'WHEELY' FUN FITNESS!
HEALTH FITNESS
RollerDerby ‘WHEELY’ FUN FITNESS!
ALISHA SMITH MEETS TWO OF ROLLER DERBY’S FINEST COMPETITORS: ‘FISTI CUFFS’ AND ‘GORI SPELLING’, TO DISCOVER WHAT THE SPORT IS ALL ABOUT.
See all the roller derby in action via the FREE Fitness First Magazine App. Available from www.fitnessfirst.com.au/magazine
Emily Langmade, aka ‘Fisti Cuffs’
70 | F I T N E S S F I R S T
D
reamt up in 1935 by promoter, Leo Seltzer, the roller derby concept was conceived as a way to harness the popularity of roller skating and turn it into business revenue for the Chicago Coliseum. Roller derby gained momentum rapidly, experiencing it’s peak with bouts broadcast on television and being played in the famed Madison Square Garden in New York in successive years. Despite drawing record-breaking crowds for many years, roller derby witnessed waning interest to the point where it eventually disappeared from the public eye. The sport experienced its second wind in 2001 when the LA Derby Dolls reintroduced it to the USA. More than ten years later, there are well over 1,000 registered amateur leagues worldwide, including Australia where there are over 90 flat track leagues and it’s growing. In Australia to promote their upcoming Roller Derby Xtreme tour series, ‘Fisti Cuffs’ and ‘Gori Spelling’ took some time out of their busy schedules to talk to me about the demands of their rough and tumble sport, and the tolls of playing by the mantra ‘Skate hard, turn left’. If you’ve seen the 2009 Drew Barrymore-directed movie Whip It, you’d be forgiven for thinking that real life roller derby is a no-holds barred type of sport. ‘I just thought it was like crazy, old school fighting – but it actually isn’t,’ explains New York Gotham Girls’, Fisti Cuffs (also known in her non-derby life as
HEALTH FITNESS
Emily Langmade, aged 29). ‘There’s kind of a “Don’t be a douchebag: rule,’ she adds. Of course, knocks and falls come with the territory. ‘You definitely get a lot of bruises and scrapes but I haven’t had that many major injuries,’ says 32-year-old Gori Spelling of the LA Derby Dolls, who goes by the name Ane Jens when she’s off the track. ‘I fractured my shoulder the year after I started, which was unfortunate but, knock on wood, I’ve been healthy ever since.’ In addition to the injuries, there’s also the leg and lower back soreness to contend with. ‘Your lower back gets sore because you’re bending forwards while skating. ‘ Fisti’s back is out of alignment from skating in the one direction repeatedly. ‘Our legs are often off balance, too, which is a bit of a problem so we try to offset it by skating in the opposite direction as much as we can.’ Staying in shape for such a demanding sport requires demanding training, something that has to be scheduled in around Gori’s full-time job as the art department manager and photo editor for VANS skate shoe and apparel company, and Fisti’s graduate studies in fine arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. For both players, training usually consists of two sessions of two to three hours in duration, which is split into on and off-skates conditioning, as well as skating another two times weekly plus their own training, which they’re encouraged to do. Sessions consist of anything and everything from circuit training, skate drills and kettlebells, to agility and plyometric training, stair runs and medicine ball workouts. Both the girls have noticed the improvements in their own fitness as well as that of their teammates, with Gori explaining that off-skates conditioning was implemented only recently. ‘The game has been elevated so much because we now have such good fitness and endurance.’ Fuelling their bodies in the right way can be a challenge, with dinner often taking place on the run
2012 ROLLER DERBY XTREME TOUR DATES: Sydney: Wednesday 21 November Melbourne: Friday 23 November Brisbane: Sunday 25 November To find out more visit www.rdxtreme.com.au
CRASH COURSE on ROLLER DERBY 2 teams of 5 players each, made up of 4 blockers and 1 jammer per team. Blockers start moving as a pack and when the whistle blows, the jammers take off. For every blocker on the opposing team that a jammer passes, the jammer scores a point. This is called a ‘jam’. Jammers try to score as many points as they can and blockers try to stop the opposing team’s jammer from getting past them. 2 x 30 minute halves or 4 x 15 minute quarters make up a bout.
before practice or after training, which can often be as late as 10.30pm. Both players are vegetarian and try to eat as healthily as they can. ‘I love all kinds of food. I like to eat real, healthy food like grains, seeds and nuts, and lots of leafy greens and other vegetables. I don’t necessarily worry about how many calories I’m consuming or what the fat intake is; I just try to eat real, whole food,’ explains Fisti. Gori focuses on refuelling her body, explaining that she’s starving after training. ‘I just try to eat as much tofu and protein as I can. Sometimes it’s whatever goes, but I pretty much eat whatever I feel I need to eat in order to recover from training.’ While there are currently no roller derby players who get paid to skate, Gori and Fisti are both hopeful that will happen in the not too distant future. ‘Roller derby has been growing so fast lately, and in ways that I don’t think I could have imagined ten years ago, so it’s quite exciting,’ says Fisti. ‘As long as it maintains its integrity and the “for Ane Jens, aka: the skaters, by the ‘Gori Spelling’ skaters” mantra, then that change can only be good for the sport as a whole.’ While RDX is bringing Banked Track skaters from America, the event organisers are working closely with local leagues to ensure everyone shares in the success of the tour.
