Rest Day, Ankle Conditioning and Commitment
by ZombieFit on Dec.19, 2009, under Rest day
Rest Day!
So while I was doing the posted WOD two days ago (the 21-15-9 of precisions, double unders and pull ups) I completely bailed on the third precision of my first set of 21. It brought to mind two things:
Ankle Conditioning. This is extremely important in parkour. You MUST have strong ankles. There are several ways to achieve this, but I’m only going to talk about the two I think are most important.
1. Strength training. Strength training, specifically weight lifting, has been proven to increase bone density. When your bones are more dense, i.e. thicker, they are stronger. If you don’t believe me, believe the Mayo Clinic. By performing heavy weighted movements, such as the squat, deadlift, weighted pistols and clean and jerks, you will increase your bone density in your lower body. It should be obvious that the stronger your bones are, the more difficult it will be to injure them.
2. Conditioning your tibialis anterior and calf muscles. The goal of any traceur is not to land on the heel or midsole of the foot if at all possible. You should always try to land on the balls of your feet. By doing this, you are distributing the force of the impact up through your musculature instead of you skeletal system. As I’m sure you’re aware, muscles are more elastic than bones. They can distribute force better and with less injury. In order to properly condition your tibialis anterior (the front muscle on your shin) and your calf, all you need to know are toe and heel raises. You can do these at home, in school or even waiting in line at the grocery store. Here is an awesome video showing how to properly condition your ankles:
When I bailed I was jumping six feet across and up about half a foot to land on a ledge. I half-assed the movement, for whatever reason, and my back foot landed sideways, with the outside edge bent inwards and impacted the ledge. Needless to say, this hurt. Luckily I was able to walk it off and complete the workout. I believe that I did not hurt myself solely because of the ankle conditioning mentioned above. But this brings up something that I wanted to talk about.
Commitment
This isn’t about a relationship or a loan term. It is about committing yourself to every move you do, no matter how small. Not only is this the smartest thing to do for your physiological health, but also as it helps you to build that internal discipline necessary to become better at parkour.
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Rest Day: 01/16/10 | ZombieFit
March 3rd, 2011 on 9:33 am[...] by rich on Jan.16, 2010, under Rest day Rest Day! If you missed a day complete one of the past WODs. If you’ve been working out like a maniac since the beginning of the year, make sure you know that rest is absolutely imperative in any workout program. For a more in-depth post on the subject, as well as the importance of ankle conditioning, please check out this post. [...]
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December 19th, 2009 on 11:31 pm
Besides the ankle I’m glad he addressed the shins. Being someone who often suffers from shin splints i can verify they suck.
December 20th, 2009 on 11:58 am
Yeah, I’ve had them before as well, and they effing kill! Do your toe raises, and start concentrating on how you run when you train. Don’t run heel-toe. Run like you would barefoot and only use the balls of your feet. This helps with force distribution, and also encourages good running form, which is often the cause of shin splints.
December 20th, 2009 on 10:02 pm
Great post, and good video. This should help a lot!