Strong motor skills are critical to parkour and other freerunning disciplines. Participants must be agile, coordinated and in control of their bodies at all times to execute complex maneuvers and keep themselves safe.
Here are five ways parkour enthusiasts can improve their motor skills and take their stunts to the next level.
1. Strengthen Your Grip
Grip strength is a crucial part of our motor skills and overall health. Strong hand and forearm muscles allow parkour practitioners to latch onto smaller holds and thus expand their stunt varieties. Plus, if you find yourself hanging from a precarious ledge, you will have the strength to hang on for another few seconds and propel yourself upward to the next obstacle.
Add some forearm isolation exercises to your training routine and apply key workout fundamentals to build your grip strength through other exercises like pull-ups. The forearms might experience temporary soreness after the first few days, but once they get used to the extra weight and stimulation, you will quickly notice an improvement in your performance.
2. Do Hand-Eye Coordination Activities
There are many opportunities to do small hand-eye coordination exercises throughout the day and improve our motor skills. Drawing and cooking are great hobbies to pick up, but you can also get creative with other activities:
- Gardening
- Sewing
- Origami
- Puzzles
- Jacks
- Stacking coins
These exercises challenge your hand speed and accuracy, both of which are essential for parkour. Parkourists can move from obstacle to obstacle with more confidence that their hands will find the right spot.
3. Try New Sports
Many other sports can help parkour enthusiasts develop their motor skills and become more well-rounded runners. Games with bats and rackets that require accuracy are especially beneficial:
- Baseball
- Tennis
- Ping Pong
- Pickleball
- Cricket
Players have to make sudden changes of direction and hit or catch the ball at full speed – the perfect set of challenges for parkourists. These games also have unique fields of play with obstacles like bases and nets that freerunners of all kinds can appreciate. Plus, playing multiple sports is a great idea for athletes regardless of their primary sport.
4. Play Video Games
Despite their sedentary nature, video games are great ways to work on your motor skills. You don’t even have to be proficient with the latest video game technology to notice quick results. Just a few weeks of playing simple games like Pong and Tetris will improve your coordination in other activities.
Advanced games like first and third-person shooters will also have similar effects, as you need to make quick decisions and precise controller movements. Just make sure you don’t play for too long. You don’t want to compromise your fitness or develop bad gaming habits. A few hours a week is more than enough stimulation to improve your motor skills.
5. Mix Up the Terrain
The true mark of an expert parkourist is an ability to navigate all natural and artificial terrains. If you want to build well-rounded motor skills, you need to get out of your comfort zone and try new obstacle courses. Leave the urban playgrounds and seek greater challenges in the wild.
Mountains, forests and other environments might be more unpredictable and dangerous than controlled parkour settings, but the heightened risk will force you to be more precise with your movements. The wider variety of holds will also give your motor skills a fresh challenge. Once a parkourist gets comfortable navigating nature, artificial courses will feel like a walk in the park.
Work On Your Motor Skills Every Day
The best thing about these five tips is that parkourists can add each of them to their routines without overhauling their current schedules. Every day is an opportunity to work on their motor skills in all five ways. Practice these tips consistently to maximize the benefits and become the best parkourist you can be.