Topic: Am I strong enough?

[Joe]

How strong should I be to start my first Le Parkour moves?

[Joe]

oh and I am 14 almost 15, and in 9th grade

[Ryan Ford]

well any relatively fit person can start parkour. just be sure to keep things small at first and slowly increase the size of things as you develop the neccesary strength.

[Spider]

Well I got in to Parkour 6 years ago, when I was 10, I am now very good at Parkour, because I started with small walls(no small walls as in small not David Belle's small walls) and then gained bigger walls to run up, and jump and catgrap on to, Then i started jumping off steps and rolling to on concrete to get the feel for it on my solder blade.

Then I started jumping from 8 ft drops, now I can jump of 10ft. Then I started wall running againa and valting. So what I am basically saying is its good to start with small gaps.ect

[Myrrh]

This is a sport.  It requires training so you don't get hurt when practicing the elements.

Check out http://www.parkour.com/pk/homepage.htm

Sebastien Foucan gives a list of exercises to build strenght and flexibility when doing Parkour. 

Running - 20 Minutes, Three Times Each Week
Sit-Ups - 5 Reps of 30 ( But you can start by doing a series of 10 )
Flexions - 3 Reps of 10
Position a Chair Against Wall - 3 Reps of 1 Minute
Walking With Knees to Chest - 2 Bursts Of About 30 Metres
Hopping - Twice For Each Leg Across 20 Metres
Arm Hang - Four Reps Of 30 Seconds
Quadrupedie - Four Reps of 20 Metres
Gainages - Balance Against A Wall For 4 Reps of 20 Seconds And Hold
PK Circuit Training - Create A Circuit In Which You Can Do The Following
Base Movements : ( Landing From Height, Cat Jump, Roll, Precision Jump )

It's torture, but it's a place to begin and it will help you to be safe.  You'll reach the tricks faster too.

[psycosis12]

parkour isn't a sport

[Myrrh]

You're right. It's a discipline and a focused mindset, minus the rules and confinement of a traditional sport.  People make the mistake of using Parkour and Free Running interchangeably, but we understand what they are talking about and don't correct them.  It is good that you brought this up though.  I'll be the first to admit being careless.

[Jose Diaz]

I am new to parkour also, I got curious after watching a trailer of District 13 on HBO.  I saw a bunch of videos of free running and parkour on youtube, and I read about it on americanparkour.com. I am a bit overweight and not flexible or strong, I am also lacking in the endurance department.  Can you give me a description of the excersises that you mentioned above or can you give me a variation of excersises to build up my strength, speed, and endurance? Any comments would be helpful since I know no one who does parkour in the connecticut area.

[Rickety]

Can you give me a description of the excersises that you mentioned above or can you give me a variation of excersises to build up my strength, speed, and endurance?

Hit the APK front page, and on the left-hand side there's a menu which includes "Fitness", which is a good place to start. Others my have other suggestions. As someone out of shape, I found that just doing the APK Warmup is a good start. Also, check out "A Simple Plan". If those are a breeze for you, you can go on to the harder stuff. There's a lot here.

[Jose Diaz]

What are gainages, flexions, and quadrupedies?

[JoBlo]

You need to do at least 15-20 pull-ups (all at once), 60 sit-ups in 1 minute, jump high enough to touch a basketball hoop rim, and run fast before you even get out and try anything. I'm about at that level right now, and i still think i can improve a lot more. I started working out about a year ago, and back then i was doing 1 pull up max, and like 30 sit ups a minute, not to mention that i was like 1 foot away from the rim. I've come quite a ways in one year, and you could too if you work out right.

[Tsumaru]

You need to do at least 15-20 pull-ups (all at once), 60 sit-ups in 1 minute, jump high enough to touch a basketball hoop rim, and run fast before you even get out and try anything.

I'm not sure if it's possible for me to disagree with this anymore then I currently do. There is not a single thing in this sentence that is accurate. All those things may have value, but they are not a necessity for an experienced traceur, and certainly not a necessity before even beginning.

As long as you can do the techniques, you are strong enough. Performing 'extracurricular' strength training will definitely be beneficial, but it is not a requirement to practice Parkour. The only real necessity is to condition your legs well, and that's just to ensure you don't damage them. The best way to do this is just by taking it easy though. Work on low vaults and climbs for months before you start doing any form of drops, and very slowly work your way up. It doesn't matter if you can do a jump fine - it may be doing damage that you can't feel. Start low and easy, stay low while upping the intensity of your training a bit in general, and slowly work your way up bit by bit to condition your legs.

[JackLe945]

You need to do at least 15-20 pull-ups (all at once), 60 sit-ups in 1 minute, jump high enough to touch a basketball hoop rim, and run fast before you even get out and try anything.

While all of these things will definitely help you they are not necessary. I can only do 10 pull-ups at the moment yet I can do most of the “basic vault“, (the others are because of fear lol not strength) and jumping high enough to touch a basketball hoop!! that’s quite a lot to ask from us 5,7 people lol yea so these aren't necessary but its probably best not to start parkour and not do anything else, you can do it... but it will probably end bad.

[V3rt]

just as others have said, just relatively fit. when i started i wasn't the most fit and was sore for almost a week after my first session. if your willing to get stronger and deal with being sore and keep with it anyone can do it

[Mark Toorock]

We are finding more and more at Primal Fitness that peopel require conditioning more than Parkour training, in other words, becoming strong enough. You can start parkour at any fitness level, but you will and should be very limited. training in Parkour doe snot equal conditioning, you need good conditioning alongside your training or you are just asking for injury.

Think about this, landing from 1 foot doubles your bodyweight. How many of you can go to the gym and do 30 double bodyweight deadlifts or squats?

Now, how many go out and vault something 30 times in a day? This puts huge strain on your body, and you MUST train and condition to be able to handle that.

I'm not by any means trying to scare anyone off, quite the contrary, but DO follow the WOD for a while before you get serious, or it will lead to injury.

[Moa]

You need to be fit enough to do the basic movements but you wil become more fit from training and working out don't let people tell you, you aren't fit enough to do parkour because you will gain strength from doing it just work out and train and you body will become stronger.

[overproof151]

the great thing about parkour is that you dont really need to be that strong, you can overcome many obstacles if you use your body's momentum the proper way. of course being stronger only helps