October is known for a lot of our favorite things: Halloween, the changing of the leaves, and baseball playoffs, just to name a few. Did you know that October is also National Roller Skating Month? Instead of watching the same old horror movies, switch it up with roller skating classics, like Xanadu, Boogie Nights, Roll Bounce, Brink, or Skateland.

We are celebrating all month long at Skate Moore Skate Center, but today we’re going to share some of our favorite things about roller skating, including fitness facts , some cool history, and some fun facts you may not know about skating. Hold on to your roller skates and get ready to learn something new!

Why the Skating Rink Is the Best Gym in Town

Did you know that skating is a great aerobic and cardiovascular workout? It’s also a lot safer than many of kids’ and families’ favorite healthy hobbies. Check out this helpful infographic about the health benefits of roller skating from the Roller Skating Association International. For example, did you know that one hour of roller skating burns an average of 600 calories? Check our our times and upcoming events to come in and get some exercise while having a blast!

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Here are some other fitness facts you should know about roller skating:

• Roller Skating is proven to be a complete aerobic workout, incorporating all of the body’s muscles—including the heart.
• Skating strengthens the heart and improves blood circulation.
• Using your lower back and abdominal muscles while roller skating will help improve balance, agility, and coordination.
• Strength training and aerobic exercise are two types of suggested physical activity to prevent diabetes. Roller skating is considered both.
• It’s also an endurance-building sport.
• Skating is a low impact sport, which means it reduces the chances of injuring joints and muscles while exercising.
• It’s fun! And that’s not an opinion, it’s science. Cue the endorphins and let your stress roll away.

Roller Skating Is a Time-Honored Tradition

Skating may be our favorite way to stay in shape today, but we’re not the only era that was all about the roller skating lifestyle. Above is a picture of the first person to create and use roller skates, John Joseph Merlin. Along with his picture is an image of the kind of roller skate he created. Looks tough to balance on, right? That’s where James Leonard Plimpton came in. He designed the first four-wheeled, turning roller skates in 1863. Obviously, roller skating became increasingly popular during the 1970’s and the disco era. However, long before disco fever hit America, England hosted the first roller skating competition in 1875. Over the decades, there have been many improvements and innovations that keep propelling roller skates forward, from toe stops to multi-wheel to completely new kinds of roller skates.

Think roller skating is a thing of the past? Here are some current statistics about roller skating in America:

• Skating centers belonging to the Roller Skating Association host about 47,000 parties each month or 564,000 parties each year nationwide.
• Roller skating centers host 23 million visits per year from kids in grades fifth through seventh plus 18 million visits annually by kindergartners through fourth graders.
• An American Sports Data survey revealed 10.8 million people roller skate. Another 29 million inline skate.

It’s plain to see that National Roller Skating month is more than worth celebrating. What’s your favorite thing about roller skating? Roll by the rink this month and let us know.

Happy National Roller Skating Month!!