Training Advice Archives |

Why Roller Derby Athletics?

At Roller Derby Athletics, we believe in empowering every roller derby athlete and skater to be safe, strong, and unstoppable. We strive to provide sport-specific training programs and resources that help skaters reach their full potential. Our core value…

Meal Prep for Tournaments

Word on the street is that there are some fun roller derby tournaments right around the corner, so I am here to talk about one of my favorite things: meal prepping! It sounds so daunting, doesn’t it? I’m here to reassure you that it doesn’t have to…

DO YOU REALLY NEED YOUR UPPER BODY FOR SKATING?

With the Sunny Side Upper Body Challenge just around the corner, we thought it would be a good idea to talk about why strengthening your upper body is important. When we think about skating, we don’t really think about how we use our upper body. After a…

Sunnyside Upper Body Challenge FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions... Q. What's the Challenge? What will we be doing? A. Sometimes when we sprain our wrists or put too much strain on the shoulders, we think, “But I only need my legs to skate!” But really we need several areas of our bodi…

Build Your Foundation with These Core Workouts

Core work is essential for everyone across the board, as a strong core is the foundation of a resilient kinetic chain. Walking, picking things up, and many other movements would be impossible without it. Sometimes, it can be a struggle to strengthen the …

BasicsBuilder FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions... Q. What will we be doing? Why do I need this? A. The RDA BasicsBuilder is a one week program designed to be a simple, no hassle, quick routine that you can do everyday in 8 minutes or less, and still make gains on your str…

Agility Challenge FAQ

https://youtube.com/shorts/arFgVPa6KrI Frequently Asked Questions... Q. What's the Challenge? What will we be doing? A. Are you looking for a new and challenging way to improve your responsiveness? This program is designed to test your footwork, b…

Who Else Wants to Exercise Without Getting Sore?

You walk out of the gym congratulating yourself for completing a tough workout, but the real struggle starts the next day. That’s when your shoulders stiffen, and your lower back aches. These symptoms are called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).…

Essential Tips for Staying Safe While Working Out at Home

Things are different when you work out at home. Back at the gym, trainers and instructors watch over you and offer corrections if you make a risky move. If the equipment breaks, you just report it to the front desk. At home, you’re on your own, …

We’re Feeling Thirsty for More Exercise

Feeling Thirsty? Quench that Thirst Within. Niagara Falls, Lake Erie, The Nile River…What do these places all have in common? Water! Water makes up 71 percent of the Earth, and approximately 60 percent of our bodies. Water, for the most part, is sto…

Sleigh’d It! Challenge FAQ

This will not be an unrealistic, work-out-every-day-or-we'll-judge-you, kind of Challenge. Instead, it's more of a "Choose Your Own Adventure." Each participant will pick their own goal for the month, or the week, and get support, ideas, and encourage…

Top 10 Tips To Train at Home

Have you been feeling down from not skating as much? Have you lost strength and muscle definition amidst the panini? If so, you may be tempted to join the gym. However, joining a gym isn’t always necessary especially while still in a panorama.…

Moving Up The Ladder: Agility Training Is For You!

Agility training is not just for athletes or extreme competition, like one may assume. While agility movements conjure up ideas of speed and endurance, these exercises also go hand in hand with stability and coordination. Together, emphasis on these elem…

Hip Flexor Stretches: Iliopsoas vs Rectus Femoris

It's time to talk about our hip flexors, what they do, and how to properly stretch them. Your hip flexors are a group of muscles that 😲 aid in hip flexion, which, in other terms, means pulling the thigh closer to the torso. The hip flexor complex i…

Join the 2019 Candy Cane Crew!

Resolutions are for January, right? Nope! Not anymore!! This year, instead of waiting for January to focus on fitness, get ahead of the game by sticking to your goals in December! Set your personal fitness goals and December resolutions (with our help)…

Sun’s Out Fun’s Out: Bout Betties and RDA are teaming up this round!

Results are in and the conclusion is clear: this program is forecasting some serious gainz for spring! Sun's out, guns out! Everybody's favourite 4-week challenge is back to pump up your upper body strength, shoulder stability, and general tank top vibes.…

Sun’s Out Funs Out x4

Results are in and the conclusion is clear: this program is forecasting some serious gainz for spring! Sun's out, FUNs out! Everybody's favourite 4-week challenge is back for a FOURTH edition, to pump up your upper body strength, shoulder stability, and g…

How my roller derby injury made me a better skater

When we heard that one of our athletes had been injured, right after moving to a new city (Seattle) and starting in with a new league (Rat City!), we were feeling her pain... what a way to kick off a new league experience! Yuck! With injuries such a regu…

The Four Point Program to Ace Your Fitness Goals

Roller derby consumes every waking breath for the most hard-core derby devoted; for these athletes, training for derby is job one, and they rarely miss an opportunity to do so. For the rest of us (mere mortals), derby is one of many interests and commitm…

7 Steps to Rock Your League Holiday Break!

You know I love chocolate, right? So, if someone told me I needed to give up chocolate to be 3.7% better at roller derby, you know I’d tell them exactly where to shove their advice in a hurry. (#teamcocoa) And that’s why I would NEVER tell you that …

Join the 2018 Candy Cane Crew!

