How to Protect Knees in Parkour

Parkour practitioners rely on moves like vault jumps, pop vaults and 360 tic-tacs to move fluidly from one obstacle to another. Landings like the forward drop, drop jumps and the straight landing are just as essential. The shock of an impact landing can cause knee injuries and put your parkour training on hold while you recover. Protect your knees and prevent joint damage by using protective gear, warming up your muscles and learning the proper mechanics before attempting tall drops.

Things You'll Need

  • 2 knee straps
  • 2 knee protectors
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Instructions

  1. Basic Knee Protection

    • 1

      Warm up and stretch for at least 20 minutes before you practice parkour. This loosens your muscles and improves your flexibility, reducing the potential for an injury. Jog lightly and stretch out your limbs.

    • 2

      Wear knee straps and knee protectors to help prevent an injury. Attach knee straps just below your kneecap for support and place flexible knee protectors or braces over them. Choose a brace that has an opening for the kneecap and allows for free movement.

    • 3

      Increase the frequency, intensity and difficulty of your parkour sessions gradually. Parkour practitioners often suffer joint injuries when they attempt advanced moves without mastering beginner's techniques. Likewise, attempting a two-hour parkour session when you are accustomed to working out for 30 minutes can lead to knee injuries.

    • 4

      Vary your training course and routine. Avoid performing the same repetitive movements for the entire training session, because this can place too much stress on your knee joints. Train on a variety of surfaces, instead of just hard surfaces, which increase the shock of the impact.

    Proper Mechanics

    • 5

      Practice short drops until you have mastered them before moving on to dropping from a distance. Teach your body the proper techniques and perfect your landings before risking serious knee injuries by dropping from a tall object.

    • 6

      Position your body with the proper alignment before and during a drop and landing. Keep your feet beneath you and in line with your knees, which should be in line with your hips. Face your upper body in the same direction as your lower body. Twisting your knees or splaying a foot out to one side can strain the knees and cause an impact injury.

    • 7

      Land on the balls of your feet, rather than the heels. This lessens the shock that the impact will place on your knees.

    • 8

      Bend your knees immediately upon landing from a drop. Do not allow them to bend past a 90-degree angle. If you have too much momentum, rock forward naturally onto your hands before pushing off from the ground and resuming your run.

    • 9

      Roll on the ground on your shoulder and then on the lower body and derriere. Avoid rolling on the spine and do not allow your knees to make contact with the ground.