Parkour for Life!

[N3ji]

Nice man...I recently started Parkour myself....unfortunately I have no one where I live who does it too so there are no groups or such...but I dont care since its soo much fun.....in one word i think parkour is just "FREEDOM!"

Was wondering if you could give me tips to improve standing on your hands....its great for abdominal muscles....

[hyper_shadow]

Handstands are rock solid mate. And personally I aint the best person in the world at them. My best advice is chest build up over time. Get into your handstands slowly, since you want to limit the amount of movement going on in your body.

As for your abs, drill kongs for an hour and then feel your abs. All the rapid tucking and precision you need through a kong will build core strength very fast.

For everyone else that's waiting for me to put something up, I'll have something compiled soon. Just been a bit busy with redundancies happening and all manner of crap at the mo.

[convoy01]

so are you saying i should have enough strength to lift my on weight and to gain balance? i have been practicing lately and i find it hard but fun though... thanks for the tip man

[rjd22]

I saw some cool vid with parkour I searched it again. Here it is:
YouTube - ninja training camp

[hyper_shadow]

Strength definitely helps with balance but it is not the deciding factor. Balance is balance, it is a core aspect of your bodies overall abilities.

There are some things that I believe require more strength to aid natural balance than others, though I am not sure yet whether that is down to each individual. For example cat balancing on a rail for me is very physically demanding, I can only put that down to the fact that I have a very dense muscle structure and I am quite heavy for my frame (12 stone).

However, I can say for certain that the more strength you build doing reptitions of your basic movements the easier your all round parkour will be.

So there are 3 basic things that you need to improve the efficiency of your parkour (in my humble opinion).

These are:

Strength; This relates directly to muscular output. If your muscles are capable of producing more energetic bursts then you can:

1.Run faster
2.Jump higher and further
3.Grip objects tighter (this includes using your hands, feet and anything else you can clamp onto something else with!).
4.Pull and manoeuvre your own bodyweight more quickly and efficiently.

Agility; This relates to how well your muscles respond to the instructions your brain sends out. It also encompasses how energy efficient your muscles are and how elastic they are also. With better agility you can:

1.Move your body in a more energy efficient manner thus reducing recovery times during training.
2.More ably apply the techniques that you have and pick up newer abilities with more ease.
3.Reduce your chances of injury. Healthy and elastic muscles, tendons and ligaments don't pull as easily and can take a little more wear and tear than tight solid muscles tendons and ligaments.
4.Balance more effectively through the bodies heightened muscular feedback and response.

Technical ability, hazard perception and respect; This is the most important aspect in my opinion. If you don't practice you're skills will wane, if you're not careful you could end up injured or worse. You should always respect the environment around you. Technical ability is important because:

1.Safety is paramount. Parkour is not about stupid risks and jumping over rooftops. It is not an adrenaline junkie 'sport'. It is a discipline and as such all your activities should be approached with respect and care.
2.Practisng the same thing over and over again will mean that it becomes ingrained in your bodies' 'muscle memory'. This means that the movement will flow natural. After all parkour is about movement across big expanses of space with many obstacles in it and about navigating efficiently from a to b. Those techniques if kept sharp not only look good, but are safe and you reduce risk to yourself and others around you.
3.If you don't have respect for your environment it will not have respect for you. Your goal is to pass through somewhere without even leaving a trace of footprints. Traceurs are not vandals. The areas where you train won't be there forever, but you can at least leave them in the condition that they were when you arrived. Good manners never cost anything.
4.Hazard perception is paramount to what you do. We all have to push ourselves and attempt ever more risky things. However, we need to accept the limitations of gravity and also the risk of any area we might be training on. If there are a lot of people where you train, ensure that you are well out of their way if attempting something high risk. If there are kids around, seriously think about the example you're setting (from personally seeing a kid almost lose all of his front teeth falling into the floor copying a friend of mine).
5.Respect is paramount as I said earlier but not just for the environment and the people around. But for other traceurs as well. There are plenty of folks who will readily rub your nose to the dirt if you're not able to do what they can. These people generally get their comeuppance later on. Be kind and respectful to other traceurs, especially anyone who wants to learn. We all have to start somewhere!

Whew, that wasn't my intention to actually get started like that but there you go.

This is all just my opinion and feel free to shut me up if you don't agree. Personally I approach my parkour like I approach my martial arts, in a respectful, dedicated and above all passionate way.

I will upload some pics soon for basic techniques. Just as soon as I can get five minutes of camera taking time in between my training.

[convoy01]

not at all bro... nothing wrong with everything you said..... its good that you say these things straight.... its not juz a simple game that ppl play outside....
proper knowledge is the key and safety is the overall priority.... thanks again man!

[N3ji]

Good Words Hyper_shadow....Parkour is not just crazy people running...its the ability of the mind and body to work together in perfect harmony...otherwise u die... ^_^

[hyper_shadow]

Thanks guys, glad to see there's still folks out there who train with a bit of awareness.

I think I'm gonna put my posts to a bit of an order now. I think I'll start with some general exercise and conditioning tips, including proper warm up and cool down techniques. Then on to the core skills and basic skills. Then some more advanced skills. Safety and hazard perception should have a space somewhere. Then finish with supplementary knowledge such as good clothing and footwear, little hints and tricks to make training easier and safer. Also some basic nutrition knowledge.

What you reckon guys?