Burpees for Birthdays

Every year since starting Roller Derby Athletics, I’ve done burpees on my birthday – one for each year. This year, for the first time, I actually felt like I had to train for the event (LOL… so many candles on that cake! That’s a LOT of burpees�…

The Biggest Crossover Mistakes – Part 2

You're probably making at least one of these 4 big crossover mistakes. But they're easy to correct if you know what to change. So let's learn how to crossover more comfortably and confidently! In this video I identify the four biggest crossover mistakes …

The Biggest Crossover Mistakes – Part 1

Stability Workout At Home

Stability workouts are critical for derby! This kind of training makes us feel more solid on the track. It helps us absorb hits and stay in-bounds. It makes us stronger in a braced formation. AND - very important - it also helps us to avoid injuries. In …

Sun’s Out Guns Out: The Challenge Returns!

How to Master Single Leg Squats

Want to have better agility and explosive power? You need to start with single leg work - and single leg squats are the foundation. Think about it: every skating movement is a drive off one leg. It makes sense, then, that we should train one leg at a tim…

Unlock Your Confident Mindset!

We've all been there. We've all told ourselves we're not good enough, even though we are. We've crumbled under pressure, because we let doubts, fears, and a Debbie Downer of an inner voice kill our confidence. But here's the deal: no matter how much you …

Who gives a f*ck about roller derby?

Who gives a f*ck about roller derby right now? This post is not for the derby community. It's for the friends and family on the outside, wondering what the fuss is about. Derbyfolk, I invite you to share this with your circles, if it speaks to some of th…

Derby Training Camp Survival Guide | RDA

The Derby Training Camp Survival Guide

Back when I started in 2007, there was no roller derby training camp. There were no travelling coaches, barely any tournaments, no live streams, and one (seriously, one) model of wheel that my entire league wore! Oh, and we had to skate uphill to practice…

Give the Gift that’s Guaranteed to Fit!

Happy Festivus, everyone! If you want to make someone's day (nay, year!) with your thoughtful gift-giving, Roller Derby Athletics has your back. Our new-for-2017 holiday gift certificates are guaranteed to FIT! (Heh, heh, heh, get it?) They'll also be…

Join the 2017 Candy Cane Crew!

No-kettlebell Swings for RYU One More Rep Challenge

Move THIS: No-Kettlebell Swings

RYU is trying to raise a million reps to help make mental health care more accessible in our communities. My friend Andi Struction tagged me to do the RYU One More Rep Challenge, so I'm taking this chance to show you how to do a "kettlebell" swing when …

fix your squats | Roller derby athletics

Fix Your Squats: A PSA

Roller Derby: It's me, Booty Quake. And it's time for a very frank discussion. There's a scourge in our community that has been ignored for too long, and I can no longer stand by and watch it happen. It's time for us all to come together to fix the …

Insights from RollerCon 2017

If I had to use a single word to describe RollerCon, it would be “intense.” If I had more words to use? “Invigorating and surprising.” Whether you attended RollerCon this year or not, and whether or not you'll ever attend in the future, my big t…

all i need to know i learned from roller derby

All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Roller Derby

Just like the cliché poem about Kindergarten, all I really need to know in life, I learned in Roller Derby. With a nod to Robert Fulghum… And a thank you to Nic Charest, from www.rollergirl.ca - my favourite skate shop - for the image! If you fail, …

Maintenance Monday: Build Ankle Strength!

Every roller derby athlete needs excellent foot and ankle strength, in order to get the most out of our skates! Having stronger muscles in our lower leg will allow us to balance more easily, use our edges more effectively, and have a stronger skating s…

What’s the best cardio for roller derby?

Cardio. You either love it, or you loathe it. Either way, jammer or blocker, you probably ought to be doing some form of cardiovascular exercise in addition to roller derby practice – especially if you’re trying to level up, improve your endurance qu…

NEW: a Confidence Challenge!

The Four Key Elements of a Derby League Cross-Training Program

1. Burpees, 2. wind sprints, 3. suicides, and 4. wall sits. Just kidding! As a league, you’re responsible for supporting your athlete members, and creating successful outcomes for individuals, teams, and leagues. Of course this means providing the bes…

Sun’s Out Guns Out: This Time With Feeling!

