Resources for Athletes

We’ve got everything roller derby training-related that you might need – everything off-skates that is! From sport-specific workouts to bout day nutrition, you’ll find it here. Looking for dedicated Roller Derby fitness training? Check out our Training Programs or get All-Star Access!

Free Workouts

All-Star Workouts

All-Star Up and Down Workout

Workout Focus: Hi-Low Workout- upper body, core, endurance You Need: a mat; a timer or stopwatch Intensity: moderate to intense Suggested Warmup: 20x half squats | 20x walking lunges |20 good mornings | arm circles forward and backward for 20s each |…

All-Star Power Pairs Workout

Workout Focus: Power, Strength, Full Body Intensity: Moderate to Intense You Need: Stopwatch, mat (optional) Suggested Warmup: Try the All-Star Super-Quick Warm-Up Routine! Or: 20 jumping jacks, 20 bum kicks, 20 half squats, 20 good mornings, 20 walki…

All-Star King Kong Workout

AMRAP Side to Side Workout

Hey there, friends! This week I'm offering a sneak peek into what Membership looks like at Roller Derby Athletics. Whether you're an All-Star Member, or a full-blown MVP (which gets you full access to all the training programs too), every single week I …

The Conquer Anything HIIT Workout

Sometimes you want to be invincible. Sometimes you need to feel like you can conquer anything! That's where high intensity interval training (HIIT) comes in. It's damn hard work, but in the end, you're ready to take on the world (and that scary blocke…

Better Burpees, Eight Ways

Good news! Burpees are for winners! Bad news! You might not be doing them very well... Burpees can be a wonderful exercise, building strength, power, and endurance all in one delicious, muscle-burning move. But there are some mistakes to watch out fo…

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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…

NEW: a Confidence Challenge!

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 …

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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Ingredients You Should Be Using: Kimchi

When you're eating healthy, it can be easy to eat the same things over and over again (heck, I even encourage it in Derby Fuel). Usually, we have our favourites - those dishes that are easy to make and that we know we'll enjoy. Having a few solid staples …

Grow Your Fitness (and some Veggies)!

Ah, Springtime, when everything starts to grow! As I've gotten older, I've learned to love gardening. It's not just the magic of planting something and then, through hard work and a little love, having it turn into something else. It's that I am cheap.…

Comfort Food: CHEESE

To round out our comfort food series, we had a request from RDA fan, Erin Hanusa to address the most awesome comfort food ever - CHEESE. Oh cheese, how would we ever make you healthier? Cheese, in and of itself, isn't too bad for you. It's that we ten…

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Regaining Your Cool On The Bench

Unless you're brand new to roller derby, you probably heard of the expression: “Leave it all on the track”. We might register this expression to giving it our all (mental, emotional, and physically) when competing. But this saying can be used to keep …

Overcoming the Penalty Spiral

Most of us have experienced this before: the dreaded penalty spiral. We feel hopeless and useless as we’re making our way back to the penalty box over and over. No one ever starts off a game in hopes of receiving multiple penalties in a row, but sometim…

Hello… is it Your Goals You’re Looking For?

At the beginning of the year, you were asked to develop goals for your upcoming roller derby season. I had you reflect on past performances to figure out what areas needed to be improved or what you wanted to achieve. By the end of January, you developed …

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How-to: Upper Body Warm-Up

Exercise: Upper Body Warm-Up and Mobility SequenceDo: Follow this sequence before doing heavy lifting or extensive upper body training.Don't: Let your ribs poke forward during pass-throughs, pull-aparts, or cactus arms.Here's the sequence:10 Pass-through…

How-to: Bear Crawls

Exercise: Bear Crawls Great for: warm up, coordination, core strength, shoulder strength. Do: Get on all fours, then just hover your knees above the ground. Crawl using opposite hand/foot. Keep your core braced and relatively still. Do: When going b…

How-to: Engage your TVA

Exercise: Engage your Transverse Abdominis (TVA) Do: Hold for a count of eight, and repeat three times. This is a good beginning to any on-skate time or an agility or plyo workout, to get your core working for you. Do: Start easy and increase the forc…

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