all for parkour

Yesterday I went in to NYC for a training session.  Did some circuits + joint training:

c 1 :
QM up stairs
10 Pushups
QM up stairs
50 mountain climbers
QM down stairs
10 pushups
QM down stairs
50 mountain climbers

c 2 :
Crabwalk up stairs
15 sqats
Crabwalk up stairs
10 hip abduction standing ea leg
10 glute raises ea leg
Crab down stairs
15 squats
Crab down stairs
15 full range calf raises
10 meter heel walks
10 meter side foot walks

c 3 :
Side QM up stairs
20 bycycles
Side QM up stairs
15 Oblique crunches v1
10 Side crunches, ea side
Side QM down stairs
10 leg lifts
20 scissors
Side QM down stairs

Miscellaneous joint strengthening exercises.

Part 1/many on joint health, strength, mobility, flexiblity, etc.  A lot of this comes from a book by Pavel Tsatsoulin, as well as places along the internet.

Measuring Spinal Mobility

Cervical/Top of your spine:
1. Tip head forward—chin should be able to rest on chest. Keep shoulders down.
2. Tip head backwards without jamming neck—should be able to see ceiling right above head at the very least, without moving eyes.  preferably farther behind you.
3. Tilt head left to right (eyes should still be facing forward).  Should be able to bring ears near parallel to the ground.  Push shoulders down through the arms as if in to the ground—shoulders must be down.
4. Turn head left + right.  Should be able to see exactly L+R without moving eyes-preferably farther.  keep shoulders straight and down.

Thoracic/Middle of your spine & Lumbar/Bottom of your spine
5. Stand near a wall facing away.  Bend backwards—engaging the entire spine and not just the lower portion by extending up and out through your lungs, neck spine.  Touch wall with both hands.  The farther the down the better.
6. Stand near wall with right side facing it.  Raise straight left arm above head and slowly tilt down towards your right, bringing your left arm over your head increasingly.  Right arm still at side. See how far down you can get your right arm.  Do not twist your body.

As you increasingly work your spine and your flexibility, you should be able to repeat these exercises and measure your improvements over time.   If you find any of these exercises difficult or inducing a lot of stretch—then you need to strengthen your spine and back. 

Joint health is absolutely vital—not just to traceurs but to all those who want to stay active through all the years of their lives.  So often is it overlooked or ignored when it comes to training that it is no wonder that parkour is full of injuries—knees, elbows, shoulders, ankles—who out there hasn’t injured one of these locations?  A poor landing, a bad roll, lack of proper warm up, a poorly anticipated movement and suddenly there is pain—And you’re out!

But, as Dan Iaboni pointed out to me this past weekend at the Toronto Jam, this should not be the case.  We should be training our bodies so that we can have those misteps and not be completely out of commission.

He gave an excellent workshop that covered joint strengthening exercises for ankles, knees, wrists, and hips that I will be trying to convey to you over the next few months.  Additionally, I will be doing my own research—talking to physical therapists, sports medicine doctors, coaches and athletes—and bringing it back to you.