Topic: Training Area Build

[Dakota Emmons]

Hello.

First-off I'd like to point out, so there is no confusion, that I had a hard time choosing the right forum to post this in, even with the help of this. So I apologize if this is not on-topic of this forum.

(In my mind, this forum is under Fitness and Training, then General Fitness, so to me this made the most sense.)

This summer for me I've decided that I am going to build a training area to work out with basic exercises, but I want to build it geared towards Parkour.

I've also decided that I will mostly be making this our of wooden materials and maybe metal. The reason I say maybe with metal is because I live in the first sub-tropical climate in the United States (Southern Florida, I used to live in Michigan, actually.) And metal in the blazing sun would probably get too hot to touch. I recently got a new house with a quarter acre of land that I could do probably anything with, but there is not a lot of shade.

So I started to think, questioned myself "What could I build that would be geared towards Parkour?" And I came up with this:

Beautiful, right? Honestly despite my amazing artwork, that to me is just pitiful. But I honestly can't think of much else. A wall? No idea.

From the picture, there are 3 things:

1. Pull-up Bar
- Pretty self-explanatory but not so much Parkour-related. I still want one though, haha.

2. Vaulting Bench (at least what I will call it.)
- Just a sturdy bench that is maybe waist-high or a little lower to do various vaults over.

3. The Mushroom-looking Stepping Stones
- No, those are not mushrooms, they would be little dome/circle shaped pieces of wood attached to something that would anchor it into the ground, placed somewhat sporadically to run across thus training precision. I think it would help me for a situtation that involves jumping from a ledge onto another that is farther than a step away or running on things that don't have a very large surface area on top. (Poles.) If you need any clarification on that, feel free to ask.

--

I made this topic for feedback from Traceurs that can think of things I could build that would be geared towards Parkour. But I am definitely not looking the other way to things that would be nice to have just for exercise. Like the pull-up bar, I am open to a lot of ideas. A friend of mine thought of a wall that was around my height (6 feet.) but I honestly have no idea how I would build that.

I also want to make mostly everything out of wood since it's a good sturdy material that is cheap, but I don't know what I am going to use for bars such as in the pull-up bar. I can't use metal rods because they'll get too hot in the sun. I don't know of any other alternatives. Plastic maybe?

Any insight or help with this would be greatly appreciated and I'll post pictures and maybe even video of production once I get everything rolling.

Thanks,
Instance.

[Josh Vernier]

Personally I'd add a set of parallel bars, an 8-9 ft. climbing wall, a climbing rope, a balance beam, and depending on whether there are trees around and how close there are to each other, a traverse rope.

I don't know if plastic would be sturdy enough...plus most plastics get brittle in the sun over time. Is there no shade to build the pullup bar under?

[Nick Fernandez]

This is a pretty sick idea. I think that a wall would be a good addition to the course, and in a way like EvRevFit said maybe some balance beam-like structures. They can be maybe as high as the vaulting bench but they'll just be thinner. You can use those for precisions along with the stepping stones, but they won't burn up like metal rails will (and they'll also be flat/thicker and not round/thin).

The pull-up bar can definitely be Parkour-related. IF you set it up right, you can do laches onto the other things, or maybe vault to the pull-up bar. And maybe make some more pull-up bars and set it up like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=386-G35EgJw

[Dakota Emmons]

This is a pretty sick idea. I think that a wall would be a good addition to the course, and in a way like EvRevFit said maybe some balance beam-like structures. They can be maybe as high as the vaulting bench but they'll just be thinner. You can use those for precisions along with the stepping stones, but they won't burn up like metal rails will (and they'll also be flat/thicker and not round/thin).

The pull-up bar can definitely be Parkour-related. IF you set it up right, you can do laches onto the other things, or maybe vault to the pull-up bar. And maybe make some more pull-up bars and set it up like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=386-G35EgJw

Personally I'd add a set of parallel bars, an 8-9 ft. climbing wall, a climbing rope, a balance beam, and depending on whether there are trees around and how close there are to each other, a traverse rope.

I don't know if plastic would be sturdy enough...plus most plastics get brittle in the sun over time. Is there no shade to build the pullup bar under?

Wow, two good ideas that I really like! The wall was a little obvious, but I'll see what I can do for one.

I would try that scaffolding idea too mentioned above but like I said, it's very sunny and I can't think of a material that won't get too hot. Wood would not be a good option, metal gets too hot, and like EvRev said plastic would get brittle over-time. I'll post a picture of the area I'm working with tomorrow maybe. I might be able to get the stuff using metal under some shade with trees.

I've settled on scaffolding or at least a pull-up bar. A wall if I have the budget for the wood, my little stepping stones, a balance beam, and that vaulting bench. Once I finish up some final thoughts and make a better detail design, I'll start showing progress. Thanks guys.

[Josh Vernier]

Depending on how you feel about them, gloves may help with the heat of a metal pull-up bar. There are also a few paint colors that help reduce the heat. I'm pretty sure one of them is blue. I'll look into it.

[Dakota Emmons]

I don't care too much about gloves, however I think I might use them only when training on this build because I don't want to have my hands get used to wearing gloves all the time.

Here is a picture of mostly the space I have to work with. The shade is a maybe and it's awfully close to my house behind where I took the picture. That's at mid-day. 30-40 foot area. Looks a lot smaller on the picture.

[Christopher William Thomson]

Posting to follow.

[Josh Vernier]

Okay, so I did some research and if you use a blue or green enamel-based paint for your pull-up bar it won't get nearly as hot. I'm jealous of the amount of space you have, by the way.

[Ryan]

A good 8-9 foot wall would be great as said before...but I would personally add an adjacent wall to that so you could practice tic-tacs.

Everything else sounds awesome though!

[Dakota Emmons]

Sorry for not posting much for about a week and a half! Been a little busy, but just to show you that I have not given up on this project, I have a list of materials plus their total costs to put here.

x6 Landscape Timbers - 6/24.00 (~6 if I get them on sale.)
x4 1x2 - 4.00
x3 Plywood Sheets - 23.85
x2 Metal Bars - 14.00
x2 2x4 - 5.86
x1 2x6 - 5.10

Total Cost: ~$58.50
Add $3.00 if I use paint. ($61.50)

I got the prices from Home Depot's online store. I'll probably be getting wood there, maybe Lowes though, so prices can still vary.

Keep in mind that I rounded up a lot and kept tax in-mind so that total will probably be less as I come closer to finishing the project. I already have some hardware in my garage that I could use so that may lower the costs even more. I really just want to make it under 50 dollars, haha.

I also drew up a basic layout of the entire thing once again, just this time with dimensions and not so colorful. I won't show you though as it's really mess with my handwriting.

[Ryan Sannar]

posting to follow

[Josh Vernier]

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!