Ideally, the store should invest in the proper blade-sharpening equipment for ice skates, which sets the tool in alignment and ensures the skater isn’t thrown off-balance when they next go on the ice. Your best bet is to ask the pros at your local rink where they get their blades sharpened. In the meantime, here’s what can go wrong if you visit the wrong shop:

- Detempering. Caused by the blade being left against the abrasive tool too long, it leaves a tell-tale sheen. The proprietor will swear it is normal, and can be polished away. It’s not, and it won’t! Detempered blades on ice skates become soft and start to buckle during sharpening. When cold, they are weak and brittle – just as they were before the metal was tempered during their manufacture.

- Off centre hollow. When sharpened, the hollow on the ice skates must be absolutely centred on the blade. To the uninitiated, an off-centre blade looks no different to a balanced one. The skater, though, will feel a hell of a difference. Test your blades by placing a coin in the hollow – it should sit flat. If it’s at an angle – you’re off-centre.

- Uneven rockers. Self-explanatory. Well sharpened ice skates preserve the original rocker profile exactly. Another one to watch for is metal removed from the drag pick; a good sharpener never touches the pick with his tool.

At first glance, the cast of Starlight Express resemble Gladiators contestants - there’s more than a touch of Rollerball in there somewhere. Stability and safety means the performers are equipped with quads rather than inline skates, but believe us, those bearings are fast.

In actual fact, the idea began as a kind of Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s pure childhood fantasy – albeit with some very grown-up costumes.

The protective pads and thrilling skating sequences are intricately woven into a story about a young boy’s model train set which magically comes to life. The Starlight Express itself is a racing competition between all the model trains of the world, meaning plenty of good guys, bad guys and thrilling roller scenes – on a massive track which loops round the audience.

As in shows like the Lion King and Cats, the non-human characters are represented by cast members in stunning costumes. Look closely, and you’ll see the rolling stock, engines and carriages have little wheels on their sleeves! When these talented young performers – many of them stage novices – start singing love songs, it’s tricky remembering they’re really trains. Then the race starts…

We at Skates sell roller skates very similar to those in Starlight Express. If you dream of a stage career, we suggest you buy a pair now. Every tour sees a new batch of novice hopefuls join the troupe, and they’re recruiting again very soon so get your roller skates on!

Always warm up first, with a cardio-raiser and some stretches. Cardio can done by jogging on the spot or running up and down stairs, while stretches can be found online.

One of the best moves for aggressive skaters on inline skates is the burpee, which develops strength, stamina and endurance. Start in a push-up position, arms extended fully and back straight. Now jump the feet in, to the squat-thrust position. Power yourself upward explosively. Aim to jump as high as you can. Land heels down on your inline skates, in a crouch position. Jump into the push-up stance and repeat. The whole movement is one of explosive power.

Too hard? Break it down then. Do a set of squat-thrusts, followed by the same number of squat jumps, i.e. springs upwards from, and returning to, a deep crouch. If you don’t like crouching, try killer stars: start with feet shoulder-width, knees bent and heels down. Now spring as high as you can, scissoring the legs wide. Land in the start position and immediately repeat.

The more advanced can try jumping in a “box” – doing a quarter-turn each time they spring upwards on their inline skates. This is great for those tricky twists and jumps in the skate park.

As with any exercise program, you should warm up first, and please don’t do these  exercises if you have knee, back or other health problems, seek your GP’s advice before any exercise. We at Skates never advise inline skates to anyone with joint problems – choose a lower impact style instead.

Aggressive skating on rollerblades engages a variety of advanced training techniques, including plyometrics and interval training. To strengthen the muscles and protect against injury, you need to target these activities in a more intense way than can be achieved by inline skates alone.

When you see those marathon runners powering home at sprinter pace, do you ever wonder how they manage to have all that energy after a gruelling 26 mile run? The answer is that for them it’s a mid-distance, mid-speed outing. Training for the London Marathon, top runners often take to the hills, running 50 miles or more cross country. Some even sprint uphill with weights strapped to their backs. They take their bodies way past the fitness level needed for a 26 mile marathon – which is why they come in first.

We at Skates aren’t expecting you to start training for the Olympics, but you can use the same tricks to get better at skating and avoid injury. You don’t often see a weighty person on rollerblades – it’s a sport that burns a lot of calories. But what you do see is a lot of skinny kids on rollerblades – it doesn’t build much muscle. That means there’s more risk of injury when they fall, as there’s no protective padding or strength across the joints, tendons and ligaments. A gym or home weights program incorporating both upper and lower body areas will “beef up” areas not covered by aggressive skating moves – without adding bulk.

Any footballer or ice skater will tell you that sports-specific training is the way to get the best from your activity. It strengthens the relevant muscles and protects against injury. It also makes your body “think outside the box”. Many people become so enraptured with their roller skates that they use them to the exclusion of everything else. This means their bodies get used to using the same muscles over and over again. This can create an imbalance. For example, speed skaters crouch low and take big lateral strides. This is great for the inner thigh, butt and lower back muscles – but must be counteracted with outer thigh, stomach and upper body work.

We at Skates recommend that once or twice a week you work out your skating muscles – but leave your inline skates behind.

