by Erika Brooke

            After straining my ankle…again, it became clear that ankle health is a key component to my active lifestyle.  I confined myself to the house for the day with my foot up on ice and decided to share all I could to help other traceurs avoid injury.  I’m just beginning further education toward a medical career so this is all pretty exciting stuff for me.  I’ll try to simplify and recap without being too dry and boring.  Truly, I believe the more you understand about what is going on under your skin, the more you can learn to control it.

Some Key Muscles

            There are a lot of muscles in the leg.  Two of my favorites are the flexor hallucis longus and the extensor hallucis longus because they make me think of Beatrix Kiddo in the movie “Kill Bill” when she says, “wiggle your big toe,” after she’s dragged herself to the pussy wagon, but hopefully your big toes are working fine.  In the lower leg, below the knee there are twelve muscles on most people, that’s a lot, and realistically I want to break it down to basics.  There are two large muscles that run down the back of your leg, your gastrocnemius (simply gastroc) and the soleus (shaped like a big flat fish), that are the bulk of the calf muscle and the pulley in the second class lever, a really cool bodily system used all the time in parkour.  We’ve also got the tibialis anterior that runs down and over your shin to the inside of your ankle.  And lastly there’s the peronius longus that runs down the outside of your leg in line with the crease in your pants and to the outside of your ankle.  There are a lot of ligaments holding your foot together.  If you sprain your ankle it is the ligaments you’ve torn (while a strain is torn muscle).  But ligaments just hold our bones together and hang out.  We don’t contract them the way we do muscles.  So in terms of components that you have the power to strengthen, these four muscles, gastroc, soleus, tibialis ant. and peronius l. are your keys to ankle support. 

The Magnificent 2^nd Class Lever 

            Technically, the ankle is a hinge joint with only two movement options.  It opens and closes, flexing and extending the ankle.  All that twisty other motion you do when you rotate your ankle is articulation between bones further down in the foot.  This hinge joint is most stable when the foot is fully flexed because of how the tibia and fibula articulate with the talus (them dry bones version: how the shin bones articulate with the ankle bone).   The shin bones firmly grasp and sit on top of the talus in a flexed position.  But when the foot is pointed the shin bones are rocked back onto the narrowest end of the ankle bone.  A lot of other animals like cats and dogs, are built to move around on tiptoe all the time.  It has the advantage of giving them extra height to see and smell further, and the ability to take longer steps.  But we humans are built for a firm flat footed stance.  Running and jumping on tiptoe is possible for us but a secondary option.  Moving on tiptoe is primarily powered by the calf muscles, gastroc and soleus.  In the second class lever you have the “load” (your body) between the “force” (your calf muscles) and the “fulcrum” (your tiptoes) as you bound along through your urban landscape.  The calf muscles are used for both the push off and the landing of all your steps on tiptoe.  So the calf needs to be both strong and flexible. 

The Anatomical Stirrup Holds it Together

            While the second class lever is the power in your jump and the stabilizing force in your landing the anatomical stirrup extends more stability down into the jumble of bones that is your foot.  Just what it sounds like the anatomical stirrup, tibialis anterior and peronius longus, pull up on the bottom of your foot like you’re standing in stirrups.  They work with the architecture of the bones in your foot which is a series of arches.  As you look at your foot you might notice the larger arch on the inside of your foot, were there is no callus between the heel and base of the big toe.  This is your medial arch.  There is also a lateral arch on the sole between your heel and your little toe.  These arches, like any arch you see on a building or bridge, carries the weight of your body to the ground.  Whether standing or in motion, all your weight travels to the ground through these arches.  The anatomical stirrup muscles cross the ankle joint and pass through these arches to attach to the bottom of your foot.  The tibialis ant. runs from the front of your shin to the inside ankle and through the medial arch, attaching to the medial cuneiform and the base of the first metatarsal (two of the bones just under you big toe).  When engaged, this muscle exerts a force to pull the bottoms of your feet in toward each other.  The peronius l. runs along the outside of the leg from the top of the smaller shin bone, the fibula, along the outside of your ankle, and through the lateral arch of your foot.  It attaches to the same bones at the base of the big toe.  The peronius l. exerts an opposite force to the tibialis anterior, rolling your feet outward.  So these two muscles together should be trained to pull evenly on your feet to prevent rolling your ankles and straining your knees.

Exercises to increase flexibility and strength

            After dropping a heap of knowledge on you, here are some ways to transfer this new awareness into a self care routine.  By the book, you would want to do these exercises lying down on your back and barefoot, but you can also do some variations of these anywhere at any time.  While standing or sitting.  In addition to any warm up routine you already do.  I do these while doing wrist and shoulder rolls because it fits in nicely and adds a little balancing into the mix.  Whatever works for you is totally fine. If you do these on your back, tuck one knee to your chest. 

