American Parkour

Hey there!

So far, in all of my searching, good parkour shoes--or parkour-specific shoes--are all sporty-looking. You know, lots of colors, fancy designs, et cetera. I was wondering: are there any dressier shoes? Ideally something that could go with a suit, or at least business-casual? I can't for the life of me find anything that meets that criteria.

Thanks!

Hey guys!

As it's summer, I decided I'm going to start doing some body weight training. Below are my goals. I don't have a time frame on them, and some will be done a lot sooner than others, but hey, they're still good goals.

Goals

Skills

Be able to dash vault

Handstands

15 second freestanding handstand

Pushing

45 second frog-stand
5 one-armed pushups (each arm)

Pulling

10 Pull-ups
30-second tuck lever

Core

Solid 60-second tucked L-sit

Legs

Jump up onto this one wall thing in my park.
20 pistols (per leg)

Stretches
Front splits


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Workout Routine

Warmup

100 jumping jacks
15 push ups
15 crunches
10 free jump squats

Skill Work

Handstand practice
Jog to park in neighborhood
20 kong vaults (preferably in new places, if possible)
20 speed vaults (preferably in new places, if possible)
20 monkey vaults (preferably in new places, if possible)
30 rolls (concrete)
Practice dash vaults

Pushing

Frog (until too tired / lightheaded to continue)
Push ups (one leg up, sets of twenty [10 per leg] )

Pulling

Max pull ups (3 sets of three or so)
Tuck lever (until too tired / lightheaded to continue)

Core

Tucked L-sit (until too tired to continue)

Legs

Jumping squat (until too tired to continue)
Pistols (until too tired to continue, 10 per leg)

Cooldown

Lazy vaults
Stretches
Walk home

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What do you guys think? How well do these workouts translate into my goals? Also, a couple of questions:

1) what days should I do which parts of the workout? Should I do push and core one day, pulls and legs another day? What combination should I do them?
2) I fail at running, but want to improve that. I read the article on improving running form we've got here, but I'm curious on how to actually progress. How do I work to improve my running form? How often should I do which exercises? The article mentions exercises, and what running should be like, but it doesn't really say how to get there.

Thanks so much!



EDIT
I just got home from doing this workout (just push and pull, not core or legs) and I have a couple comments that, hopefully, you guys could address.

1. Is it good to do the skill work at the beginning? I did it, but I don't know if it actually contributed to my workout.
2. Are we only supposed to do the two workouts per section? I practiced the frog tuck, but didn't really feel like I was building muscle. What can I change?
3. I could only do a few pull ups (maybe 5 total) and couldn't do the tuck lever at all. How would I go about building into the tucked lever? If not that, what can I do instead to improve my pull ups?

Thanks!

Hey guys!

So, I'm having a slight problem. Whenever I go out to do parkour, I can hardly do it at all! Not only am I afraid to do stuff I've done thousands of times before, but even if I commit myself to it, my form is lacking, and I barely clear the obstacle (if at all). What's up? I've been working on my kong vaults for a while, and there are are a couple tables I can jump over. However, every time I go out to train, I can't clear them until trying a few more times. It takes me a while to get to the point where I can do everything I already can do. This is driving me insane! Parkour is hardly useful if you can't do it on demand.

So, I guess what I'm asking is... how do you get yourself to do various things without training for maybe 10 minutes first? Is it purely psychological, or am I not warming up enough? Do I actually *forget* how to do everything between training days? (every 1-3 days, usually)

Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj5CXpcgjCQ

Simply put, I'm stuck on step 3. I just can't bring myself to land on the table without my feet. Anyone have any ideas for another intermediary step? I am able to hurdle over the table, and can kong over the table, but I can't seem to get myself to do the actual dash vault. What did you guys do to get it down?

Hey there!

As I'm sure many of you are aware, lucid dreaming is simply a dream in which one is aware he or she is dreaming. Once the dreamer realizes that he or she is actually still asleep, that person is able to strengthen the dream, making its realism, vividness, and stability, increase. (for example, rubbing one's hands together helps the brain enter, and stay in, the dream world, without waking the person up) From what my research has gathered, lucid dreams are very, very realistic at times.

