“Training is one of the most neglected phases of athletics. Too much time is given to the development of skill and too little to the development of the individual for participation.”
Bruce Lee
I know skydivers and BASE jumpers who read books, watch video, ask questions, go to the tunnel for coaching, attend courses at the DZ, and practice flips into pools, all with the goal of improving their skills for the sport. Overall people seem to be hungry to develop their technique but I see little to no effort from the majority of jumpers in developing themselves physically. If anything, physical health seems to be something that people like to joke about and almost take pride in their lack of. I’m hoping that I can change that (just a little).
#Trauma
What do you think your body goes through when you have a hard opening or hard landing? Anyone who has been jumping for more than a couple months has likely seen (or felt) the effects of these events first hand. It’s definitely not something you want to happen regularly. We all know that we are participating in activities where the consequences are risky and can sometimes be fatal but we also know that we try and do our best to avoid, minimize, or train for those situations.
there is a huge disconnect in the jumping world between practicing skills and preparing your body for longevity in the sport
If you are going from just sitting around all day at home, in your car, at the DZ, then go make a jump and get rocked, the bottom line is that it’s not good for your body. That sudden trauma on your body WILL wear you down over time. Hard openings, landings, even object strikes can be less traumatic if you are better prepared for them.
I hear people complaining about blown knees, sore hips, tight low backs, and shoulder pain all the time but I don’t see many people doing anything about it. Because I own two gyms I am very conscious of doing things as safely as feasible and trying to put myself in the best possible position before I do certain things. I feel like there is a huge disconnect in the jumping world between practicing skills and preparing your body for longevity in the sport.
#Health Series
This series is my gift to the communities of Skydiving and BASE, in an effort to help everyone have longer careers with less traumatic injuries. I’m going to recommend some very simple things to do, that don’t take a lot of time. I am confident that if you do them regularly that they will help you out and make a difference long term.
#Warming up
This first edition is going to cover warming up. All the time I see people just get out of their car, go up to manifest, check the winds real quickly, then get on a load. To add to that people (in general) seem to be very diligent about performing safety checks on their gear but rarely do anything to prepare themselves physically.
How about you take 3-5 mins to do some basic moving around to get the blood going? Do you think it would be of benefit? You can add this to your personal checklist along with checking your gear, the winds, the landing area etc… and it’s going to take you less than five minutes.
I’ll be addressing more specific stuff in the coming episodes but to get started I wanted to just put out something very basic. Enjoy!
