Every summer here at GRD we take a wee hiatus to give ourselves time away from the hustle and bustle of regular derby life. Our league goes on break for two weeks to have time to rest, recover and remember what life is like outside of our normal training/game schedule. For some of us this is a pretty difficult task! Just how are we supposed to occupy our time without the routine and repetition of coached derby sessions?

Never fear, here at the blog we've compiled a few articles from sites across the derbyverse to help us settle into our rest period.

Roller Derby Athletics' Booty Quake has an article on Off-Season Training which she wrote in 2012 and reposted late last year. BQ also provides loads of resources on her site including HIIT workouts, top tips for core strengthening and of course the RDA training programmes such as Pump Up Your Jam and StrideBuilder if you just can't bear to sit still!
Kat Selvocki of Flat Mat Yoga has some ideas for working on your mental game which can be practised any time; league break might be a great time to make this a new habit! Also, check out more of Flat Mat Yoga for resources and video programmes that can help with core, balance and more based on the principles of yoga and developed specifically for roller derby.
Treble Maker is a UK roller derby athlete who blogs on her own experiences as a skater and coach. She provides tips, tricks, reviews and also offers workout videos to help you develop as a skater. This article on off-skates workouts provides some ideas for cross training, and this body balance article provides recommendations on how to stretch out and refocus your body to even up your movements.
Derby Life have these oldie but goodie articles on what to during an off season. While we're only on a short break their advice for How To Survive the Off-Season and Off-Season Workout Playlist are perfect for keeping spirits high during a derby lull.

With a little help from our friends we should be able to have a restful and productive league break. We'll be back relaxed, recharged and ready for action in July; watch this space for more information on our next games in August.

Until then (all together now!): We're all going on a... SUMMER HOLIDAY!