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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…

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, …

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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�…

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…

Pre-Hab: Build an All-Star Derby Booty

Hello All-Star! Some of this post is identical to the free, public post - but there are added goodies in here, and an extended video, so be sure to read through all the way!It’s time for a frank discussion about your butt.It’s lovely – really it i…

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 …

All-Star Extra: Engage Your Core

Hey there, All-Stars! :) Click here to go back to the main post with full explanation.[rda_video video_url="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aqN1PlOt-Vc"]Print and take this with you: Pre-hab CORE PrintableHere’s the drill. This entire sequence will…

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…

“Basic Training” Derby Strength Workout

Everyone wants to be a superstar on the track. Unfortunately, not that many people want to legitimately work towards being a superstar. Of the remainder, a good chunk of people ARE super motivated, but they aren't sure where to focus that energy to get …

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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