Most people go their entire lives without learning how to fall.
Everyone takes a turn at some point.
Whether it’s a piece of ice, a trail root, a misstep off the curb, or just an unfortunate moment, falls happen to all of us. And for many people, especially as they age, a single fall can be truly life-changing. Hip fractures alone have a staggering mortality rate in older adults. About 20-30% do not survive the following year, not from the fall itself, but from the cascade of complications that follow.
So today I want to introduce you to something that I think belongs in everyone’s physical toolbox: learning how to fall safely. Or at least, learning how to fall in a way that is “less bad”. 😅
Let’s bring out your inner ninja.
The Skill Progressions
The goal of these progressions is simple: teach your body to round, absorb and redirect force.
Start on a soft surface. Carpet is fine, but if you have access to exercise mats or even a soft patch of grass outside (no hidden rocks or sticks) it’s PERFECT.
First rule of thumb: always start low to the ground. The closer you are to the ground when you start the roll, the lower the forces involved.
You gain height gradually. Just like you learn to deadlift first before adding a kajillion pounds, you want to learn technique before adding more height and tension to your rolls!
PROGRESS #1: The egg roll,
Performance Points
- Keep the knees tight to the chest to create a gentle curve in your waist
- Slowly rock from side to side
- Transition as smoothly as possible onto your back (it’s okay to let the leg open to lead so you don’t get stuck!)
The goal here is just to get you comfortable on the ground in the safest way possible and start to feel what a “smooth power transfer” feels like.
PROGRESS #2: The Rocking Horse Roll,
Performance Points
- Keep knees tightly tucked in to chest to maintain a gentle curve in your waist
- Start in a seated position
- Lean back and rock gently along your back, avoiding any ‘bouncing’ or ‘snapping’ in the movement.
- Rocks DO NOT HAVE TO BE BIG. (If you feel like you’re “thinking” any part of your tailbone or back, you’re going to be really big right now!)
Here, we learn to transfer momentum up and down the spine (and not along it). This is our last step before we learn to transfer the force diagonally, which is actually the safest option in real-world situations!
PROGRESS #3: The Half Roll,
Performance Points
- Start from a sitting position
- Lean to one side, then roll from that hip to the opposite shoulder (you want the contact to stop just below the shoulder blade)
- Reach your arms forming a triangle over that shoulder
- Roll smoothly back to the starting position
This is where we really start to see the parkour roll take shape. You can progress from sitting to standing, but take your time! There is no rush and high quality repetitions are how we really learn this skill.
PROGRESS #4: The Forward Roll,
Performance Points
- Start in a kneeling position on a soft surface. Make sure you check the area so you don’t catch anything and give yourself plenty of room.
- Using the “back triangle“ With the method, reach your arms forward and to the side to drive the back of your shoulder into the ground, keeping your chin and head tucked down and to the side.
- Slap overhead to complete the roll and exit to the opposite hip.
This move may take some time to get comfortable with. If you feel stuck, go back and practice the previous progressions again. Back to our bench analogy, once you learn how to bench a heavier weight, you don’t skip doing lighter warm-up sets!
Let’s be honest about the limits:
While learning and practicing these techniques will certainly make you safer and more resilient, they are not a silver bullet.
Getting older makes it harder to react in time. Most dangerous falls are surprises and your window to execute the technique can be a split second or less. Sometimes, you won’t be able to perform a perfect forward roll. Reaction speed decreases with age and flexibility factors in here as well.
This is also the reason Bone density and muscle mass matter a lot and why we sing the praises of strength training for people of all ages. Rolling technique and physical durability are neither/or. They stack up.
Eventually, we can start practicing scrolling from different angles and different entry points so that the skill can be applied more widely.
,
You won’t always be in the perfect position to roll, but being more comfortable with distributing force across the ground and protecting your head and neck is still something that’s very useful to learn.
When to practice
Rolling practice fits naturally into a dynamic warm-up or can be its own short session. One thing worth noting: Learn this when you’re fresh, not at the end of a workout. You acquire a motor skill and tired nervous systems don’t learn well. Give it the attention it deserves. ❤️ This is one of those things that may take a few weeks or a few months of practice to get, but once you get it, it doesn’t take much to maintain.
You got this. 💪
– Math
PS Looking for practical, real advice without all the BS? This is exactly ours training program is built upon. 🔥
