Roller skating puts a high demand on the adductors (your inner thigh muscles), so strength and conditioning expert Dr Keith Scruggs (who’s worked with Olympic skiers) suggests working on that target area with exercises like lateral lunges.

“You also get the bonus of targeting your glutes, hamstrings, quads and core,” he says.

Begin by performing the exercise with your body weight for three to five sets of 8-12 reps on each side. Concentrate on the range of motion –getting as low as possible – instead of speed. Once you’re comfortable performing these as bodyweight exercises with good technique, start adding resistance by holding a kettlebell, dumbbells or wearing a weighted vest.

How to do it:

Stand with feet hip-width apart.
Keeping your left foot firmly planted, lift your right leg and step out to the right before bending that right knee. You want to be sitting back into that right leg, weight towards your heel and back straight.
The left leg should be straight while the right knee is bent – you should feel the inside of your left leg stretching.
Lift your body and right leg back up to meet your left.
Repeat on the other side.

Whatever you do, “do not put your hands on your knees to stand back up! Let your core do its job,” says Dr Scruggs.

Crush your roller skating goals with these 6 exercises from strength and conditioning pros