[albac]

will be waiting for the on coming guide

I was wondering how we schedule our time and our sleep though.... because I am sleeping 2-4 hours everyday and I have a job that haunted by deadlines, I hope you could include time management it will help me a lot, I really want to do parkour seriously

some reasons
-I have tight and hard muscle, I have to spend more time than other people at stretching so I wouldn't get a cram....
-because my work lately I'm developing bulk in my belly....this is starting to make me worried...
-I can't run fast and I don't really have a good stamina but I think I can jump quite high about 1 meter from the ground...
-my muscle are not balanced (e.g my right hand is bigger then my left, and my left leg is bigger than my right)
-bottom line is I want gain more control of my own body and stay in shape.


hope you could help

[hyper_shadow]

Okay guys I think I'll crack on a little bit with some general fitness advice and a small routine for those who have major time constraints.

Conditioning

That's the word for the day folks! Parkour is a discipline, it is both a physical activity and a lifestyle. In order to be effective at parkour you need to effectively manage your life.

So you must condition your mind, body and spirit. I can only give you advice in how to condition your body, the other two are down to yourselves.

In order to effectively do the physcial act of parkour you need to ensure your body is ready for it. You need to shape your body into the most efficient tool it can be for the job. So it's not all tricks and big jumps and stunts. You need to routinely put your body under physical stress and build it up for the task.

Here I'll design a basic workout that includes no parkour at all. But will hopefully give your body a general wakeup call and maintain and build the core muscles strengths needed for parkour.

Warm Up

Always warm your body up, not only does it increase blood flow to the muscles but it increases the effectiveness of the synovial fluid in your joints and the elasticity of your muscles. A good warm up can also put you in the right frame of mind for training. It prevents injury and readies your body for the activities ahead. This is a general warm up that should get you ready for the training ahead.

• Jog on the spot (2 mins)
• Bouncing from left foot to right foot (2 mins)
• Bouncing forward and back alternating lead foot and throwing light soft jabs (2 mins)
• Stretches (all hold for at least 30 seconds)
• Calf Stretches (stand with one knee bent and other thrust straight back behind you and feel pull on calf muscle [gastrocnemus]).
• Quad stretches (Grab foot with both and hands and pull up to your backside as far as possible, for more stretch try to thrust hips forward)
• Hamstring stretches (stand feet should width apart, grab as close to your ankles as possible and pull yourself down)
• Hip Twists (twist on the spot changing every so often)
• Arm swings forward and back
• Deltoid stretch (pull arm across body and put pressure on elbow)
• Tricep stretch (put arm down back and push back with other arm)
• Wrist rotations (rotate wrists around in all directions)

And that should do it! Now for the hard work.

Work Out

The workout itself is designed to use only your body and possibly a chinning bar (or park rail or even a door frame if it'll hold your weight). It should work every major muscle group that you'll use in Parkour. Do these exercises in your own time, but aim to do them in sets of either 10 or 5 without stopping. Take small breaks of half a minute to a minute between each separate exercise to catch a quick breather and replenish the oxygen in your system.

• Push Ups (10 normal 10 wide arm 5 close hand and 5 on finger tips)
• Sit Ups (10 normal 10 with your legs in the air and 10 with legs out straight 12 inches off the floor then coming in to crunch, without your legs touching the floor)
• Squats (30)
• Burpees (10 *Squat thrust to standing jump then back down is 1*)
• Chin ups (30 if no bar or door frame use a chair that is sturdy, lie on your back and pull yourself up to it in what should look like an inverted push up.)
• Straight jumps (20 squat down and jump as a high as possible, try to make your landing as quiet as possible.)
• Crocodile walk (20 meters or more if possible and if space allows for it. If not do 25 wide arm pushups)

Then jog (for 10 mins and build up time as you progress, aim to be able to keep moving for about 30 mins)

That's the hard stuff, by now your body should feel a physical wreck and you'll need to think about your warm down.

Warm Down

Probably the most important bit. This will ensure your muscles don't tighten right up after a workout and it will give your body time to return to normal. It is essential you don't miss this out of your training.

• Light jog into slow walk (5 mins or so)
• Stretches (all in the warm up but for twice as long)

And there you have it, some light conditioning. It's not easy and it should challenge all fitness levels, but take it and adapt it to yourself. Personally, I do a load more and with the benefit of equipment to help, but that's just me, I have access to a gym, for those that don't here you go.

Lifestyle

For you albac, I noticed you mentioned about why you want to train and such so here's a small piece for you.

The stretching shouldn't be over done, it is important, but just 30 seconds during a warm up should be fine. As your muscles become warmer they become more elastic anyway (up to 80% more elastic). So you'll gain flexibility over time, the times stay the same you just stretch farther each time.

Your body builds fat because it is taking in more calories in a day than it needs. There are no ifs and buts even in regards to metabolism and such. Just don't take in as much in the day. Your mind is making you eat routinely but it doesn't necessarily need what's going in. To lose that extra bit, use more calories in the day than you consume, over time it will go. But not over night.

Stamina is built and it is usually the thing that people fail on the most. It is hard to have your resolve turned to dust by a long run. Just build up slowly over time and don't over do it. If you feel you need to stop, try not to stop, just slow down, even if it is to a brisk walk.

Your muscles will balance properly from use. Exercise the whole body and all of it will be in tune, plus you will learn instinctively how your body wants to move and such.

As for time management I can't help. 4 hours sleep is drastically unhealthy though. You need to ensure you rest more. Especially if you start training since your body recovers most when it sleeps. Plus lack of sleep can affect loads of things. Like I personally need at least 8 hours or I start to run a higher risk of seizure since I'm epileptic and my sleep affects it. As for your job I don't know what to say. We all need to put food on the table and pay the rent mate, so work should come first. Just make sure your not spending your life there unnecessarily and try to use the rest of your time as productively as possible (I used to do pushups and situps in the lab break times at my old work ).

So there you go guys. Hope that helps you all a little bit!