To improve your skating technique on inline skates, combine all-round fitness with sports-specific moves. For example, aggressive skaters do a lot of plyometric (rebound) moves, so should include exercises like box jumps, weighted squat jumps and burpees. Speed skaters benefit from high-repetition weights circuits, concentrating on the quads, hamstrings and lower back, plus some cardio training.

If you enjoy music and dance – especially street dance – then we at Skates recommend you try out Zumba classes. This latest fitness craze combines elements of Latin, African, Street and Jazz dance in an interval format. This means short bursts of strenuous activity, followed by a recovery period (during which you don’t stop altogether, just slow down).

A lot of people who use rollerblades do sudden jumps, twists and grinds – and then stop altogether. Zumba gets you into the habit of continuous movement. Stop-start skating is never a good idea – the muscles cool down and are thus more vulnerable to injury next time you move.

Conversely, a lot of fitness or recreational skaters keep moving continually – but in a slow, lazy fashion. Zumba encourages you to take things to the next level and push yourself harder.  This equates to faster street skating and a higher calorie burn.

The great thing about Zumba is that it seems to be made with rollerblades in mind. There are lots of deep knee bends, lateral slides, twists and jump-with-turns – exactly the kind of thing you do on rollerblades!

Many skaters on inline skates progress to aggressive skates after they’ve tried to emulate their friends in the ramp park, and been hampered by their wheels (most inline skates aren’t equipped for techniques like grinds). After that, it is quite literally a vertical learning curve – and a scary one. Inline skates were designed to be used horizontally. Vert skating takes you into the world of circus-style gymnastics.

The one thing to stress at this point is safety. We at Skates place a lot of emphasis on this – especially if you’ve decided to go vertical. For this reason, sensible vert skaters strap on their pads and wrist guards and head straight for their nearest foam pit for their practise sessions.

Many commercial skate parks, both indoor and outdoor, have foam pits. They are used by BMX bikers and skateboarders, as well as skaters on inline skates; some are even used by Motocross riders - so make sure you find one that’s well supervised. Then just strap on your helmet, guards and inline skates, and get ‘aggressive.’ It’s amazing how much easier it is to do a 360 degree back flip, when there’s a nice comfortable landing at the end of it.

This becomes more apparent when you consider the foam pit. Now popular with skaters using inline skates, they were never designed with these people in mind. In fact, they are mainly used for training gymnasts. With a foam pit, they can practise their high-powered jumps, vaults and back-flips in safety. This all sounds very familiar to us at Skates. In fact, considering how gymnastic some stunt skate moves are, we sometimes wonder if inline skates should be renamed ‘gymnastic skates.’ It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it though.

A commercial foam pit is a large construction about the size of a swimming pool, filled with chunks of low-density foam. The best ones are sunken, but those in skate parks are often erected. Apart from gymnastics, they are professionally used in a variety of extreme sports, including Motocross and ski-boarding. Recreationally, they are used by BMX bikers and skateboarders, as well as people on inline skates.

Using one is easy. Basically, you do all the grinds and flips you normally would, but land onto a soft, bouncy surface. Although the idea behind foam pits is to decrease the risk of injury, we are keen to point out that they are designed to supplement your safety gear and your inline skates, so you should still equip protection to stay safe.

Whether it’s a 10-year-old teetering off on her first pair of rollerblades, or a streetwise teen on his umpteenth set of aggressive skates, we at Skates have a few tips to help parents:

- Safety gear. Whatever age or level they are, kids on kids skates should always have a helmet and pads. Thankfully, manufacturers are wising up to the fact that cool kids will wear their pads with pride – if they’re fashionable enough. Great funky safety gear is the height of sophistication in skating circles

- Pick skate parks wisely. Luckily, there are some great supervised parks around, with ramps, competitions, instructors and a friendly atmosphere where bullying is banned. You could even use them to your advantage – he tidies his bedroom, you pay for a year’s membership to Skaterham, for example

- Teens on rollerblades can get some members of the public a little riled on occasion. Some people forget that they were ever young. Of course, your child will have immaculate street manners – but you can’t be sure about the people they’re with. So find out where their favourite skating areas are and check they’re behaving themselves. Explain to your offspring that people’s tolerance levels vary. If they are getting involved in silly conflicts when out on their rollerblades, it is best to advise them to skate away from people who love to complain.

It isn’t just kids who buy roller skates. We at Skates.co.uk supply customers from 5 to 85 with roller wheels. Adults buy them mainly for fitness. Skate parks are definitely the realm of teenagers on aggressive skates, while roller discos are just for kids, right?

Nothing could be further from reality. Roller disco in the Renaissance Rooms is just one of a number of venues where roller skates are limited to the over-18s.
Roller disco is usually a case of a sports hall, a leisure centre, and tinny “Now 2000” hits being played by a bored member of staff. However, things have changed. From the swish nightclub website, to the two DJ arenas (disco and funk or house and electric), to the Stag and Hen parties in the bar, the message of the venue is plain. Why should kids have all the fun?

The home page shows a retro chick posing with one skate on a glitter ball, and that’s pretty much the theme. Despite the fact booze is heavily on the menu (the gallery shows as many bar loungers as active skaters) helmets are definitely out. Wrist guards and knee pads are in, though. Hopefully, someone will find a way of getting fashionable Roller Derby protective head gear into the costume of ballet tutu and fishnet tights for girls, anything-goes for guys and quad roller skates for everyone.