ALISHA SMITH Interview and article by Alisha Smith ([email protected])
FITNESS FIRST
| 71
RollerDerby ‘WHEELY’ FUN FITNESS!
ALISHA SMITH MEETS TWO OF ROLLER DERBY’S FINEST COMPETITORS: ‘FISTI CUFFS’ AND ‘GORI SPELLING’, TO DISCOVER WHAT THE SPORT IS ALL ABOUT.
See all the roller derby in action via the FREE Fitness First Magazine App. Available from www.fitnessfirst.com.au/magazine
Emily Langmade, aka ‘Fisti Cuffs’
70 | F I T N E S S F I R S T
D
reamt up in 1935 by promoter, Leo Seltzer, the roller derby concept was conceived as a way to harness the popularity of roller skating and turn it into business revenue for the Chicago Coliseum. Roller derby gained momentum rapidly, experiencing it’s peak with bouts broadcast on television and being played in the famed Madison Square Garden in New York in successive years. Despite drawing record-breaking crowds for many years, roller derby witnessed waning interest to the point where it eventually disappeared from the public eye. The sport experienced its second wind in 2001 when the LA Derby Dolls reintroduced it to the USA. More than ten years later, there are well over 1,000 registered amateur leagues worldwide, including Australia where there are over 90 flat track leagues and it’s growing. In Australia to promote their upcoming Roller Derby Xtreme tour series, ‘Fisti Cuffs’ and ‘Gori Spelling’ took some time out of their busy schedules to talk to me about the demands of their rough and tumble sport, and the tolls of playing by the mantra ‘Skate hard, turn left’. If you’ve seen the 2009 Drew Barrymore-directed movie Whip It, you’d be forgiven for thinking that real life roller derby is a no-holds barred type of sport. ‘I just thought it was like crazy, old school fighting – but it actually isn’t,’ explains New York Gotham Girls’, Fisti Cuffs (also known in her non-derby life as
HEALTH FITNESS
Emily Langmade, aged 29). ‘There’s kind of a “Don’t be a douchebag: rule,’ she adds. Of course, knocks and falls come with the territory. ‘You definitely get a lot of bruises and scrapes but I haven’t had that many major injuries,’ says 32-year-old Gori Spelling of the LA Derby Dolls, who goes by the name Ane Jens when she’s off the track. ‘I fractured my shoulder the year after I started, which was unfortunate but, knock on wood, I’ve been healthy ever since.’ In addition to the injuries, there’s also the leg and lower back soreness to contend with. ‘Your lower back gets sore because you’re bending forwards while skating. ‘ Fisti’s back is out of alignment from skating in the one direction repeatedly. ‘Our legs are often off balance, too, which is a bit of a problem so we try to offset it by skating in the opposite direction as much as we can.’ Staying in shape for such a demanding sport requires demanding training, something that has to be scheduled in around Gori’s full-time job as the art department manager and photo editor for VANS skate shoe and apparel company, and Fisti’s graduate studies in fine arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. For both players, training usually consists of two sessions of two to three hours in duration, which is split into on and off-skates conditioning, as well as skating another two times weekly plus their own training, which they’re encouraged to do. Sessions consist of anything and everything from circuit training, skate drills and kettlebells, to agility and plyometric training, stair runs and medicine ball workouts. Both the girls have noticed the improvements in their own fitness as well as that of their teammates, with Gori explaining that off-skates conditioning was implemented only recently. ‘The game has been elevated so much because we now have such good fitness and endurance.’ Fuelling their bodies in the right way can be a challenge, with dinner often taking place on the run
2012 ROLLER DERBY XTREME TOUR DATES: Sydney: Wednesday 21 November Melbourne: Friday 23 November Brisbane: Sunday 25 November To find out more visit www.rdxtreme.com.au
CRASH COURSE on ROLLER DERBY 2 teams of 5 players each, made up of 4 blockers and 1 jammer per team. Blockers start moving as a pack and when the whistle blows, the jammers take off. For every blocker on the opposing team that a jammer passes, the jammer scores a point. This is called a ‘jam’. Jammers try to score as many points as they can and blockers try to stop the opposing team’s jammer from getting past them. 2 x 30 minute halves or 4 x 15 minute quarters make up a bout.
before practice or after training, which can often be as late as 10.30pm. Both players are vegetarian and try to eat as healthily as they can. ‘I love all kinds of food. I like to eat real, healthy food like grains, seeds and nuts, and lots of leafy greens and other vegetables. I don’t necessarily worry about how many calories I’m consuming or what the fat intake is; I just try to eat real, whole food,’ explains Fisti. Gori focuses on refuelling her body, explaining that she’s starving after training. ‘I just try to eat as much tofu and protein as I can. Sometimes it’s whatever goes, but I pretty much eat whatever I feel I need to eat in order to recover from training.’ While there are currently no roller derby players who get paid to skate, Gori and Fisti are both hopeful that will happen in the not too distant future. ‘Roller derby has been growing so fast lately, and in ways that I don’t think I could have imagined ten years ago, so it’s quite exciting,’ says Fisti. ‘As long as it maintains its integrity and the “for Ane Jens, aka: the skaters, by the ‘Gori Spelling’ skaters” mantra, then that change can only be good for the sport as a whole.’ While RDX is bringing Banked Track skaters from America, the event organisers are working closely with local leagues to ensure everyone shares in the success of the tour.
ALISHA SMITH Interview and article by Alisha Smith ([email protected])
FITNESS FIRST
| 71
