Though many Traceurs stick to bodyweight exercises alone, there are many benefits of a well-designed program that combines functional lifting and bodyweight calisthenics...
There are numerous benefits to bodyweight exercises, but making use of the various different tools we have at our disposal is a sign of an evolved fitness mindset. There are as many benefits of a properly designed weight-training program, and there may be no equal to a mixed program that takes advantage of the strengths of both methods. One thing to keep in mind though, the simpler the better. With a handful of functional exercises combined randomly throughout the training period, you can increase the efficiency of your program while at the same time maximizing the results. The major benefit of incorporating weight-lifting into your Parkour-specific cross-training is the development of strength and power in your posterior chain, the muscles of your back and hip extensors (hamstrings and glutes). This function is never fully realized in a bodyweight strength program, limiting these muscles to a supporting role. By incorporating derivatives of the clean & jerk along with squats, deadlifts and various throws with sandbags or medicine balls, you can increase the strength, power and functionality of this important kinetic chain (which is a major contributor of jumping power). The best place to start on this road towards posterior chain development is the Deadlift. By working the hip extensors and lower back in a slightly less ballistic manner, you can improve the functional strength of this group of muscles thoroughly before adding any power aspect to the movement. To perform a Deadlift, stand with your feet flat, beneath a loaded barbell, weight balanced between your heels and toes around shoulder-width apart. Your toes should be facing forwards or outwards slightly. Squat down and grasp the bar with an overhand or mixed (one hand under, one hand over) grip, hands shoulder-width or slightly wider. Make sure to retain the neutral curvature of your spine, you can aid this by raising your chin up and looking in an upward direction during the lift. Lift the bar by extending your hips and knees, keeping the bar close to your shins to finish at thigh level, hips and knees at full extension. Lower the bar in the same manner, making sure to keep a neutral spine alignment. It is a good idea to keep the weight manageable until you have a firm grasp on the technique. Be sure to keep your abs drawn towards your spine and your back curved naturally to avoid serious injury. Since a lot of people don’t have access to a good Olympic bar and competition bumper plates, one of the greatest things you could invest in would be a sandbag. You can perform all of the ballistic lifts that you can with a barbell, but you have the added benefits of an unstable object (for increased core strength) and the value in comparison to plates and a bar. A good sandbag setup will cost you less than $50 as compared to somewhere between several hundred to a couple of thousand dollars for a good Olympic weight set. With a sandbag you can get the major benefits of the Olympic lifts; strength and power in your posterior chain, functional core strength, increased jumping and bounding power, but without the huge investment. Once you have invested in the materials and have built your sandbag, one of the best all-around exercises is the shouldering drill. Start with the sandbag lying between your legs, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. The length of the sandbag should run from in front to behind you. Squat down and grab two handfuls of the bag (did I mention the huge grip-strength benefit of sandbag training?) right hand in front of left, hands about 14 inches apart. Lift your chin and keep looking up to retain your neutral spine position. Start your initial pull in much the same way as the Deadlift, by extending your knees and hips, but as the sandbag reaches mid-thigh level explode upwards, snapping your hips forward and shrugging your shoulders forcefully. As the bag accelerates, finish the last bit of the pull by bending your elbows and raising them above shoulder level, bringing the bag to chest level. From here you will quickly drop into a deep squat under the sandbag, catching it on your right shoulder. Stand up straight from the squat, drop the bag and switch hands to repeat on the other side. This exercise has unlimited function, working almost every muscle in your body in an explosive way. If you work with a light enough load you can perform this for high reps to get a killer mixed metabolic conditioning workout, blurring the line between strength, power and endurance. Perform 75 of these with a respectable weight (maybe 70lb or more, depending on your strength) for time and you will wonder where all that running-based endurance went to! These are just two of the excellent exercises that blend strength, power and endurance into one tidy package, working your body across multiple planes of motion and energy systems. By randomly mixing the Squat, Deadlift, Clean and Various sandbag and medicine ball drills into your bodyweight training, you will have the opportunity to create an exercise plan that is well rounded in all the important aspects of fitness and physical skill. “What about the old standby exercises?” you might ask. It’s pretty obvious that bench-presses, barbell curls and upright rows are absent from this list. The fact of the matter is, more functional exercises for the same muscles exist within the realm of bodyweight training. Dips, pushups and Planches for the bench press, Pull-ups and front-levers for the curls and rows just to name a few. Working your body in isolation is a lost cause, whether your goal is aesthetics or function, so it’s better to treat it as a whole, working actual movement patterns and hitting multiple muscle-groups in each successive exercise. This is the way we function in real-life, so why should our workout be any different? I’ve just touched on the world of functional weight training in this article, though I hope to get more in depth in the future. There are a ton of great resources for weight training that aren’t based on the bodybuilding isolation movements; you just have to know where to look. To that end, I’m including some of the best links to articles and tutorials for functional lifting that I have found, and I’ll continue to update as time goes on and the list expands. Crossfit.com- The perfect mix of functional lifting and bodyweight skills. Hatch-dome - Some excellent Olympic Weightlifting videos!
Ross Enamait-Sandbag Construction
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