First came the aunt parkour, the walking soccer and this week the walking parkour was started in Umeå. There, both men and women will be able to challenge their bodies in a playful way.
“Using your abilities is so important, otherwise you lose them,” says physiotherapist and initiator Anne Lidén from Umeå Gymnastikförening.
On a cool morning in Umeå, about 30 seniors meet in the parkour park to balance, crawl and climb.
– I don’t think exercise is needed for the elderly in the real sense, without using your body, says Anne Lidén, physiotherapist and initiator from Umeå Gymnastikförening.
The Tantparkour Instagram account has just over 50,000 followers, and walking football also attracts seniors to exercise. In Umeå, the initiator Anne Lidén wanted everyone to be included, so she started the Gåparkour project where everyone over 65 can join, not just those who call themselves aunts. Both the Swedish Gymnastics Federation and the Swedish Sports Confederation support the project with money.
“Feels like a child again”
The first time everyone meets, Anne’s father, Anders Lidén, is also with:
– You feel like a child again and you can see that in everyone else who is here. But bending down is hard when your body is stiff, he says, smiling.
Everyone works at their own pace and the mood seems to be at its best. Eva-Marie Andersson challenges herself a little extra and likes to climb the different walls of the parkour park.
– This was fun. You become happy and you can handle more than you think, she says.
“It should be fun to move”
Anne Lidén hopes that many will continue on the course, which runs during the summer.
– I think that everyone can go out and look for obstacles in the environment and try to get past them, it should be fun to move, Anne Lidén concludes.