Injury prevention

These notes combine advice from 434 reviewed passages across 183 workouts.

Overview

Warming up and the risky parts of a workout

Safe landings and falls

The practice area and equipment

When practicing forward movement toward a wall, stand slightly farther away so the wall catches you.

Strength and joint protection

Flexibility needs strength

Progression and pacing

Coaching and spotting

In his own arm-wrestling matches, he noticed that the activity concentrates a great deal of load on a single point.

In his own compression training, he uses only the technique he considers safe, because applying force in the other variation can lead to very bad outcomes.

The coach recalls falling on his neck once; a doctor checked it and said his neck was sound.

The coach claims these exercises can protect the neck from a fracture or similar injury.

In his own training, the coach once over-rotated his neck while cracking it and had severe pain that lasted a long time.

The coach once had the habit of bending at the waist to pick things up and needed two to three weeks to replace it with the knee-bending pattern.

The coach’s former b-boy acquaintances who performed knee spins later had meniscus surgery.

In breaking, the coach never put his knee on the ground, while friends who performed knee-loaded break moves later underwent surgery.

In his own training, the coach once tried to break the record in ‘fly,’ a rotating movement supported on the arms. He reached thirty-five repetitions; the world record is forty-six.

After thirty repetitions of fly, each further repetition feels like death. The lower back gets a stabbing pain, and the shoulder and arm hurt and go numb because the body is supported only on the arms.

His concern about impacts, especially on the knees and ankles, is why he usually avoids parkour.

The first fall was easy enough that he could save it even on concrete.

In his own training, he did arm wrestling for about three months and experienced severe arm discomfort. He does not recommend pursuing it beyond casual play.

In his own training, the coach held the flare incorrectly once and his wrist was affected for about three months.

In his own training, the coach found the second back-lever entry variation could trap a body part.

In his own training, the coach had training-related pain that disappeared after stretching; entering a work movement without warming up hurt badly.

The coach used to warm up little in his own training.

The coach pushed his flexibility extremely hard for about a year and suffered a tear because the gained range was not his natural flexibility.

In his own training, the coach has noticed that as his wrist gets stronger, he loses flexibility in that area, and he attributes his three major injuries to not pulling the wrist back. He also once stopped a movement for two months and then loaded it on return, which caused a problem because the movement had regressed.

In his own experience, most of the coach’s major injuries happened at the end of training or while walking down stairs in everyday life, not in the middle of a session. He was told by his father that if he got injured he would have to deal with it himself, and he calls that the best motivation.

In his own training, the coach worked at a gym where students trained without a program. In the year before he arrived, 44 students were injured. In the year he was there, only one student was injured. He attributes the drop to correct, structured training.

In his own training, the coach tried to progress something too quickly and tore the tissue in his wrist, which taught him a lesson.

The coach attributes a strain he experienced to inadequate warm-up and to continuing into the movement after noticing the problem.

Before entering advanced movements, he warms his wrists, elbows, shoulders, and lower back for about ten minutes, then does a handstand before starting. He could enter directly, but he knows the risk is very high. When he starts something he had not done until the age of 30 or 35, he recommends being more cautious because the body is not accustomed to it. In his own training, entering Elfay involves a very fast leg swing, which can create a collision risk for nearby people.

In his own training, the coach moved from a soft matted area to a much more slippery floor and lost his footing during acrobatics. He advises assessing the surface before attempting acrobatics, since a much more slippery floor increases the risk of losing footing.

Further guidance

Injury prevention in this training style follows a few specific guidelines. If the wrists are not fully warmed up, do the first Spartan as a grounded, non-jumping version because the jumping version places more load on the body. Keep wall-balance practice to about five minutes so the shoulders are not loaded too much before moving to the bar. In the back lever, draw the body inward and take the arms back, keeping scapular protection instead of opening the arms wide. If the handstand turns, bail out with a cartwheel toward the open space. After a high landing, avoid stopping abruptly: the teacher says this sends the impact into the knees, is harmful to them, and is a common cause of injury. In the back-extension drill, look toward the ceiling rather than forward, which the teacher says protects the neck from injury.

Handstand and headstand safety

Cartwheel as a bailout skill

Loading and joint protection

Stretching and mobility

Everyday lifting and posture

Environment and awareness

Recovery and rest

Neck care

Back and lifting

Joints and mobility

Knee care

Handstand safety

Training space and equipment

Warm-up and programming

Floor work and hip safety

Effort and preparation

Wrist, shoulder, and joint care

Close the fist with the thumb engaged over the fingers so the thumb can contribute force, instead of the common amateur grip that gives no power.

Handstands, bars, and exits

Falls, landings, and surroundings

Session timing and warm-up

Strength before advanced skills

Wrist protection

Back and lifting habits

Stretching safely

Load control

Movement-specific safety

Warm-up and preparation

Gradual progression and load management

Technique and joint protection

Bailouts and safe exits

Landings and descents

High-risk activities

Progressive loading and programming

Protecting the shoulders

Planche and bridge safety

Wrists and handstands

Controlled exits and descents

Flexibility and stretching

Space and surroundings

Safe exits and bailouts

Wrist care

Lower back and deadlift

Protecting the biceps

Knees

Loading, progression, and practice safety

A bridge descent looks frightening at first, but it becomes easier once you get used to it.

Attention and mindset

Technique and positioning

Progressions and foundations

Bailouts and falling

Bar skills and grip

Preparation and recovery

Loading and lifting

Skill progression and preparation

Protecting specific areas

Balance and environment safety

Stopping when form breaks down

Caution and mindset

Movement technique

Use the lower support height and correct technique to avoid problems when performing Bulgarian split squats with weight. In the burpee-to-reverse-lunge sequence, bring the knee slowly toward the floor and avoid dropping it forcefully. Maintain breathing and avoid stretching the neck. Pay close attention to technique when performing squats; the movement can be problematic. For the movement called hand lies push-up, place the chest on the floor after each repetition, lift the hands only slightly, and do not load them if they touch the floor to avoid wrist injury. Keep the guard up while punching because dropping the fist leaves the face exposed to an opponent’s strike. A crooked or misaligned punch can bend the wrist and lead to wrist pain, so practice straight punching technique. Keep the area behind you clear and stay alert when performing a kick-up. Raise an object slowly when it travels vertically toward the head to reduce the risk of striking the head.