            Begin by rotating your ankle slowly and fully in as wide a circle as you can.  As you take deep slow breaths you should complete half the circle with an inhale and the other half with an exhale.  Do as many reps as you like, at least 3 on each ankle.  This exercise alternately stretches and activates all the muscles that mobilize the ankle joint and foot.  As you work through the rotation you can feel and get to know these muscles better. 

            Next flex your foot and as if you’re pushing through play-dough.  You want to articulate each joint in your foot and toes until the foot is pointed and the top of you foot is in line with your shin.  Just as slowly bring it back to fully flexed.  Again both feet 3 times or more.  This one is mostly a second class lever exercise. 

            The last one is much better done in bare feet.  It is to strengthen the medial and lateral arches.  Begin with the foot flexed again and pretend to grip a pencil in your toes, between the toes and the ball of your foot.  Then flex the foot fully again pulling your toes far up toward your knee.  Do this 3 times or more.

Caring for the Injured

            When you do hurt your ankles there are a few things you can do.  Keep in mind that if you hurt yourself and keep going there will be more tissue damage, which translates to more pain and a longer healing process.  The Rest Ice Compression Elevation formula (R.I.C.E.) is the tried and true formula for any sprain or strain.  Apply ice for 10-20 minutes at a time and wrap it so it has some extra support.  I find the most difficult task is the rest.  But if you can take a day off and play video games, or board games, or read that novel you never have time for, I highly recommend it because it will get you recovered faster and decrease your likelihood of re-injury.  Elevation can mean throwing your foot up on the coffee table and even putting an extra pillow under your ankle to elevate it when you sleep at night.  Because ankle injuries often involve ligaments they can take a long time to heal.  As you return to normal activity level I recommend you keep an ankle brace or wrap handy in case it begins to feel sore or tender so you can give it a little extra support and avoid reinjury.

            Injuries can be caused by improper training, misalignment, or unfamiliar terrain.  If you’re used to training on a certain surface and you go somewhere new you may want to take it slow at first to accustom yourself to a different level of give in the ground, or a larger gap or a different slope.  Most people have a dominant leg and some people have different leg lengths or pelvic or spinal bone misalignments.  Sometimes a chiropractor might be able to help with this problem.  Sometimes it’s just something to be aware of and work with.  Make sure you train your body evenly on both sides as much as possible.  Part of training hard is proper rest.  Stretch, drink plenty of water, eat well, and get enough sleep.  Take time to rest and heal so you will be strong and fully present on the days you train. 

Resources:

                These are my sources, just the top of the iceburg of information.

                “The Anatomy Coloring Book” by Wynn Kapit and Lawrence M Elson. 2^nd edition, “Trail Guid to the Body” by Andrew Biel. 3^rd edition, “The Balanced Body” by Donald W. Scheumann. 3^rd edition, “Clinically Oriented Anatomy” by Keith L Moore and Arthur F Dalley. 5^th edition, and “The Human Body Book” by Steve Parker.

Last Saturday, the 8th of November, I met with Jake for the first time to work with him on learning the fundamentals of training parkour. We began our day of basics at Gasworks Park–a popular training ground for Seattle traceurs–starting with running to get our blood circulating and followed immediately by a solid quadrupedal movement conditioning session on a section of stairways by the waterfront. From there we moved to practicing rolls, jumping and landing, and precision, then moved over to vaulting techniques and balance. Overall it was a good few hours of overview, focused on the importance of conditioning and essential training technique.

A bit from Jake’s training log on the Washington Parkour forums:

I started parkour for personal reasons, and took serious steps for academic reasons, let’s see how it turns out!

November:
Week One (technically week 2):
So, today I met up with [Brandee] at Gas Works Park and here’s my recap:

What I learned:
1. an awesome conditioning routing
2. tips on how to roll, jump and vault
3. improvements on jumping and landing

Goals for this week:
1. try to increase amount of conditioning using [Brandee's] tips
2. dedicate a minimum of 10 minutes to practicing rolls while out practicing …

After training we hit the NWCrossfit Gym in Greenlake to check out the facility and meet some local traceurs attending the weekly parkour class taught by Tyson and Rafe of the PNWPA. Unfortunately, we hit the very end of class (free every second Saturday after the regular class,) and so missed out on the training of the day there, but we were able to make the PNWPA board meeting, which had a large turnout and yielded plenty of good information and progress within the association.

All around it was a great day for training parkour and I am strongly looking forward to working wtih Jake and experiencing the improvement that’s sure to come for both of us while training together.

Cheers to all and safe training!

Me Working

My name is Tim and recently I had the opportunity to work with Rafe Kelley and Erwan Le Corre in France, on the island of Corsica. For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been pointing my video camera at parkour practitioners for the last couple years mostly in Portland, where I live, but occasionally in Washington as well (here are a few I’ve shot). This incredible trip came about because Erwan came to Washington to teach about his method of training called MovNat. I found his concepts interesting, so I went and shot the two day clinic, and after than Erwan asked if I wished to join him in Corsica to shoot a more substantial piece. Unfortunately for the moment I cannot really share much of the work I did in Corsica because the MovNat site is still being prepared. But even so I hope some of this will be inspiring to you, to again reconsider your surroundings either urban or rural, and realize there is always, always somewhere to train.

