Restarting Parkour after a break
I was going to write this anyway, but the First Minister’s announcements earlier this week allowing outdoor classes to proceed in Scotland makes restarting Parkour practice immediately relevant. It’s also worth noting that I am not a trained coach, but this is what I have found works when getting moving again.
There are plenty of reasons why you might not be able to keep training Parkour. Injury is the most obvious, but heavy work schedules, academic deadlines, travel, mental health challenges and even really bad weather are all good reasons. Obviously the pandemic is also a valid reason for not being out jumping. Whatever the reason, there will be periods in everyone’s lives when it’s not possible to get out and move.
I think we all get into a rhythm of training and keeping in that groove is much easier than starting it. I’m not talking about overcoming the nervousness of joining a first class; that’s a topic for another post. My own pattern had grown over the last four years from one class to several a week, frequently interrupted by business travel. Alas it is just as easy to adopt a pattern of collapsing in front of endless YouTube videos and batch eating chocolate.
So how do we break back to active relaxation from sedentary?
You are likely to need some mental trigger, but the key is hearing that trigger. Whether you listen to your body or your partner, it’s likely that there are changes for the worse from before the break. This awareness will grow to the point where its deafening roar will drown out the siren song of sloth. That’s the trigger point where it becomes easier to get started than to ignore the need.
Having been through this process several times, I know how I do it. I start by running. I’m not a good runner and don’t enjoy it. I also get easily distracted and find I’ve stopped to look at something more interesting than pounding along. However not only is it an excellent gauge of your base fitness, it requires nothing more than putting on trainers and going out the door. A gentle jog to get moving doesn’t even really need a warm up, although you should definitely do one. I like to get my creaking old knees and ankles warm before engaging in what is always a jog-walk. But the strange thing is that despite any physical pain, it feels good. I like to set small targets for myself such as “run to the end of road” and I occasionally shout “all the way in” at myself, a phrase I learnt from my first personal trainer.
It may be easier to run with others, I don’t know as I’ve not tried it. Those first couple of short runs of getting moving again are slow and my frequent stops would be disruptive for others while a constant cadence would probably be damaging. I find it easier to encourage myself by thinking that I have started on the journey back to fitness. I also find running more of a challenge against which to push. I’ve never felt the need to push when cycling, for example, but everyone will have a different hill to climb. Perhaps literally.
Once I figure I can actually run on and off for a meagre couple of kms I start bringing in some jumping and vaults. Small jumps as both my muscles and nerves have grown slack, but small jumps lead to longer ones and more confidence. Same with walls. Whatever level you were at, take a step back and do the easy stuff first. It will make you feel good both mentally and physically. I drill the basics on my own until they sink into muscle memory. I like doing this on my own at first as I’m free to do as many simple things in the same place as I need without limiting other people’s training.
A few weeks into the first lockdown I emerged from the house to the deserted world outside after working continuously at my desk. I adopted the above plan and was one of the first people back out training. I am fortunate to live beside a number of lovely places to train which were at the time devoid of others. After a few weeks and as restrictions eased I was comfortable enough with my own level to train with another person. And when finally classes came back on, I was ready.
At the beginning of 2020 I was looking at what I might be able to achieve, Parkour wise, in the year. I was thinking about four targets: plausible, straight Parkour rolls from higher jumps, higher wall runs, longer jumps and the big one was definitely cracking kongs. With my restart time I’ve already managed two of those: relatively straight rolls and slow but effective wall climbs above my height. Jump distance has, however shrunk and that’s definitely a target along with weight loss to achieve it. And yes, I’m hoping again that I might manage authentic kongs this year. How neither of these goals would be achievable if I had not been already out drilling the basics.
We’d love to know how you get moving again after a break, for whatever reason.