Folks, results are in and the conclusion is clear: this program builds some serious upper body strength! We've now run this 4-week challenge twice, and the crew from the most recent one, April 2017 loved it so much they asked for another round! ==&g…

league cross-training program for roller derby

Five Reasons Why Your League Needs A Cross-Training Program

If you’re a roller derby league, charging membership dues, then your members are your customers -- your lifeblood. Much like a bicycle though, if you ride ‘em hard and store ‘em wet, well quite frankly, they won’t last ya long! On the flipside, i…

Maintenance Monday: Solve Your Hip Pain with TFL

Ladies and gents, meet the Starbucks Muscle! Otherwise known as the TFL, or Tensor Fascia Latae, it's the star of this week's #MaintenanceMonday. TFL might also be the magic ingredient that will help you finally solve your hip pain. I call it "the Star…

That Roller Derby Feeling…

You captured it: that Roller Derby Feeling! A few weeks back I asked you to send me the pictures that best represented your roller derby experience - the highs, the lows, the silly team moments, the epic fails, and the badass moments of pure victory and…

Maintenance Monday: My Hottest Hip Stretches

So, when was the last time you stretched your Inferior Gemellus? What? You don't even know what that is...? Fear not. Inferior Gemellus is just one of the external rotators of your hip. There's a little pack of them deep under your gluteus maximus. They …

Move THIS: Prisoner Getups

The prisoner getup move features in quite a few Roller Derby Athletics training programs, but I wanted to share it with the wide world of roller derby because it's just such a good one! Exercise: Prisoner Getups Variation: Turkish Getups (more chall…

better quad stretch | Roller Derby Athletics

Maintenance Monday: A Better Quad Stretch!

On #MaintenanceMonday, I try to help you give your bod a little extra TLC. This week, it's a way better quad stretch! Most of us fail to give our quads the TLC they deserve. After all, these big ol' sexy muscles do a lot, from extending the knee joi…

Maintenance Monday: Cactus Arms

On #MaintenanceMonday, I try to help you give your bod a little extra TLC. This week, it's a deceptively simple move that may teach you some surprising facts about your shoulder mobility! "Cactus Arms" will either feel nice, but pretty easy, OR you…

Wanna Be Derby Famous?

There are basically two ways to become derby-famous. Option 1: Train 5 or more days a week for years, possibly move to another city or country to join a top tier league, and crush the souls of your opponents at every tournament. Option 2: Submit a photo…

Sun’s Out Guns Out Challenge is back!

Sun's Out, Guns Out, my friends. With the weather warming up, and given what a hit this challenge was last year, I am very excited to be offering it for a second year! Last year's participants did so well, learned a ton of new ways to train their uppe…

Maintenance Monday: Charlie’s Angels Stretch

On #MaintenanceMonday, I try to help you give your bod a little extra TLC. This week, it's an upper body stretch that feels F#$%ing amazing, for reals. You're going to make like the Charlie's Angels silhouette graphic, and use the ol' two-handed f…

The Big Spring Sale!

Pastels, bunnies, flowers, and flexing... That's right, it's The Big Spring Sale here at Roller Derby Athletics, in honour of the official start of spring, Monday March 20th! Here's the low-down on what's on offer for your Spring Training pleasure: Sun'…

Move THIS: Monster Walks

This move comes straight out of my physio work that I'm doing to rehab my knee after ACL repair surgery! But that doesn't mean it ain't good enough for YOU to try, for some good pre-hab work! Exercise: Monster Walks What it works: Gluteus Medius (aka y…

Maintenance Monday: How to Roll with The Stick!

On #maintenancemonday, I try to help you give your bod a little extra TLC. This week, I show you an alternative to foam rolling for loosening up your tight muscles. It's called The Stick, yo! Foam rolling is highly recommended. But if you're like me …

Maintenance Monday: A Way-Better Hamstring Stretch

On #maintenancemonday, I try to help you give your bod a little extra TLC. This week, I show you a way (WAY) more effective hamstring stretch! As usual, frequently when I use the word 'stretch' I really mean a mobilisation, or a dynamic stretch (not …

Maintenance Monday: Superhero Stretch

On #maintenancemonday, I try to give you a little something wonderful to do for your body! We spend enough time bashing ourselves (and others) around, that it's important to remember to take a little time for maintenance. I've been using this move to w…

Maintenance Monday: Thoracic Rotation

Welcome to Maintance Monday, a little segment where we give our bodies some love, and do something nice for them. Like this little thoracic rotation mobilisation I've got for episode one! I'm always trawling around for new things to try, and this move is…

Why My Focus Cycle can Beat Up Your Resolutions

What if I told you I thought New Year’s resolutions were kind of dumb? TL;DR version of what follows: “Resolutions” are poorly designed. Our lives are cyclical, and attention spans short. To be more successful with self-improvement, we should use s…

How to Crush your Nutrition Goals

You know when you test your WFTDA minimums, and there’s that one skill that always gives you a challenge? And that’s the skill you decide to make your personal mission? Healthy eating can be a lot like WFTDA minimums. There will be a lot of st…

My Best Derby Training Tips of 2016

Just about everyone can agree, we're all super (DUPER) glad to be seeing 2016 in the rearview mirror. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, you crazy year! Nevertheless, there were a few good things to look back on. Perhaps you started pl…

Join the 2016 Candy Cane Crew!

