Tag: injury prevention
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 …
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Get Stronger Plow Stops for Derby
What are the two things we should practice the most in roller derby? Jam starts (cause they are guaranteed to happen every single jam), and... plow stops! You can use stronger plow stops about a hundred times per jam so it's a solid strategy to make sure…
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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 …
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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’…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Pre-Hab! Stability Training All-Star extras
Hey there, All-Stars! Here's your extra content on this one - download this PDF handout that summarizes the exercises I showed in the video! Print it out, take it with you, put it under your pillow... :) Pre-hab Stability Handout xo Booty Quake …
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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…
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Pre-Hab! Stability Training Workout
What's that you say? Another Pre-Hab video? INDEED! Many skaters ask me for tips on how to gain more agility as a skater. Well, friends - stability is a big part of your answer. (Other parts include leg strength, core strength, and ninja skills). It's …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Salute The Sun Workout
Some days, you just don't have it in you to get out there and do a plyo routine. You want to get some exercise in, and you know you'll feel better if you move, but a lingering cough, or a twingy muscle tell you not to overdo it. Or maybe you're coming bac…
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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…
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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…
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Backtastic! Low Back Derby Workout
Not long ago I polled my readers on Facebook about what kind of workout they were in the mood for... so many requests came through for 'something to help my low back pain' that I couldn't resist. Low back pain, as you probably know, is the devil incarnat…
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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.…
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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The Biggest Mistakes You’re Making with your Workouts
If you ever feel like you're failing to make progress and get ahead, despite all the training you do for derby, it could be because you're making one of these classic and common training mistakes. 1. Not Taking Rest Days Over-training is a recipe for inju…
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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