Article discussing three important aspects to the practice of Parkour.

Conditioning, Technicality, & Restriction

It has been on my mind for quite some time, as I have talked to quite a few people about this, and I think it is something that deserves being brought up and discussed.

I feel as if a lot of people these days see Parkour, and replicate it. This is a well known idea today, as people assume that Parkour is all about the movements. What I believe people have lost sight of is the actual conditioning and training behind all of the movements. Nonetheless, you may condition, workout, etc. but that doesn't necessarily mean you can do all the movements.

As it's been stated before, physically capable doesn't mean physically ready. I have seen people who condition, but at the same time, they take huge impacts and have bad form and technique, basically making that conditioning useless. Landing on your heels on a precision jump will certainly have its effects in due time. Deep bends from drops will certainly have their effects in due time. Big cat leaps will have their effects. Bad form and technique will have their effects. Now, don't think of this as something to try and scare you. It is my attempt to open your eyes and have you take a step back and look at your training.

Not only is conditioning one of the most essential aspects of Parkour, but it will make the movements and everything else you do easier. However, your technicality and restriction is just as important. It is essential that practice of these 3 things is taken seriously if you are looking to last in Parkour, to be strong, and to live a healthy life. I will explain why these are the most important things to look at when training Parkour.

Now, let me just say, at the time of writing this, I have only been practicing Parkour for 2 1/2 years, but I have come to this realization through much research, reading, evaluation, and study and find it all necessary to share to further assist you all with your lives.

Conditioning:
Physically developing the body is one of the most important things because it will help you protect your joints, prevent injury, and be physically able to do movements faster, easier, and safer. Now, it takes time to physically develop the body to have a good foundation of strength. You have to start small and progress slowly to allow your body to adapt and build up to the added impact and strain. While squats, traditional bodyweight exercises, or weighted leg exercises will assist in helping the body resist landings, it won't make the body immune to them. Just because you do so many squats, or can squat x weight, doesn't mean you can drop from y height safely. This is why people stress the importance of progressing slowly and starting small.

As many experienced Traceurs know, conditioning is absolutely essential. Without it, your Parkour career will be short. There is a HUGE amount of ways to condition the body to become strong and adept, making it stronger at its natural abilities. As Cliff has said plenty of times before, become strong in the areas of jumping, running (bi-pedal movement), climbing, and quadrupedal movement. When you know how the muscles work and all the muscles there are, you can really be creative with the way you condition.

Technicality:
This is just as important as Conditioning because with good form you work within the movements your body is meant to handle to lessen impact and strain. With bad form however, you are at greater risk for injury (short-term and long-term) because it basically means you are putting more strain on the body in a range outside of what the body is meant to handle. Having good form on movements such as drops, cat leaps, vaults, precisions, landings, rolls, EVERYTHING, will help reduce your chance of injury. So what’s the best way to improve form and technique? Take things slow, small, and restrict yourself from doing things you aren't ready for.

Restriction:
Restriction plays a big role as you must restrict yourself from doing movements that can otherwise be dangerous to you. Restricting yourself from doing movements will help you last and keep your body in good health. Don’t try to rush progression or push beyond what your body is ready for as that increases the risk of injury. Know when to stop and when to avoid certain movements.

In my opinion, all three used together can be a powerful tool when training to last and to be strong. I feel like there are too many of those who develop injuries and possible chronic pain because their training was, let’s face it...bad. Now, I'm not saying my training is perfect, it took me quite some time to realize this, and after mass amounts of thinking, and dealing with some issues, I came to these solutions.

It would also be useful for practitioners to learn how the body works and how to keep it in good shape and stable. I have had my fair share of instabilities that I am still working to correct.

There isn't much else to say on the topic, I shared my experience, and what I believe to be a great way to approach Parkour and training it. It is up to you to put value to your body and the way you train it. Treat it well and make it strong. Don't throw it away after a couple months, or years of training.

Peace
-Taylor.