Back for a Fourth Year! Resolutions are for January, right? Nope! Not anymore!! This year, instead of waiting for January to focus on fitness, get ahead of the game by sticking to your goals in December! Set your personal fitness goals and December …

Make Push-Ups Easier | Roller Derby Athletics

Four Hacks to Make Push-Ups Easier

Push-Ups. Love them or hate them, they’re here to stay. They are an excellent, equipment free way to train multiple muscle groups simultaneously, which is why trainers like me like them so much! Plus, with all the bracing going on in roller derby today,…

Roller Derby Self-Talk | Roller Derby Athletics

Mental Muscle: Talking To Yourself

Your inner derby monologue: friend or foe? Many of us struggle with that voice inside. Sometimes self-talk helps us a ton, and sometimes it can be a real jerk! Personally, I know this to be a big limitation for me in certain moments of the game. Rath…

Mental Muscle: the Focus Funnel

Roller derby demands tactical strategy, physical strength, explosive power, and quick reaction time. But to make all of that happen, you need your mental muscle working for you too! This week I'm pleased to have a fantastic guest expert on board to sha…

Answer 4 Questions, Master Any Skill

It’s hard, but it’s easy too. Roller derby is hard – there are a lot of different types of skills to master, from awareness and strategy to all the physical skills… …But the physical roller derby skills are easy, when you know how to solve the…

My Rollercon 2016 Schedule

It's that time of year again...Rollercon!!If you're lucky enough to be attending the biggest derbstravaganza on the planet this week, then come find me for a high five and a selfie! Remember, you’ll recognize me because my face is on your internet, bu…

How to Pack for Roller Derby Travel

Got a chance to go someplace cool for roller derby? Want to avoid paying nasty checked bag fees for your trip? Then you'll want to check out my tried and true method to pack for roller derby travel.These tips mainly apply to air travel (using maximum …

My Super-Quick Warm-Up Routine

Is that you? Late for practice again?Or maybe you're trying to slot in a quick but intense workout on your lunch break?I've been working on warm-ups and cool-downs, aka "flexibility training" a lot lately (You can check out my Pre-Hab! On-Skate Warmup, t…

Sunscreen & Muscles – A Summer Gainz Guide

I can hardly believe it. The summer solstice is behind us, and July is barrelling down the pipe! A massive holiday long weekend is kicking things off, and we North Americans will be up to our teeth in picnics, tiny flags, and fireworks (plus probably jus…

Quicker Transitions and Reforming?

Q. Hi Booty! I'm a fairly new player, and I come from a completely non-athletic background. One area I have been consistently struggling with is turn stops, and making it back to my wall quickly when we get broken up. How can I help myself, especially ou…

How to Stretch Everything in Eight Minutes

Stretching feels like a chore. “Flexibility Training”, however, feels like something I can sink my teeth into. Competitive Yoga anyone? I kid. But if you’re like me, you’re a fairly competitive sort, and you like to push your boundaries. That’…

My Quick and Dirty After-Derby Stretch

We’ve all been there. Practice ran late and you’ve got a big meeting at work first thing tomorrow. As quickly as you can, you gear down, throw your sweaty gear into your bag and run out the door – only to wake up the next morning feeling like you�…

Derby Love for Derby Legs

I promise: this is a different kind of Valentine. It's no news that we live in a world with unattainable physical beauty standards for women, underscored by incessant chipper Hallmark-holiday messaging. The past week's marketing onslaught …

photo courtesy of my favourite skate shop, www.rollergirl.ca!

Go From Benchwarmer to MVP with the 1% Secret

Photo courtesy of my favourite skate shop, Rollergirl.ca! You don’t need to practice every day, or have natural born talent to improve at roller derby quickly. You just need to follow the Secret of 1%. Let me explain. Have a good look at this next st…

Pre-Hab: How to Build A Derby Booty

It’s time for a frank discussion about your butt. It’s lovely – really it is! But it’s been slacking on the job lately, and that’s not doing you any favours for your game. Today I’m going to show you how to first awaken and recruit, then stre…

The Advice that Got 11,023 Skaters Talking in 2015

Could 2015 have been any more [insert spazzy word here!]?? I’m going to give you the hit list of my best advice of the year, but first, a quick rundown on what 2015 brought. It was shocking: Rollercon left the Riviera, Rose City won the Hydra, and …

7 Steps to Rock Your League Holiday Break!

How to Engage Your Core - Roller Derby Athletics

Pre-Hab: How to Engage Your Core

If you’ve ever been coached or taken a fitness class of any kind, you’ve almost certainly heard the phrase, “engage your core.” But unless you’ve got a strong fitness, yoga, or dance background, that instruction might be really difficult to fol…

Join the Candy Cane Crew!

Back for a Third Year!Resolutions are for January, right? Nope! Not anymore!!This year, instead of waiting for January to focus on fitness, get ahead of the game by sticking to your goals in December! Set your personal fitness goals and December resolu…

Guide to Off-Season Training

Guess what? I missed my third birthday.It's true. Roller Derby Athletics turned three in October, and I was so busy helping athletes kick ass that I forgot to properly celebrate. Good thing those WFTDA Championships helped me celebrate in a different way,…

No-Bake energy Balls - photo Ally Hewlett

Roller Derby Recipes

As if we don't have enough to think about on game day (Skates and wheels good to go? Gear all there? Uniform? Game plan? Did we get the programs from the printers? Did anyone get our skate-out song to the bout committee?)... we also need to reme…

Fresh Meat – You Got This!

