Make fitness fun. It’s the only way Julie Vance, 34, will exercise. She picks a sport she likes and works at it.

About two years ago while scanning the classifieds for a softball team to join, the 5-foot-3 Vance spotted an ad recruiting girls for the full-contact sport of roller derby.

Com-petitive by nature, she tried out for the skater-run Tucson Roller Derby and made the team.

“It was interesting. It was something different,” said Vance, a member of a TRD team called Vice Squad. “I don’t feel it’s something everybody can do. It was very physical and it really is an amazing workout.”

Vance, whose skating name is Penny Tencherry (Get it? Penitentiary?) was most surprised by the endurance the sport requires, especially as a jammer, the team’s only scoring position, who is required to get past all the other girls in the rink in order to score. (See roller derby basics for overview.)

Before she signed up, her exercise regimen consisted of home-based Pilates, but roller derby required more fitness. She went from being someone who had skated only as a child to roller skating up to five times a week, about two hours each session.

Because pulled muscles, sprains, strains, bruises, and broken bones are a regular part of roller derby, training, stretching and learning how to properly fall properly are a big part of reducing injuries.

Vance began weight training her upper body. Her lower body was getting enough training from skating. She took a weekly acrobat class to increase her flexibility and balance. As one of the smaller team members, speed is her advantage.

“I decided, because of my small build, I needed to build my upper body because of all of the hitting. When I would hit girls, I wasn’t doing anything.”

This year, because of her training, Vance has added blocker to the positions she plays. Blocker requires enough brawn to prevent the jammer from getting through.

Vance doesn’t worry much about diet. Because of her size and the amount of calories she burns in a week, she remains a meat-and-potatoes girl, and has to focus on getting enough carbs into her diet.

“My boyfriend teases me that I eat like a lumberjack” she said. Cheeseburgers are her favorite indulgence.

Since she began weight training, Vance has gained 10 pounds of muscle in the past year, bringing her to 110. Her thighs are so muscular from skating that she often has trouble finding pants that fit, she said.

Vance is always looking to improve her game. Although she’s one of the fastest in the league – she can do 10 laps in 1 minute, 24 seconds – her new goal is to improve her athletic performance and speed.

She recently began using the Vern Gambetta sports training method for athletes and plans to start yoga.

“I’m in the best shape of my life,” Vance said, adding that the league is getting better and more competitive with each season. Her advice to others is to choose a fitness program or sport you enjoy and keep it fresh. “There’s nothing worse than doing a workout that’s boring,” she said. “I need to keep it interesting.”

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VANCE’S WEEKLY WORKOUT:

Monday: Cardio (bike or elliptical for 30 minutes). Weight training of chest and triceps for 30 minutes, followed by stretching.

Tuesday: Roller derby practice, 21/2 hours. Practice includes skating drills, working on falls, endurance and game strategy.

Wednesday: Roller derby practice, 21/2 hours. Drills for endurance, skills and skating. One practice can consist of up to seven miles of skating.

Thursday: Weight training on upper body for 45 minutes to one hour. (Usually back and biceps.)

Friday: A day of rest, or a short workout, maybe 30 minutes of cardio or 30 minutes of weights such as shoulder work.

Saturday: Rest.

Sunday: League practice, two hours, followed by league scrimmage, two hours.

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ROLLER DERBY BASICS
There are two teams of five skaters on the track during each two-minute jam. Each team has one scoring position, called a jammer, one pivot and three blockers.

The pivots and blockers form a pack. The pack starts 20 feet ahead of the jammers and sprints at the first whistle blast. The jammers sprint a few seconds later, at the second whistle.

The jammers have to break through the pack and skate another lap before they start scoring points. Each time a jammer comes through, she gets a point for every opponent she passes.

The blockers and pivots try to stop the opposing jammer from getting through, while assisting their own jammer.

The games are called bouts.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 26th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Body, Local. Tags for this post: Body-How I Did It, Body-How I Did It-Local, How I Did It, Sandra Valdez Gerdes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.