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Some say Parkour is a training for the development of military groups but that’s not true. In fact, parkour is a escape technique. Introduced by George Hebert and then promoted by Raymond Belle and David Bellle (Father, son duo).
Parkour is a sport or route of moving, in a city, trying to get through different hurdles in life. Parkour has some basic movements like landing, parkour roll, cat leap, dash vault, monkey vault, kong vault, speed vault, kash vault, two-handed vault, precision jump, turn vault, tic-tac, lazy vault, reverse vault, under-bar, and strides.
List of Common Parkour Injuries and How to Avoid Them
The top 7 most common parkour injuries that people had experienced when they get in parkour community and the most mutual ones are below:
Shin hits
Shin hits are caused by the tenderness of muscles, tendons, and bone tissue around the tibia. The prime cause of shin splints includes overloading your leg muscles, tendons, or shin bone. This condition more often than not occurs from overuse of the shin muscles owing to too much activity or an increase in training. Customarily, the activity is high impact and repetitive exercise of your lower legs. This is one of the bad parkour injuries that are very common among traceurs.
These injuries are commonly found in dancers and runners. Shin hits can be healed by giving your body a rest. Ice your shin to comfort swelling or pain. Do it daily for 20-30 minutes. Use insoles for your shoes and use painkillers if required. Be sure your knees are close together and smooth when doing precision jumps.
Source: picuki
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Foot and Hand bruises
These are minor injuries caused by microscopic tears in blood vessels under the skin. But they are not something to worry about a lot. The damage takes some time to heal. These are pretty irritating since you are regularly using both feet and hands in parkour, so it usually takes endless time to heal. Absorb the right skill of landing and vaulting. Start a minor and progressively build up. This way, your feet, and hands have a period to build up.
Source: flickr
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Knee Capitation
Knee capitation occurs when you bang your knees. These injuries happen when you are performing a kong vault or speed vault. The pain is not so decent. It can be cured by the R.I.C.E method rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Give your knee some rest, apply some ice, wear a compressive bandage, and keep your knee elevated. Shin hits can also affect your knee.
Do you see how one parkour injury leads to another parkour knee injury? So, pick up the proper form to your vault and retain your hips up.
Pick up the proper form to your vault and retain your hips up.
Ankle sprains
An ankle sprain is an injury to the hard group tissues that surround the bones of the leg to the foot. This usually happens when you twist your ankle accidentally in an uncooperative way or you fall during your stunts hurting your ankles somehow. Trust us when we say this, parkour fall pains are the worst.
Ankle sprain injury can tear the ligaments. The ankle can swell immediately and left bruises. Ankle sprain should be treated straight away; if not, then it may turn your foot unable to move. Have some rest apply ice bags to your ankle for 15 to 20 minutes regularly. Implement a warm-up already before each training session. Have an accurate control of your body balance.
Source: YouTube
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Shoulder and Hip Bruise from the roll
It causes pain in the joints and muscles of the lower back, thighs, hips, neck, shoulders, and upper arms, therefore, causing the worst parkour injuries and pains such as parkour shoulder roll pain and parkour back pain. The conditions occur when the lining surrounding the joints, bursa, and tendons near the shoulders and hips becomes inflamed.
The pain is intolerable for the parkour community when the surface hardens from grass to concrete area. Start with soft surfaces then increase the level of toughness of coatings. This will reduce the chances of shoulder roll pain and parkour back pain.
Open Cuts on Hands
Rips on the hands are wounds caused by skin tearing off your hands. This is caused by lifting heavy weight or bars. Apply cream to your injury and cover it up with a bandage. This can support your wound to moist and avoid infection. Eliminate dead skin from your hand. Stop lifting dense mass.
Source: RIPT Skin Systems
Knee sprain
A knee sprain denotes torn or overstretched ligaments, the tissue that grasps bones together. This parkour knee injury usually occurs due to unnatural movements during physical activity. Sudden turns or pivoting can cause the ligaments to be torn. Knee sprains are common in sports with lots of running, jumping, and turning. Doesn’t parkour training involve all of them? To treat bad parkour injuries of such types, raise your knee on a pillow when you are sitting or lying down. Take anti-inflammatory painkillers. Upturn your joint strength and your body awareness.
These were some common injuries of the parkour community. But there are always ways available that can help you avoid these parkour injuries with proper safety.
How to Avoid These Parkour Injuries?
It never hurts to do a little warm-up before such intense drills. It is extremely crucial for you to prepare you for what is coming its way. Some good stretching before your exercise loosens your joints, awakens your nervous system, heightens your awareness, and prepare your muscles for quick action.
- Keep protective gear. For example, use gloves when climbing wall to avoid bruises on your hands. This is one way to avoid parkour falls and thus those bad parkour fall pains.
- Keep proper running shoes so that your sole remains intact. There are many companies that exclusively manufacture shoes for Parkour. These shoes not only provide safety to the sole but also cushion the falls.
- Don’t try stunts that you can’t control. Many traceurs excitedly try stunts that they can’t control, in the end they get injuries that put them out for a few months. Your body needs rest. It needs not to be put through the pressure it can not take. Learn when to call it quits.
- Parkour injuries can be fatal. So avoid jumps and falls that are dangerous even if you are a master traceur. It is because fatal injuries will simply kill you if you make one wrong move.
- Always have someone look after you when you are performing parkour stunts so that they can help you if you get into a problem. It is always suggested to take lessons from some qualified trainers to avoid the worst parkour injuries that occur due to the negligence and ham-fistedness of the beginners.
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Is Parkour A Dangerous Sport?
Parkour is only as dangerous as you are stupid, says Thomas Wicker, a parkour practitioner. It is very dangerous if you do not have an idea of what you are actually doing. You need to be well aware of what techniques and tricks you will be needing in order to obtain the skills requisite for climbing all those high roofs and buildings. Adroitness in your drill comes only with practice. You do not become a pro overnight. Parkour is all about progressing by taking baby steps. When you get comfortable with this sport, it is all about learning to use your body in an efficient and creative way.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Therefore, how dangerous parkour is for you depends on the moves you are doing, your health, how safely you practice them, the environment, and your commitment to your health and fitness
In the end, it will always be better to be safe then to be sorry later. Injuries can put you out of training for a long period of time. You don’t want that to happen, do you? Even experts like David Belle and Sebastian Foucan want you to be safe when practicing Parkour.
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