[Photo courtesy of the amazing Rollergirl.ca, my favourite skate shop!]This essay comes from the pen of one of the greatest supporters the derby community is lucky to have, Shawn Sanders, aka Delilah Decider. If you've ever looked for derby advice or sup…

Pre-Hab for Your Shoulders?

Q. There are a few girls on my team, myself included, who are prone to shoulder injuries/issues. Do you have any shoulder prehab recommendations? - Eenie Meanie, Savannah Derby Devils A. You're not alone! With the increased amount of bracing we a…

Power Up with Plyo

Whether you want to punch through the scrum start the second the whistle blows, or have the power to move another blocker at will to create offensive opportunities, you'll want to power up with plyo to make it happen! What the heck is plyo anyw…

Level Up with StrideBooster

It doesn't much matter whether you're a blocker or a jammer (or a "blammer!"). You know that you need strength, power, and agility to be successful out there on the track.You probably know some bodyweight-only strength moves you can do (for example, maybe…

post-concussion return to derby protocol

Returning to Derby after a Concussion

Coming back to roller derby after a concussion can be a tremendous challenge.There are emotional challenges: fear of re-injury, fears you might not be ready, worries you've been away too long and have lost some of your edge... And of course there…

The Top Ten Exercises for Roller Derby Athletes

Strategy. Team Dynamic. Heart. Mental toughness. These are some of the intangibles that can help set your team apart from your opponents on bout day. But as an individual, what can you do to be at your best to support your team? To be successful as a te…

Three Non-Sweaty Ways to Improve at Roller Derby and Life This Week.

Sure, I'm always here to tell you how many push-ups or burpees to do, and how to become more agile. But sometimes you can also make big strides and improve at roller derby by working out your mind... [PS: Photo courtesy of my fave skate shop, www.rollerg…

Cross-Training for Roller Derby: A Primer

SO YOU WANNA CROSS-TRAIN FOR DERBY? So you’re pretty sure you ought to be training off-skates to be at your best on the track. But where should you start? What should you do? How many, how long, how high, how often, just… HOW? Here’s a simple primer…

How To Reduce Concussions in Roller Derby

PreHab: How to Reduce Concussions

Despite our helmets and our mouthguards, concussions are among the most frequent, and most traumatic of roller derby injuries. Anyone who's suffered a concussion in derby can tell you how crappy the experience can be, on many levels. From the initial, ac…

A Love Letter to Teammates

Dear Teammate, Valentine's day is coming up, so I want to tell you the reasons why I love you. Because I don't think Hallmark makes this particular card: You've got my back. I know that If I get knocked out, you'll knock out whoever knocked me out. You …

Pro-scuse me? The Best Systems for 2015

It’s that time of year again. A time for incessant year-in-review posts (OK, secretly I actually love those). A time for “new year, new you” blogs and heinous fitspo imagery. It’s a time for the devilish and often sexist marketing ploys of the f…

RDA Insider: Roller Derby World Cup

If you caught some of the action from the Blood & Thunder Roller Derby World Cup last weekend, you saw how physically tough the game play was. How does one of the top roller derby teams in the world prepare for a four-day, seven-game tournament? I ca…

December Fun Fitness Challenge!

Get Jolly Well Motivated... Resolutions are for January, right? Nope! Not anymore!! Last year, after a ton of travel, I really needed some help and motivation of my own to make sure I could get back on track with my fitness and training, and not s…

RDA Standardized Roller Derby Fitness Test

The Standardized Roller Derby Fitness Test

Introduction - Test Version 2.2 Why does it make sense to have a standardized fitness test for roller derby? Most major sports have a benchmark indicator of the elements of fitness necessary to be successful in the sport. These tests, like the NFL Combi…

How to Improve at Derby’s 27 Laps Test

Photo courtesy of my favourite skate shop, www.Rollergirl.ca One of the biggest challenges that haunts all new derby athletes is their minimum skills testing, and particularly the endurance skill – the ol’ "25 in 5" as it used to be called, now the m…

Meet RDA’s Nutrition Expert

This week on Derby in the Kitchen, we get *out* of the kitchen and into Lilith NoFair's library of many leather-bound books..!Booty Quake interviews our roller derby nutrition expert Lilith NoFair on fad diets, protein, how to change our eating habits, an…

Roller Derby Gamechangers

As part of Roller Derby Athletics' sponsorship of the 2014 WFTDA tournaments on wftda.tv, we're sharing these 30 Second #Gamechanger episodes all tournament season long! A team has 60 seconds for a time out on the track - what can YOU do in 30 seconds t…

Booty’s Vacation Fitness Tips

On a recent mini holiday for a long weekend, I visited a cool seaside spot and recorded this video for you about how to include fitness on your vacation... [rda_video video_url="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZkNRq61d9vM?feature=player_detailpage"] Got so…

How-to: Build A Slosh Pipe!

