Parkour Training: Freerunning

Parkour is known as the art of moving or freerunning.  It involves using one’s entire body and anything in the environment to navigate obstacles.  In essence, one who practices parkour (a traceur), will bound, jump, climb or engage in some other acrobatic-like moves to move from one point to a different one.  It particularly focuses on speed and efficiency.  Parkour training emphasizes functional strength, conditioning, balance and coordination.  A traceur must be keenly aware of their surroundings so that they may rapidly navigate a path.

David Belle’s Parkour

David Belle is the founder of Parkour.  Trained in gymnastics and martial arts, Belle strongly believed in building functional strength.  Belle began working with others to train them how to get from one point to another and back again using some key basic movements.  Belle stressed that parkour was not for showing off but for being used in critical situations.  Parkour is therefore considered a discipline rather than a sport.

Parkour Training

Training can be challenging due to shortage of openly available obstacle courses.  Normally an urban environment offers tons of challenges where you can develop your own obstacle course.  Nevertheless, you ought to demonstrate respect for public and private property.

There are a lot of primary movements that someone can make use of to practice parkour.  Effective training may entail obstacles which necessitate balance, jumping, landing, dangling, rolling, or vaulting.  You need to take care to start with obstacles that are not exorbitantly tough.  Attempting to leap across roofs on your first training session would be very unsafe.  Injuries are common even if you start off slowly.

Prince of Persia Workout

A cornerstone of Jake Gyllenhaal’s workout to prepare for his role as Prince Dastan in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was parkour.  Jake started out with gymnastics drills before moving on to executing leaps on harder surfaces. He even did a number of his own stunts in Prince of Persia.  Overall, parkour helped Jake get in amazing shape for his role as Prince Dastan.

Functional Strength Building

Parkour relies on functional strength to get from here to there.  Your body must be in top physical condition to execute movements.  You have to have a combination of muscle, stamina, force and speed.  Parkour training is extremely tough but is an amazing workout as you are forced to make use of your body in the most efficient and functional method attainable.

Dave has been an avid fitness fanatic for the past 15 years.  He aims to maintain a lean, athletic look through diet and exercise without spending hours in the gym.

Many of the fitness tips he provides may seem unconventional, but you can’t use a bodybuilding workout to look like an Abercrombie model.

Dave hopes to help his readers by providing no-nonsense tips highlighting what works, and what doesn’t work, when it comes to getting in shape.

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