Swell On Wheels

Take to skates to gain balance, strength and stamina gracefully

AM I DREAMING?

Before 8 on a Saturday morning, I sit in a darkened skating rink so sleepy that even the hanging disco balls slumber. Seventeen men, women and children perform rolling calisthenics while the sound system pumps bad '80s pop like Cher's "Do You Believe?"

Nope. This is reality, Trish Alexander's regular skating fitness class at Bellevue's Skate King. She instructs over her headset as she leads the workout designed to prepare students both for the lessons that immediately follow and for the outdoor skating season, which is getting into full stride.

Alexander, 44, holds a day job as a private investigator, but she also is a graceful inline skater and a zealous promoter of the sport. Through her business, Skate Journeys (www.skatejourneys.com), she organizes outdoor rolling excursions. But first, she must help some skaters get fit and hone fundamentals.

Skating, she says, is one of those activities that is often self-taught and therefore done badly. In fact, because skating is not intuitive, participants need to learn the basics behind technique and balance. Some of the tykes who hang out at the rink can skate rings around some of the adults.

"Skating, when done properly, is just so fun, so effortless," Alexander says, "and when we see someone go by like that we think, 'I want to do that.' But we all know, the good ones worked at it."

During class, Alexander gives instructions on when and how to perform various moves — swizzles, slaloms, squats, lunges, toe taps, fire hydrants and the like. Skaters keep moving in their laps as they do the maneuvers because she wants them to build stamina along with the proper muscles. All skaters go at their own speed and simply glide around the outer rim if they need to back off an exercise.

Roller-skating burns about 350 calories an hour, the rough equivalent of jogging. The glutes, quads and abdominals get a workout. Alexander makes sure through her movements that the calves and hamstrings get taxed, too. For balance, she has skaters coast on one foot and kick the other forward, back and to the side. Balance and strength, she says, will come in handy this outdoor season when skaters are negotiating up and down hills and over cracks in the cement. Slaloms and lunges develop agility and strides they will be using on the trails.

"In reality, roller fitness is part and parcel of learning how to skate indoors and then being able to take it outdoors, where they can really get the mileage," she says. "I think of our rink classes as technique time, so they can go outdoors and have fun and get fit."

Two skating marathons are planned for Seattle this year (in which people can opt to do just a half-marathon). The Solstice Skate, in conjunction with the Fremont Fair, will be June 19. The Multiple Sclerosis Walk & Roll, which Alexander organizes, is set for July 31. Skaters of all abilities attend. Alexander is also planning an Idaho trip in July and a France excursion in September.

Neophyte skaters need to know the fundamentals to stay safe on the trails. Take at least one class from a certified instructor. You can get a free lesson by signing up at www.freeskatelesson.com. Alexander offers free lessons the last Sunday of each month, teaching basics of stance, striding, stopping and turning.

Another area school, Get Your Bearings Inline Skate School (www.getyourbearings.com) also provides a full slate of classes and lessons.

Here's basic advice in the meantime:

• Keep both elbows in front of your lateral line at all times. When your elbows move behind you, you're carrying too much of your weight and will likely fall on your backside.

• Keep your weight forward. When you fall back, you put your back or tailbone at risk. And when you fall forward, try to use your wrist guards and kneepads for the landing.

• If you start to fall, grab your knees because it will right you immediately.

• Keep your knees soft so you can bounce and absorb shocks of bumps.

• Learn how to brake. Keep the feet together and arms in front. Slide your braking foot (the one with the brake on it) forward until it passes the opposite foot. Lift the toe of the breaking foot and engage the brake slowly. Your weight should shift from 50 percent on each leg to 90 percent on the non-braking foot.

• Do not swing your arms, unless you're a racer. Otherwise, keep your upper body quiet.

• Wear at least a helmet and wrist guards. Consider elbow and knee pads, too.

Richard Seven is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff writer. He can be reached at rseven@seattletimes.com. Ellen M. Banner is a Seattle Times staff photographer.