Stability Training for roller derby is really really important. I talk all about that in my recent Stability Pre-Hab Video, which you should definitely check out! In it, I use a cool, low-tech hack called a slosh pipe. Although that sounds like some kind…

Pre-Hab! On-Skate Warmup Rollercon Review

In honour of it being Rollercon week, and because I'm on the road to Vegas, I thought I'd re-post the video I made last year at "the world's sweatiest convention..." If you can't do an off-skate warmup before practice or a bout, then I recommend follow…

photo by Nic Charest of www.rollergirl.ca

An Essay on Aging in Roller Derby

When we saw this post go up nearly two years ago on Player 1's facebook page, it was clear that it had struck a chord. Roller Derby is not a sport for the faint of heart, but it doesn't *have* to be a sport only for the young. Photo by Nicolas Charest, c…

Fresh New Recipes!

Guys. Seriously. How is it that people can consume Vega smoothie mix? I'm trying. I really am. And it still tastes like dirt mixed with sweetener. Blech. Come ON, vegans! You can do better!!! Background here - I've started, at least temporarily, eatin…

Re-Learning How to Learn

Life is good. I recently took a personal day from my “real” job for a day on the mountain with my snowboard. Just a few days later, my S.O. and I headed to Mexico for an adventure with wind, wetsuits, and waves. And a week after our return, I tried r…

Five Tournament Tips for Derby Domination

<*photo courtesy of my favourite skate shop, www.rollergirl.ca ! > It's tournament season for many of us, which means super fun road trips, inside jokes, sweaty gear in dank hotel rooms, and a whole lot to ask of your body. Playing 3 or 4 bouts in…

Getting High for a Cause

When I'm not playing roller derby, I like to get high. That's right. You heard me. I like to climb mountains, hike volcanoes, snowboard tall peaks, and see the view from way up there. Every time I do, I feel reconnected with the world around me, and dee…

Can You Imagine Your Way to a Win?

(Photo courtesy of my favourite skate shop, Rollergirl.ca!) When you step back and take stock of all the things we do to be at our best in roller derby, the list can be surprising. We go to practice and scrimmages. We tweak our gear (bearings, plates, wh…

Warm Up to the Winter Olympics

You GUYS! It’s the Olympics!! TOMORROW!!Now. Historically speaking, I’ve been very excited about the bi-annual inspiration-fest that is the Olympics. The one and only primetime sporting event that has a higher proportion of women viewers! Athletes cat…

The Performance Enhancing Wonder Drug

Have you ever wished you could instantly be better at roller derby (or any sport) without any hard work, patience, ‘roid rage, or inconvenient doping convictions? What if I told you that elite athletes are already widely using a traditional, natural su…

Resolutions are so last year…

Everyone is talking resolutions and big plans for 2014 these days. Hard to open a magazine, the intertrons, or the boob tube without facing someone's list of goals for the 365 days ahead. I was planning to write a resolutions-themed blog post of my own, i…

Need Some Motivation During the Holidays?

Resolutions are for January, right? Nope! Not anymore!! I realized that especially after all the travel I've been doing this fall, I really need some help and motivation of my own to make sure I spend December getting stronger and fitter, instead of e…

Four Steps to Smash Your Fitness Goals

Back to Prehab! Feet and Ankles

Given that most of us who follow the WFTDA season are currently on some form of an off-season, now seems like a GREAT time to do some pre-hab for the upcoming season's smashing-each-other-around. If you're not one of the 320 skaters hitting the decks in M…

Rock the Big Rocks – Part 1

If you follow me on Facebook or get my newsletter you know that I love Weight Plates and Rollerskates, an excellent fitness blog written by Lilith NoFair of “the other” TCRG, Tri-Cities Rollergirls from Ontario, Canada. Lilith (aka certified Personal …

Pre-Hab! On-Skate Warmup

If you've been following this blog for a while, you know that I am a big advocate for proper warmups and post-workout stretching. I even made a video for you to show you my favourite pre-workout off-skate warmup drill. But, sometimes you just don't have t…

What’s in YOUR Bottle?

[gallery] Walk into any North American gas station or convenience store, and you'd be forgiven for believing that we are the sportiest, healthiest, most energetic god damn population on the planet. Sports Drinks. Energy Drinks. Performance Boosters.…

The Derby Advice Grab Bag

With me still recovering from a week away at Rollercon, and also trying to enjoy the lovely summer we're having here, this week's article has turned itself into a lazy-man's blog post. A pot pourri, a grab bag, a jambalaya if you will, of completely rando…

PreHab: Dynamic Roller Derby Warmup

As I wrote in my last article, a dynamic warmup is a key step in the exercise process. A dynamic warmup brings increased blood & oxygen to your muscles and joints, increases your range of motion, and prepares your body for more intense work to follow.…

Why Your Stretching Routine Is Bogus!

I get it. I do. In your elementary school gym class, your teacher (well qualified to be an educator, but not an athletic trainer) taught you to hold a series of standard stretches for a few seconds each before you all started tearing around the gym bounci…

How to Survive a Derby Injury

We've all seen them happen, if not experienced them first hand. The anatomically impossible angle of a foot in a skate. The breathtaking jolt of a seam opening inside a collarbone. The quiet of the crowd when a skater doesn't get up from a fall... we …

Ditch your Boring Workouts. Take a Hike!

