branch of Stay Okay but if you want to stay with other skaters from our group then you need to book a double or quadruple room all together. Please let Asha know if you want to share a room but don't know any of the other Amsterdam group members as we can then out you in touch with each other so you can make your room booking together. Quadruple rooms cost approx. 32.50 Euros per person per night with breakfast.

For travel directions to Stay Okay, see last paragraph below;

Hotel Washington Amsterdam (2 star)

Frans van Mierisstraat 10

2 nights double room £190 (approx price from www.hotels.nl website)

Hotel Ibis Amsterdam City Stopera (4 star)

2 nights, double room £232 (approx price from www.hotels.nl website)

Park Hotel www.parkhotel.nl (4-5 star)

info@parkhotel.nl Approx. 150 euros per room per night excluding breakfast.

Flights

Easyjet only announces their flight prices 4months before travel date, but booking direct online is the cheapest way to fly. BMI fly to Amsterdam from City airport. It is possible to travel to Amsterdam by train and ferry.

Our travel agent Rebecca will be pleased to help you with travel and accommodation if you need.
Email: Tel: 0207 240 5938. Please tell her that you want to book for the skate trip to Amsterdam.

Travel directions to Stay Okay Hostel - Volderpark
Transportation possibilities from Schiphol Airport the hostel:
Train to Central Station, then tram to 'Leidseplein' (line 1, 2 or 5)
Interliner Bus 370 from Schiphol to 'Leidseplein'
A taxi from Schiphol to the hostel should cost around € 35,00.

From Leidseplein you walk towards the Marriott Hotel. In front of the Marriott you turn left. Take the second street right = Zandpad.

Get booking as the sooner you book the cheaer it will be for you. Don't miss this fabulous oportunity to skate one of Europe's most interesting cities.

If you would like any further information or if you'd like to book a place, please call Mark on 07753 489 669.

How To Stop on Rollerblades!!!

2009-03-02T15:30:00Z

Being able to stop on Rollerblades is an essential part of skating and it can be really scary when you don't know how!!!

The Heel Brake Stop has to be without doubt one of the most effective ways to stop and one of the easiest stops for a beginner to learn, it's also an awesome way to stop for any skater no matter what thier skill level and when combine with a more advanced stop call the T Stop it's pure stopping power on skates!

There are many other ways to stop and often really effective when you can combine more than one way to stop into one move. However, for the purpose of this article and your safety we are just going to be looking at the heel brake stop.

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So how do you make it work???

Roll at a slow to moderate speed in a ready position which is feet side by side about six inches apart and pointing in a straight line.
Roll into a scissor by moving about 70% of your body weight to your supporting leg (the one without the heel brake) and roll you braking foot out in front of you until the heel of the braking foot is inline with the toe of the support foot.
Push your braking foot further out in front of you until the heel brake touches the floor.
Bend your support leg even more and as you do pull you braking leg down into the back of your braking skate.

Watch the Video...

This is the best and most powerful way for any beginner to learn how to skate.

Rollerblade Skate Bootcamp...

Learn how to do this - Book a lesson. Call or Text 07753 489 669 or Email us

Skate and Lose Weight

2008-08-19T12:28:39Z

A plan that really works!

How to Skate Off One Pound
For each pound of weight you want to lose, you will need to burn off approximately 3500 calories. A 150 pound person skating 11 miles per hour burns about 10 calories per minute. This means a 150 pound person skating 11 miles per hour would have to skate 6 hours to lose 1 pound (3500 calories / 10 calories = 350 minutes. 350 minutes / 60 minutes per hour = 6 hours of skating)

]]> How to Skate Off 20 Pounds
If you skate enough to burn off an extra 800 calories per day, you will lose 20 pounds in approximately 3 months. If you give yourself 6 months to lose 20 pounds, you only need to burn off an extra 400 calories per day. The amount of skating required to burn off 800 and 400 calories will vary widely from person to person, because it depends on your personal body weight and skating speed.

How Those Calorie Levels Were Determined
In order to lose 20 pounds, you will need to burn off a total of 70,000 extra calories during your weight loss period (3500 calories * 20 pounds). A typical 3 month period will have 13 weeks. 70,000 calories divided by 13 weeks = approximately 5400 calories per week. Divide that by 7 days in a week, and you can see that you would need to burn off 800 extra calories per day to lose 20 pounds in 3 months without altering your eating habits.

Calories Burned by Skating
The blue numbers in the following table are the number of calories a skater will burn at different skating speeds. I have listed calorie burn rates for skaters weighing 120 and 200 pounds. Skaters who don't weigh 120 or 200 pounds can use these numbers to estimate their own calorie burn rates..

Calories Burned Per Hour of Skating
Your Weight	8 mph	10 mph	12 mph	14 mph	16 mph
120 lbs	250	440	630	820	1000
200 lbs	470	670	850	1000	1200
Blue = calories burned per hour mph = miles per hour (skating speed)

3 Month Plan to Lose 20 Pounds
The blue numbers in the following table are the number of hours you will need to skate every day to lose 20 pounds in 3 months without altering your eating habits. You can see that a 120 pound skater who can only skate 8 miles per hour will have to skate 3 hours a day or (more likely) combine skating with cutting back on the number of calories they consume. But if that same skater can kick up the speed to 14 miles per hour, they can lose 20 pounds in 3 months by skating 1 hour a day, with no change at all in their eating habits.

Your Weight	8 mph	10 mph	12 mph	14 mph	16 mph
120 lbs	3.2	1.8	1.3	1.0	0.8
200 lbs	1.7	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.7
Blue = number of hours to skate per day to lose 20 pounds in 3 months mph = miles per hour (skating speed)

6 Month Plan to Lose 20 Pounds
Losing 20 pounds in six months is a piece of cake for a skater! The blue numbers in the following table are the number of hours you will need to skate every day to lose 20 pounds in 6 months without altering your eating habits. If a skater can skate for 30 minutes every day, and maintain a speed of 12 miles per hour, they will lose 20 pounds in 6 months, even if they don't change their eating habits at all.

Your Weight	8 mph	10 mph	12 mph	14 mph	16 mph
120 lbs	1.6	0.9	0.6	0.5	0.4
200 lbs	0.9	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.3
Blue = number of hours to skate per day to lose 20 pounds in 6 months mph = miles per hour (skating speed)

Other health benefits of inline skating

Beginner starting and stopping

Safety policy