DISCLAIMER: PLEASE CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR PRIOR TO STARTING ANY PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AS IT MAY RESULT IN CARDIAC ARREST OR CARDIAC COMPLICATIONS, AND OTHER ISSUES DUE TO PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS.
There is a myth that seniors start moving slow in their 60s and 70s. I call it a myth because as long as you are moving often, you never really slow down. Slowing down is the biggest cause of health issues and balance issues. Can seniors do parkour? The answer is absolutely!
Now you may not see someone in their later years doing acrobatics or flying off buildings, but the art of parkour is to move efficiently and fast through some terrain. It can also mean, moving efficiently and faster than someone else their age. There are movements across the globe where people in their later years are picking up parkour to minimize the possibility of a bad fall, being able to maneuver around obstacles or around everyday life. They tend to have better balance, endurance, strength, power, and flexibility that keeps them from becoming another victim of a bad fall that breaks their bones or kills them.
How do you get started?
It all starts with movement and balance. The rest will come the more you practice.
Make sure to start by doing body rotations.
- Rotate your ankles in a circle
- Rotate your knees in a circle
- Move your hips in a circle
- Twist your body at the hips to the left and right
- Swing your legs back and forth
- Move your arms in a circle forward and then backwards
- Arms out to the sides and start with small circles to bigger circles
- Rotate your head in a circle in both directions
Here are some things to start doing now to begin your parkour journey.
- Balance on a line on pavement. Walk across maintaining your balance on the line and get to the end. Bonus: Try this backwards.
- Planks. Whether you are doing planks on your knees and elbows, or your hands and feet, this will develop the core strength necessary to do everyday tasks with minimal to no injury. Bonus: Do side planks. Do planks for as long as you can hold it, but not more than 2 minutes.
- Agility ladder. Ever see those ladder looking things on a lawn where the kids are on? Get on those and do a myriad of exercises to get your feet shuffling. Start slow.
- Yoga. This builds all the necessary foundation to be great at parkour.
- Squats. This builds the leg strength and balance you need to maneuver around. Start by sitting in a chair to standing and sitting back down. Do this assisted and eventually get to unassisted. Bonus: Squat then stand on one leg. Drop leg, and repeat with other leg.
- Quadraped walk. When we were babies, we learned how to crawl. But we never got back to walking on all four limbs by the time we realized that we can walk on legs alone. Get back into it by being on your hands and feet, and walk on all fours. Keep your back parallel to the floor as much as possible. Bonus: Try quadraped walking up stairs.
- Pullups. These are not easy for younger people as well, but the more you try to strengthen your upper back, the easier things get for parkour. Use a resistance band to assist you to do pullups.
- Pushups. These are not easy for younger people as well. Start with hands and knees if you must.
- Calf raises. Stand up on your feet and raise your calf where the heel leaves the ground.
- Jump between two spots accurately. Find two lines or visualize them. Jump from one line to the other. Try to be accurate on your landing.
- Cross shoulder roll. This is how you break a fall if you are falling forwards. Roll on your shoulder diagonally across your back (not straight on your spine). The last thing you want to do when you are falling forwards is to put your hands out or use your head to break the fall.
- Sit roll. This is how you break your fall when you are falling backwards. As you feel like you are falling backwards, sit down and roll on your spine with your head tucked into your chest and your arms crossed.
You start doing this every day for a couple of weeks and then go outside to see if you can maneuver around obstacles easier. Eventually, it will get easier and easier. Whether it is moving through a movie theater seating, the park jungle gym with your grand kids, or a busy aisle in the grocery store, it will feel easier.
Have fun and stay young.
