How Parkour Promotes Better Health and Fitness - Charlotte Parkour

[This is the first in a series of semi-regular blogs to provide general info about health, fitness, and training parkour.? I promise the rest won't be as lengthy?]

On first impression from parkour in the popular media you might perceive it as something only for the?super fit,?thrill seekers, or?dumb. ?But would you imagine it being used as a?positive?physical outlet for energy in youth or?get people past their middle ages back in shape? ?Well, it is (and very succesfully)! ?As it's truly trained, parkour offers almost anyone a robust means for positive self-improvement. ?"But how is this?" you might ask. ?Well, there are a couple of reasons?

There are incredible physical benefits.? Fitness has been?defined by Jim Cawley of Dynamax, Inc.?as the combination of strength, speed, power, coordination, agility, accuracy, balance, flexibility, cardio/respiratory endurance, and stamina. ?It doesn't take much imagination to see how parkour trains this skill set comprehensively. ?Climb-ups for strength, jumping for power, precise foot control and hand placement for coordination, combining all of these things for excellent cardio and stamina training, etc. ?Need we say more?

It helps improve mental health. The benefits to?mental health?extend beyond the general?benefits from exercise.? The process of training parkour involves breaking down desired movements into parts, training those parts, and then combining them with fluidity and control.? Through this process you learn to clear your mind of the jumble of everyday thoughts and focus on your body and its surroundings.? This meditative process reduces stress alongside garnering problem solving skills. ?Applying these benefits, Britain's largest parkour coaching body Parkour Generations took to the city of Westminster teaching parkour to underprivileged youth.? Afterwards, adolescent crime rates in the area dropped by a significant factor of 30%. ?Similar activities in the U.S. are being pursued by nonprofit?Parkour Visions in Seattle, WA.

Anyone can do it!? People with missing limbs still train parkour.? Very little of actual parkour training involves doing big tricks and flips like you see in popular media.? Most parkour movement stems from a few basic moves that aren't difficult to learn, training them effectively rarely necessitates going above head height.? This enables everyone from?kids,?teenagers,?the middle aged, women, and the elderly?to practice it.? As well, you can train parkour almost anywhere, with no need of special equipment.? Don't have urban obstacles?? Try some rocks or trees instead.? Soon after you've started training, your world will change as your mind opens and former obstacles become a playground.

It's fun!? Fitness is not promoted well in today's society. ?Most people's image of exercise is reps of dul, arduous movements in a boxed up gym. ?Many people are caught up trying to lose weight or look good and aren't actually focused on being healthy and actually 'feeling' good.? Experts agree that the?best workout is simply a workout you will do and enjoy. ?Nothing will keep you on a fitness "regimen" better than looking forward to it. ?Parkour presents this opportunity, and an inspiration to strive for better health and fitness to aid your training.? It's shown that a mere 30 minutes of exercise each day is the?single greatest thing you can do for your health, why not?play and have fun while you're at it?

It's very useful.? One of the prime?principles of parkour is to train your body to move through its environment as quickly and efficiently as possible. ?This ability can be extremely useful in emergency situations where you need to flee an assailant or rush to someone's aid. ?Training these movements will help avoid injury in these situations as well. ?No wonder one motto of parkour's philosophy is coined from Georges H?bert, "?tre fort pour ?tre utile" (Be Strong to Be Useful).

It's one of the least dangerous activities available.? This might be hard to believe, so we'll start with some concrete data.? For their first 7000 class hours (class time x students), Parkour Visions had an incidence of approximately?1.3 injuries per thousand hours. ?Compare this to practice injury rates such as 7.5/1000 hrs. for soccer and 16/1000 hrs. for American Football and you'll see parkour can actually be SAFER than most popular team sports. ?Other parkour gyms in the US?have had similar results.

Why is it safe?? As already mentioned, parkour is trained as a discipline and is not an 'extreme sport.'? There is a strong emphasis on preparatory physical strength and conditioning.? When training skills, participants start small and progressively increase difficulty only as they are safely capable.? Training is very non-competitive and attempting things beyond one's capability is heavily discouraged.? Another motto from parkour's philosophy is "?tre et durer" meaning "to be and to last."? Anything that risks over-stress or injury cannot 'last' and doesn't serve a utility.? As well as its philosophies of safety and efficiency, parkour lacks some team sports injury risk-factors such as player-player contact in American Football and stress on the ankle from sudden turns and stops such in Basketball and Soccer.? When training parkour there is just yourself; no one will force you to attempt anything. ?If you train smart, you have full control over your own safety.

Interested in trying it?? If you've read all the way to here you deserve an award (too bad we don't have any :/)! ?Head on over to our How Do I Learn? for some concise info on how to properly get started, and also head over to the events page for info on where, when, and who of training in Charlotte :).

Still don't think parkour is for you?? We still recommend at least giving it a try before giving up pre-emptively?;).? But if you're stubborn, or you have tried and you're not convinced, I recommend heading over to?Nerd Fitness for more resources on ways to stay fit and be healthy.

Thanks for reading! ?Safe training.

[Photos in this article via Fifth-Ape,?Parkour Generations,?Parkour Visions, and Allison Czipo]

Source: http://charlotteparkour.com/how-parkour-is-good-for-your-health-and-anyon

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