On a recent scramble up the side of one of the many epic slopes in my big backyard here in Vancouver, BC, I was reminded of why hiking is one of my favourite activities outside of the rink. 1. Your skin is becoming translucent. For starters, just getting …

They’re New But Are They Improved?

Ask yourself these two very important questions: 1. when is the last time you performed a baseball slide in game play? And, 2. how many times per bout do you turn around 180 degrees and quickly skate in the opposite direction? Did you say “uh, never ev…

Prehab! Proper Form

Ladies and Gentlemen: prepare yourselves for a hard truth! Life is much too short to waste even a minute of it doing half-ass workouts with bad form. Here comes another one: getting an injury from cross-training is super super lame. No one at the office…

Give Your Skates Some Love

I don't usually write about derby gear here at Roller Derby Athletics... Because, y'know, I'm focussed on that other kind of gear: your legs, core, lungs and brain. However, taking good care of your equipment IS an important part of being a successful, …

Prehab! Feet and Ankles

Today's workout isn't exactly a workout to get your heart rate up and your sweat on. It's a PREHAB session - a routine to help minimize ankle injuries and keep your body in kick-ass shape for kicking ass on the track. This is the preventative work we sho…

Got Breasts?

A disclaimer: today’s post has absolutely nothing to do with roller derby. BUT, roller derby is a sport played mainly by women, and this post has everything to do with women’s health. I’ll be up front here. I already eat a mostly-vegetarian diet, a…

A Love Letter to Derby Legs

* photo courtesy of my favourite skate shop, Rollergirl.ca! Dear Derby Legs, I'll admit it - sometimes you frustrate me. When you refuse to fit into those trendy, skinny jeans that all the unathletic girls are wearing. When said skinny jeans in your siz…

Five Ways to Fire Up Your Core

Think you’ve got pretty OK core strength because you can do a bunch of crunches? I’ve got news for ya, sister. Crunches are for chumps. Just about anyone can do a few crunches. It’s not a functional exercise. It’s a move people started doing beca…

Stop sucking. Start winning.

Derby players are quite possibly the most self-defeating group of people I've ever come across. We play a sport which most of us have been practicing for less than 10 years - sometimes as few as one or two years. So we often lack the facility and ease of…

New Training Program Starts Jan 7!

It's here! An intense 45 day program to bring your game to the next level, and Pump Up Your Jam in 2013. The program starts on January 7th and enrollment is limited to only 75 athletes. All the details you need to know are HERE. I've bee…

Heal Your Injury Fast, With the Right Help – Part 2

Unfortunately in roller derby, the question seems to be not IF you'll get injured, but WHEN. This series is an attempt to give people some tools and ideas about whom to see, and when, to get back on their skates as quickly and safely as possible. See my …

Heal your injury fast, with the right help – Part 1

Several times a week skaters email me, asking what they should do to return to skating or working out after such-and-such injury. The world of sports injuries, re-hab, and pre-hab can be complex and confusing. Unfortunately, lack of awareness and understa…

Whatever Shall we Do in the Off-Season?

[caption id="attachment_237" align="alignleft" width="500"] Look Familiar? Gif courtesy of http://thegifofderby.tumblr.com[/caption] To paraphrase a popular sports quote, der…

How Monkeys Avoid Derby Injuries

Our tree-swinging ancestors had feet that were fantastically adapted to grabbing and climbing. The transition to walking on human feet was perhaps not the most shining example of evolution's capabilities: "When our ancest…

8 Keys to Watching Bout Footage Like a Champ

Each bout in this weekend's WFTDA “Championals” in Atlanta stands to be a crazy nailbiter. I am so pumped to watch all these deserving, top notch teams bring it to the track for all the glory. HOORAY, SPORTS! I know where I'll be watching the feed �…

Get Game-Day Confidence with the Three Rs

We've all been there, seen that... You're racing around the morning before the big home bout, making sure the signs for the beer garden are printed/hand stamps are inked/will call list is up to date/announcers have their call sheets/whatever. Running out…

This. Is. Happening.

Time for some introductions, some backstory, and some bold promises. Derby's modern-era appeal to a lot of skaters from "the A&E Rollergirls era" was as a sport for non-jocks. …

Fresh Meat Injury Prevention Workout!

For the newest, freshest meat in town - it's important to work on strengthening muscles that will help keep you injury free, AND make your skating stronger. The keys here are ankle strength, knee stabilising, and core strength. This routine is light enoug…

Dynamic Warmup (dryland)

Here is a warmup you can do that follows the theory of dynamic stretching: warming up and lengthening your muscles in preparation for athletics, without using sustained stretching. For more background on dynamic warmups and the reason they're good, check …

New acute injury treatment?

I'd like to propose a change to the old "RICE" acronym for a sprain: CIRCLE: Compress, Ice, Rest, Complain, Limp, Elevate.…

Eat something.

Confusion reigns with new/budding athletes and what to eat before/during/after practice. Easy answer: eat something More detailed answer: Eat something carb-y beforehand, that won't make your stomach do flipflops. We'll leave it at that. You'll figure ou…

The secret to easy crossovers: Crossunders

Attention new skaters! You look ridiculous trying to reach your outside skate out in front of you to cross it over your inside skate because someone told you you needed to do crossovers in the corners but damn if this doesn't seem like a waste of energy …

Tenderizing the fresh meat, before they’re even accepted?