If you have seen Inception yet, you might have an idea of what I'm talking about. Though that movie is purely fiction and fantasy, it takes a lot of its ideas from lucid dreaming... which is a real phenomenon.

I have recently, after a time of hiatus, decided to start trying to lucid dream again... and I have been getting pretty close. Has anyone else successfully achieved this?

If so, what are your thoughts on using lucid dreaming for parkour visualization? If we build a giant parkour playground with our mind, and then run through it using our real-life skills, how potent do you think real-life muscle memory will be, following the dream? I've read that practicing certain skills, such as public speaking, in a lucid dream can help the individual to, following the dream, feel more confident. Furthermore, I read in one place that it can help one to practice martial arts by training the mind to work on the moves.

Do you think this could be a practical way to practice parkour? Obviously, not exclusively, but as an extra layer on the cake? I'm interested to hear your guys' success stories, or ideas. If it works, who knows-- parkour might suddenly be a lot easier to learn than any of us ever thought possible!

http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/

I was practicing my dash vaults the other day for quite a while, and I made quite a bit of progress. I was using a picnic bench / table thing. You know what I mean. The usual.

Much to my surprise, I managed to jump over the table while attempting the dash vault... and my hands etc never touched the table. I just hurdled it.


Now, my question is... assuming a simple jump is easy enough, and is simpler in the situation than a dash or kong vault, is it more efficient than the actual movement? I understand the purposes of the kong and dash vaults, but on smaller obstacles, are they necessary? I will definitely continue to work on smaller obstacles so that I can continue to move up to larger barriers, but as a general rule, is a simple jump better to use than a dash or kong in a simple situation, such as a picnic bench on a slab of concrete or grass?

Thanks for your input!

http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/training-fitness/train-muscle-definition.htm


The second paragraph. Is this correct? I have never heard that easy aerobic exercises help burn fat. If this is true, I'm so excited. But I'm guessing it's not. Is it? From what I'm aware, dieting is the biggest factor in burning fat. Sort of. I'm confused, haha. What's what?

Thanks. :]

Hey guys!

I've been working on my kongs. For a long time now. A very long time. And I'm getting fed up with it. I WILL DO THEM. Right now, I'm working on those picnic bench/tables. The short side. I definitely get enough speed, and I am honestly 100% sure I can make it over. I JUST DON'T. It's the crazy fear factor, but it's been hardcore with me. I just can't bring myself to do it, despite complete confidence in myself.

I know a lot of people make topics like this, and I've read several. I've looked up several tutorials... several EVERYTHING. How do I just bypass the fear factor? I've tried meditation, progressions, trying to ignore it and just jump... everything. It just doesn't happen.

Does anyone have any tips... preferably ones I haven't read yet? Not with form or anything, just manning up. I've read articles on how to manage fear in parkour, but they all tell me to JUST DO IT. I've tried, haha, and I feel really silly for still failing. It's just not happening.

Dude, I had no idea where to put this. Let me know if it should be somewhere else!

My question is... how do you prevent the feeling that your face is about to explode when doing handstands? This is my main difficulty with holding them. Everything seems to rush into my face, and the pressure is just too much. I've tried breathing differently, moving my head differently... nothing seems to work.

What have you guys done to overcome this?

Hey guys! I'm looking to shed a few (maybe ~20) pounds. Hopefully quickly, but I'm patient. To a degree, I'm willing to diet, but I'm mostly looking for a good weight-loss regime focused mainly on exercises. The problem with dieting is mainly that at home, we very rarely have extremely healthy, varied foods, and though we're not flooded with Twinkies here at home, dieting would be difficult without a new pantry... something I'm not looking to pay for.

I understand that running can do wonders... along with interval training, and even "shocking" the metabolism. However, the main thing I'm aiming for is a weight loss plan that doesn't result in much muscle loss. I'm relatively fit, but I'm just looking to shed some blubber. I'm currently 17, 6'0", and about 180 pounds.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!