Putting exercise on a glide path(2)

Skating is also great exercise, serving to strengthen cardiovascular function, improve the respiratory system and boost metabolism.

It builds up muscle strength in arms, legs, waist and belly and greatly improves the flexibility of various joints. Equally important, roller skating can help enhance people's balance and coordination.

Research has shown the sport to be an ideal aerobic exercise, which consumes oxygen at nearly the same rate as jogging. Skating at 23kph can efficiently help burn calories, a reason that many young women choose roller skating to keep fit.

It also provides the opportunity for endless stunts. From backward monocline, forward heel-toe snake, double crazy back to reverse eagle criss-cross, alternating cross and toe wheeling, roller skating has a long list of moves from easy to difficult.

"Personally, I've benefited a lot from roller skating. I seldom get sick now after playing this sport," say Feng Hui, a 14-year-old girl who is a rising star on the China National Roller Skating Team.

Hui started to learn skating at the age of nine, hoping to "improve health," but she never expected to roll into the international arena. Since 2011, she has grabbed the laurels at various world slalom championships and open tournaments. Every year, Hui flies to about five international competitions but it never interferes with her school studies.

The short-haired, smiling girl from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, is a 9th-grader who gets excellent grades at school. She used to practice roller skating two hours a day, but now is only allowed to exercise on weekends because she is busy preparing to enter high school.