Just went through the latest Fresh Meat intake here at Terminal City Rollergirls. What a treat! An excellent overall skill level - and, warming the cockles of our hearts, lots of *athletes*! Hooray!! We don't have to spend our next year trying to instil…

Pre-game meal on the road

We're heading to the Eves of Destruction in Victoria BC tomorrow... it's a 9:15am departure for us from Vancouver to the ferry, for a 6pm bout. You have to plan ahead when you're going to play on the road - don't get caught with food you're not used to ea…

Burpees are for winners

That's right, you heard us... WINNERS! There's nothing quite like 'em. No other exercise we've found can so closely represent that teeth-gnashingly, burn-y, hypoxic feeling we get in our legs towards the end of a 2-minute jam. Do your team a favour and …

The other direction…

Ever notice that shorts don't fit your left cheek the same as they do the right? That one side rides up your inner thigh more than the other? Please try to find ways to incorporate skating in the opposite direction wherever you can in practice. Your mass…

OW! that hurt. Now what?

When you injure yourself at practice, there are a million things going on for you mentally, physically, and emotionally. We can't do much about whether it was a bad day gone worse, or whether this is the 3rd time you've reinjured this spot, or whether you…

Why Roller Derby Athletics?

Meal Prep for Tournaments

DO YOU REALLY NEED YOUR UPPER BODY FOR SKATING?​

Sunnyside Upper Body Challenge FAQ

Build Your Foundation with These Core Workouts

BasicsBuilder FAQ

Agility Challenge FAQ

Who Else Wants to Exercise Without Getting Sore?

Essential Tips for Staying Safe While Working Out at Home

We’re Feeling Thirsty for More Exercise

Sleigh’d It! Challenge FAQ

Top 10 Tips To Train at Home

Moving Up The Ladder: Agility Training Is For You!

Hip Flexor Stretches: Iliopsoas vs Rectus Femoris

Join the 2019 Candy Cane Crew!

Sun’s Out Fun’s Out: Bout Betties and RDA are teaming up this round!

Sun’s Out Funs Out x4

How my roller derby injury made me a better skater

The Four Point Program to Ace Your Fitness Goals

7 Steps to Rock Your League Holiday Break!

Join the 2018 Candy Cane Crew!

Burpees for Birthdays

The Biggest Crossover Mistakes – Part 2

The Biggest Crossover Mistakes – Part 1

Stability Workout At Home

Sun’s Out Guns Out: The Challenge Returns!

How to Master Single Leg Squats

Unlock Your Confident Mindset!

Who gives a f*ck about roller derby?

The Derby Training Camp Survival Guide

Give the Gift that’s Guaranteed to Fit!

Join the 2017 Candy Cane Crew!

Move THIS: No-Kettlebell Swings

Fix Your Squats: A PSA

Insights from RollerCon 2017

All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Roller Derby

Maintenance Monday: Build Ankle Strength!

What’s the best cardio for roller derby?

NEW: a Confidence Challenge!

The Four Key Elements of a Derby League Cross-Training Program

Sun’s Out Guns Out: This Time With Feeling!

Five Reasons Why Your League Needs A Cross-Training Program

Maintenance Monday: Solve Your Hip Pain with TFL

That Roller Derby Feeling…

Maintenance Monday: My Hottest Hip Stretches

Move THIS: Prisoner Getups

Maintenance Monday: A Better Quad Stretch!

Maintenance Monday: Cactus Arms

Wanna Be Derby Famous?

Sun’s Out Guns Out Challenge is back!

Maintenance Monday: Charlie’s Angels Stretch

The Big Spring Sale!

Move THIS: Monster Walks

Maintenance Monday: How to Roll with The Stick!

Maintenance Monday: A Way-Better Hamstring Stretch

Maintenance Monday: Superhero Stretch

Maintenance Monday: Thoracic Rotation

Why My Focus Cycle can Beat Up Your Resolutions

How to Crush your Nutrition Goals

My Best Derby Training Tips of 2016

Join the 2016 Candy Cane Crew!

Four Hacks to Make Push-Ups Easier

Mental Muscle: Talking To Yourself

Mental Muscle: the Focus Funnel

Answer 4 Questions, Master Any Skill

My Rollercon 2016 Schedule

How to Pack for Roller Derby Travel

My Super-Quick Warm-Up Routine

Sunscreen & Muscles – A Summer Gainz Guide

Quicker Transitions and Reforming?

How to Stretch Everything in Eight Minutes

My Quick and Dirty After-Derby Stretch

Derby Love for Derby Legs

Go From Benchwarmer to MVP with the 1% Secret

Pre-Hab: How to Build A Derby Booty

The Advice that Got 11,023 Skaters Talking in 2015

7 Steps to Rock Your League Holiday Break!

Pre-Hab: How to Engage Your Core

Join the Candy Cane Crew!

Guide to Off-Season Training

DO YOU REALLY NEED YOUR UPPER BODY FOR SKATING?

Resolutions are so last year…