| Roller shoes have been making the news lately, | | | | that controlling my back foot wasn't so hard, but |
| especially when it comes to the safety of | | | | myfront foot found it amusing to roll me into an |
| thechildren wearing them. Amidst the typical | | | | awkward splits time and time again. The more |
| debate over roller shoes being safe, there is also | | | | Ipracticed, the more I began to realize that |
| thequestion of whether or not these mobile shoes | | | | heeling involved learning how to walk first. |
| actually promote exercise like rollerskates do. | | | | Withthese roller shoes on, a person has to retrain |
| Rollerskating has been a great form of physical | | | | the body to actually walk on wheels. This is |
| exercise almost as long as it has been around. | | | | notany easy task. |
| But the latest niche in the skating realm known as | | | | After the first few hours on these skate shoes, I |
| "heeling" is creating quite a fuss overwhether or | | | | made several observations. For starters, Iwasn't |
| not it is a good form of exercise, or just | | | | going to be good at this any time soon. Secondly, |
| downright lazy. | | | | my heels hurt from the amount ofpressure that |
| Roller shoes rely on wheels that are housed within | | | | was constantly being placed there to roll. I also |
| the heel of a normal shoe. By shiftingtheir weight | | | | noticed that my inner thighswere starting to burn |
| to the heel of the shoe, heelers are able to | | | | and within a few days, it was apparent that I had |
| smoothly transition from a walk or runinto | | | | worked these musclesmore than I had in quite |
| coasting. This type of skating is referred to as | | | | sometime. The soreness was a result of keeping |
| heeling, and at first glance it appears asif the | | | | my balance and forcingmy feet to stay one in |
| heeler is simply gliding along without a care in the | | | | front of the other without doing the splits again. |
| world and very little physicaleffort involved. If | | | | As the week passed, Ibegan to notice that my |
| you've seen this, you might have assumed that | | | | calf and leg muscles were sore as well. Roller |
| these roller shoes are skatesfor the lazy, but | | | | shoes are typicallyheavier than normal sneakers, |
| upon a closer inspection, you will come to realize | | | | adding in the extra weight of the wheel. It was |
| that there is a lot more tothese skate shoes than | | | | like wearing ankleweights and was something my |
| just a casual roll down the sidewalk. | | | | muscles needed to gain strength. As the weeks |
| When I bought my first pair, I envisioned myself | | | | turned to months andmy heeling improved, my |
| gliding along like I had seen the kids in mylocal mall | | | | body adjusted as well. Walking around in normal |
| do a million times. The last experience I had with | | | | shoes feels strange without the added weight and |
| skating at all was nearly twentyyears ago. A boy | | | | constant mental and physical focus on my |
| in that age range during the late 80s, I owned a | | | | balance. |
| second rate skateboard and alonging for half-pipes | | | | Most people believe that skating in roller shoes is |
| and "freestyling." Even then, I never was that | | | | robbing kids from good exercise, butappearances |
| good at it, but itcertainly preoccupied a lot of my | | | | can be deceiving. These skate shoes are |
| free time and did provide me with some sort of | | | | promoting good exercise and balance. Theyhelp to |
| exercise. As Islipped on my first pair of roller | | | | build leg muscles and enforce a great cardio |
| shoes, I assumed that it was something that | | | | workout. Most suprisingly, roller shoes |
| would come backto me, just like riding a bike (or | | | | areprompting today's youth to condone a good |
| my old skateboard) as the saying goes. This was | | | | posture by the way they must stand to |
| not true. Thefirst step I took landed me flat on | | | | maintainbalance! All in all, if this fad is pushing kids |
| the pavement and certainly wasn't the graceful | | | | out of the comforts of A/C and video games |
| glide I hadintended. With a deep breath and a | | | | andinto warm, healthy sunshine and exercise, then |
| willingness to learn, I stood up again and gave it | | | | heeling is a sport we should all embrace. |
| anothershot. After making a few steps, I found | | | | |