For the first week of the trip, Rafe was there, working with Erwan on all the MovNat texts and also demonstrating various “combos” by himself and also doing collaborative tasks with Erwan. Combos seem like a really effective way to train your body in a number of ways very quickly and is one of the aspects of this type of physical training that I found most interesting.

We started shooting at a junkyard kind of place, using cinderblocks, truck wheels, and assorted other stuff laying around to create various obstacles, strengthening, and coordination exercises.
Aside from building and shooting stuff there, we also went around to a nice beach for some sparring and some swimming and some coordination exercises. The landscape in Corsica is really amazing and the water is very blue. The thing that makes the landscape so interesting is that Corsica is essentially a big rock sticking out of the Mediterranean Sea so there are amazing rock formations and boulders, steep rivers and gorges everywhere. Basically the first week of my trip consisted of going to various amazing places and setting up shots with Rafe and Erwan. Along the way we discovered some old factories that also provided interesting places to train at.

Rafe and Erwan

Building stuff

Rafe

Beach

Rafe climbing

Training river

Rafe in Piana

Crazy rocks

Rafe in a rock

Old factory

Running from the sky fire

Rafe jumping

Rafe lifting

GR20 trail

GR20 trail

GR20 just like PNW

Mount Cinto trail

Mount Cinto summit

Erwan in a tree

Camping

Erwan on cliffs

Erwan by river

Sunset

Stormy sea

Thanks for reading.

The reason this is so important is that we are now eligible for tax deductible donations, most goverment and federal grants, support from other likeminded NPOs and corporations, and most importantly it shows our commitment to serving the parkour community through our projects and initiatives!

More to come! For now if you want to help you can donate directly through google checkout or contact us to find out what you can do.

We’ll now be able to take back the things we learned about Cowen to the WAPK community (what is safe for training and what is not), add more opportunities for volunteer work for our members (in the loose sense of the word since we haven’t opened membership yet), and followup with the Recreation folks to see what sort of classes, events, and structures we could help get going there!

In other words, this event will be a huge success.

We met at the amazing Powell’s books in downtown Portland, a throwback to the last time we met there almost four years ago at the very start of would eventually become ORPK (back when I was still in highschool in the area, before moving to Seattle). We had a very diverse group of traceurs there with two of them even remaining from the old group. I think I ended up stealing most of the discussion by talking on and on for a few hours straight, but we did manage to discuss a bit about where Oregon is currently and what the PNWPA may be able to do to help to get them where they want to be.

All it all I think it went well and It was so great seeing all of the guys again. Hopefully this means I’ll be heading down there more often, Portland is such an amazing city for Parkour! If anyone is in the area and wants to contribute to ORPK’s “making things happen” group, let me know!

When the PNWPA first opened up classes at NW Crossfit we had an absolutely amazing first class with a lot people there. In the weeks that followed though we found that most of those people at the first class were our supporting friends in the WAPK parkour community who loved what we were doing but weren’t really interested in taking beginner classes themselves (they’d already gained most of that through the community).

So class attendance was low those first few weeks but we kept pushing forward with our set policies of everyone’s first class being free and every second Saturday of every month having a free community beginner class. We built another vault box and several more precision trainers and painted them all a nice royal blue color.

Well I still don’t think we’ve managed to raise enough money to pay our initial costs yet (about half of the class fees go to the PNWPA right now) but I’m calling the classes a success anyway. The reason being we just had another excellent free beginner class and this time it wasn’t filled entirely by our friends but by a bunch of awesome new people who were absolutely thrilled that we were running something like this. I was teaching mostly by myself this time as Rafe is in Nice, France but the format expanded nicely to fit the 20 or so people there and scaled to both the absolute beginners and our apprentice instructors quite well.

Not to mention that without really much promotion at all the classes have already been featured on TV through AOTS as well as online through the Seattlest Weekend Edition.

Photos from Flickr sets: NW Crossfit Classes, and PNWPA

In practical terms, Leave No Trace is both about advocacy and personal responsibility. It means that you as the traceur are respectful of property and don’t leave smudge marks from your shoes on a park wall, and it means that together we advocate for shoe manufacturers to develop non-marking shoes. It means that you as the traceur know which equipment in your local playground can handle your high-impact Parkour practice, and it means that together we work with playground designers and suppliers to install equipment that adults can use too.

You can find detailed information on the Leave No Trace project page where we outline the specific steps that every traceur should take to keep Parkour safe and unregulated. As we continue to develop advocacy plans we’ll update the project page. In the mean time we welcome your feedback and ideas.