Retirement is not just about logging into your slow living era. Increasingly, individuals are trying to do more than just sit and are moving a little beyond walks and yoga. In Singapore, retirees are ready to climb over walls and maybe jump over park benches, too.
It’s called “geriatric parkour.”
For the uninitiated, parkour is essentially an urban sport where people vault over walls, leap across gaps, and move through their surroundings with speed and agility. Remember those slick action-movie scenes where someone jumps from over rooftop to make a quick escape – yes, it’s that. Only, in real life, it’s far less dramatic and more controlled.
Now imagine people in their 60s and 70s doing it. Ummm…what about brittle bones, bad knees, and the ever-present fear of a fall?
That fear is exactly what this practice is trying to work around.
Parkour, but make it geriatric
The geriatric version of parkour is a slower, highly controlled version of the discipline that focusses less on daredevil stunts and more on building balance, coordination and confidence.
Parkour coach Tan Shie Boon has been coaching Singapore’s ageing population for nearly a decade. What’s changed now is that there is a little more buzz, a little more awareness, and a little more activity around it. According to an AFP report, Boon’s students share “feeling more alive” and fitter than ever before.
In a way, it goes beyond conventional thinking about ageing—not by avoiding risk altogether, but by learning how to handle it.
“True geriatric parkour is far removed from the physical activity of leaping from building to building. Instead, it involves training the body to adapt to instability—walking over obstacles, improving balance, falling safely, and getting back up. These are very practical skills that we often lack training in,” says Dr Vaibhav Bagaria, director in orthopaedics and joint replacement, Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital.
Dr Arun Manjunatha Swamy, consultant orthopaedics and joint replacement surgeon at SPARSH Hospital, adds that when adapted safely under professional supervision, such movement-based training can be highly beneficial for older adults.
“The main idea should be training in functional movement inspired by parkour, not traditional parkour itself, making it accessible, gradual and medically guided.”
Interestingly, the idea isn’t entirely new to India. As Dr Bagaria points out, traditional practices like dand-baithak, mallakhamb, and akhada training have long emphasised functional strength, balance and recovery.
And yet, with changing time and tide, not only did the practice fade, but so did the concept behind it. And parkour can be just a new addition in the mix.
Why parkour works
Fitness for seniors has long been associated with playing it safe, and this breaks that stereotypical notion. While the buzz hasn’t reached Singapore levels yet, Indian seniors aren’t entirely unfamiliar with the idea.
Prabhu Mani, a Chennai-based parkour coach and founder of Parkour Circle, has noticed a shift in his two-decade-long career.
“We’ve had a lot of people above 50s-60s who’ve been curious about parkour. They walk in when they see us training, talk to us, and want to try.”
Mani makes a case for geriatric parkour.
“The elderly who come for parkour are still in the early stages of exploring movement, the environment, and connecting the mind and body. The principles of parkour remain the same, but we customise the routine according to the group.” It’s not all as dramatic like the movies.
Instead of making one big jump, doing small movements consistently may prevent weakening of muscles. But it has to be structured and progressive.
“When older adults avoid movement, they lose muscle strength, joint flexibility, and balance making them more vulnerable to instability and sudden falls,” Dr Swamy adds. Studies highlight that poor balance is a key reason older adults fall. It relies on the body’s ability to sense its position and respond quickly to stay steady.
And parkour helps with better response and body coordination.
Expanding on this, Mani explains, “When the body is falling or tripping, it usually freezes, tightens up to protect itself, which makes the fall more awkward. Most fractures or injuries come from that natural response. Parkour teaches you to relax and move. You may not always prevent the fall, but you’ll be in a better state of mind to respond and reduce injury. There’s also resilience in the body because you’re used to moving through different ranges.”
So, when a fall or slip happens, it’s not new to the body, it results in a mild strain rather than a serious injury.
The 2 C’s
Consistency and confidence.
In India, ageing is often tied to the idea of “taking it easy.” But that caution can quickly turn into inactivity building fear, weakening muscles, and increasing the risk of falls.
That’s where confidence comes in.
“We usually start outdoors to build trust in their own ability. Mats can help, but people may get dependent on them and feel unsure outdoors,” says Mani. Training in real environments, he adds, helps people move more freely and confidently.
The second piece is consistency. Even a weekly session, paired with walks or light workouts, can make a difference. For most older adults, it’s less about intensity and more about rediscovering movement.
And often, that’s all it takes.
Beyond fitness, it’s like a social ritual. It gets people outdoors, builds community, and offers retirees a routine that helps keep loneliness at bay.
India can take notes
As the world chases trends, Singapore’s seniors are embracing functional fitness—moving with balance, agility and confidence in everyday life, rather than just counting steps.
In fact, experts suggest that taking to such sports early on (Gen Z and millennials, we are looking at you) can help develop stronger bones, better neuromuscular control, and injury resilience over time. “In a country like India, where fall-related injuries in seniors are continuously rising, such structured movement programmes can be valuable,” Dr Swamy adds.
We’ve already seen viral videos of grandmothers powerlifting their way through their gym sesh. Pretty inspiring. So, why not add geriatric parkour to that list of functional training too?
– Ends
Source link
[ad_3]
