American Parkour

Hey guys,

I know I've seen this around before, but it's been awhile. I'm looking for a bodyweight circuit routine that hits then entire body (major muscle groups - legs, shoulders, chest and back) that I can perform once a week.

I went through Starting Strength and Stronglifts programs in the past, but I'm currently doing a bodybuilder type split (upper/lower/arms). I know the arguments about functional strength, but I'm not all sold out for the purists view on functional training - I like how I look naked .

That said, I want to improve my conditioning (cardio a few times a week isn't quite cutting it for martial arts and parkour practice) and I had good results with that when I performed bodyweight conditioning in the past.

Can anyone link me to a good full body workout that I can use with typical playground equipment (pull-up, dip and monkey bars, etc.). Thanks in advance for the help.

I've been trying to formulate a training program to hit my goals, but I fear I may have too many of them. I've done Starting Strength and Stronglifts in the past. I'm not at any great numbers with them, but I'm familiar with the moves and look forward to continuing them at least a couple times a week.

As a martial artist, I want to increase my fight capacity. I also believe in using a core foundation of Parkour techniques to include in my combat training for escape strategies (I have 10 specific techniques that I've identified and added to my syllabus). Also, I want to improve my bodily appearance - primarily in getting leaner and maintaining aesthetic symmetry.

My goals aren't entirely measurable at this point, so let me see if I can nail them down.

- Run 5k in 25 min or less.
- Perform 50 Push-ups or Sit-ups without stopping
- Perform 20 pull-ups without stopping
- Drop to 10-12% body fat (around 20% now)
- Increase lower body strength to improve punching power (I assume a measured result would be in lbs on the Squat or Deadlift)
- Maintain/Improve a bodybuilding symmetry (V-taper, focusing on shoulders, chest, back and thighs while staying away from oblique/side-torso training for bodybuilding aesthetics)

I know that some of my goals (bodybuilding and reps on bodyweight exercises) don't jive well with a lot of the Crossfit guys, but they are still what I'd like to be able to do/have.

Most of what I've seen on other sites stress one or two things at a time. This site has the widest variety of training I've seen (other than Crossfit, which I can't do because of equipment restrictions and the fact that I just didn't enjoy my time with the Crossfit group for a number of reasons).

Any advice on this would be awesome.

Thanks guys.

(This is focused on Parkour, not Freerunning - assuming you recognize the difference, not everyone does anymore.)

I've found that on my runs, when I'm just flowing, I always find more than one move that I need to work on during my training sessions (when I'm practicing one or two moves in repetition). The problem I'm having is that I find too many moves to train while I'm just running .

My martial arts practice has taught me to isolate a violent situation and practice the most practical means of dealing with it (in addition to "free sparring" where I just let everything flow), and I'd like to do the same for Parkour. I figure that if I can identify the most common obstacles - the ones that are encountered on nearly every run - then I'll be able to practice different moves and approaches on those primarily, to par down the number of moves that I find when I flow.

So far, I have identified the following obstacles:

Fields (Empty space greater than 400m, requiring endurance to cover)
Walls and Fences (they both have different approaches, so this may need to be separated)
Low Walls (also long-low walls like the hood of a car or a park table)
Beams (balance-type beams, or the tops of walls)
Drops
Gaps
Rails (usually with gaps between the bars, but otherwise just like a low wall)

Can anyone add to this list?

I understand that many Parkour people believe in not overthinking their training, but this is the best way for me to approach things and stay motivated.

Thanks guys!

@Andy: What does deload mean? Most of the beginner programs for SS are 3 days a week. What would I do for only 2 days?

Those answers are a little disheartening. If their true, then so be it, but I wanted to get into some heavy parkour training. It will take me a year or more before I can get started? Or is this suggestion only for supplementary training?

What about Crossfit? That trains both aerobic and strength capacity at the same time.

I noticed that not a lot of people recommend that. Why not?

Anyone have one? I have been going back and forth with many different fitness plans and I'd like to just settle on a specific plan to supplement parkour-specific attributes.

I know the easy answers: WoD, make my own, etc. I'm inquiring to see if anyone has a regimented routine that they follow with the goal of simply maintaining parkour training by working appropriate attributes that are necessary to parkour performance.

Thanks guys!

Very cool! Thanks guys, this information is helping a lot. Do any of you know of a cool down routine? I like the APK warm-up, which has been constituting as my workout for the last few days, and would like a similarly easy to follow cool down, if at all possible.

By the by, I think the headaches did have something to do with nutrition. Once I began drinking a little water after every exercise/drill, and ate a decent meal an hour before, and within an hour after, the workout I've felt much better.

Thanks again.

Hey guys, I've got the warm-up on lock now. Incorporating that has done wonders for my training.

Now I need a good cool down, though. Every time I work out I feel like I crash immediately after, getting headaches and such. My training, for now, is the APK warm-up and some parkour or martial arts; I am hoping to incorporate lifting and such very soon.

Any ideas that can help me out?

An increase in basic strength and muscle density. The Chimp also has a metcon workout that I assume is performed on off days. Kind of a crash course to boost my mental confidence as much as my physical ability. I'm not concerned with moving quickly, only in moving.