Topic: A few quetions for anyone who will take pitty on me

[Opiclops9]

Hey so I read the other threads on this page and hoped that maybe someone experienced would answer a few of my questions.

I am a fifteen year old who is essentially a nerd and who hates conventional/organized sports. I basically just got tired of doing what I've been doing with my life up until this point and Parkour seems pretty cool to me (I've loved climbing on and jumping off stuff since I could walk). I'm not overweight at all (I have a hummingbird metabolism) but I am also not in great shape and not that flexible. Should I only work on exercises for right now, or should I start on landing rolls and vaults as well? Also, I have a condition called "growth hormone deficiency" which is a big way of saying that I am very short for my age due to delayed bone growth. I use a growth hormone drug that replaces the deficient hormones and causes me to grow at a rate of about 4" a year. Because of the extreme growth I often have joint pain, especially in my knees, if I am on my feet for too long. I am not trying to whine here; my question is should I refrain from any parkour activities because of these issues, and will my height affect my parkour abilities?

Any and all replies/suggestions are appreciated.

Also if anyone who is interested in Parkour happens to live in or near Inwood or Martinsburg, WV please leave me a message, because as of now, I don't  even know anyone who knows that parkour exists.

Thanks,
Opiclops9

[ZacharyCohn]

Hey Opi,

First things first - I lived your lifestyle for most of middle school. I hated organize sports, gym was lame, and when I came home I'd sit infront of the computer (which wasn't bad! I learned a lot there) the rest of the evening.

The first step to breaking out is finding something you really enjoy. For me, it was Taekwondo. For you, you're breaking right into Parkour. That's great

Because of your condition, I would stay away from drops and impact training of any difficulty for a while until you've done a LOT of conditioning. Start with the APK Warm up. Once you can do that, start doing any of the the APK workouts that you can do. Make sure that after every workout session, you stretch. Dynamic stretching before, static stretching after. Read Muse's great post on stretching here. This will help greatly with improving flexibility.

I would still consult a doctor and get their opinion on your involvement in sports and physical activities.

[KC Parsons]

Well, I'm on my phone atm, so it's harder for me to do, but I suggest looking up Growth Hormone on wikipedia and seeing all the roles it plays, so you can see the weaknesses and strengths.
Without getting too indepth, QM a lot!

[steve0berry]

im in martinsburg

[BackflipKing]

Lots of ice man!

[Jeff West]

Well like stated above you need to condition a lot and qm a lot.  I would say to practice vaults and rolls as long as it doesn't cause pain but no big drops.  Consalt a doctor first though.

[ZacharyCohn]

No necroposting please, thanks.