Philly Parkour

Why not share some conditioning excersies that we can do in between meetups? Getting a good archive together means we can have some variation instead of just routine stuff.

Personally, I train using body-weight movements and "old-school" weight lifting equipment like cement blocks, logs, weighted sleds, and kettlebells.

Most of the workouts I do are high intensity, low rep. I usually do small workouts throughout the day, rather than one hard workout.

Here are some fitness sites you guys might like.


http://www.bodyweightculture.com/

http://kbforum.dragondoor.com/

http://www.rosstraining.com/

http://www.crossfit.com/

http://www.posetech.com/


^^^those 5 sites have great forums and an amazing amount info.

Here are some sites on nutrition and food.


http://www.westonaprice.org/

http://www.paleodiet.com/

How often do you guys condition? I've been trying to figure out how often to do it, since I try to run three days a week, try to do aikido three days a week, and that leaves me only one day where I'm doing neither. So that's one day to condition... but do any of you guys condition every day? Or is it every other day? I want to get in good shape for parkour, but I also don't want to overdo it.

It all depends on how much you do. For example, I try to condition every day, but I don't do a huge workout. I do just enough to push the limit I hit the day before in a handful of different exercises (i.e. pushups, crunches, leg lifts, pull ups, etc). I do them in bursts (kind of like workout of the day) and try to tire myself out.

Long story short, I do a little every day, but I imagine others have bigger workouts in less frequent intervals. It should be whatever fits into your schedule, but can still push your limits and really accomplish something with each workout.

p.s. You do Aikido?? GOOD CHOICE.

because lower body strength, mainly in the legs, is built up naturally just by running and walking, it's the upper body that needs the most focus. I do push-ups and lift a 10-pound free weight maybe once or twice a week, fpr between a half-hour and a full hour. If I had a pull-up bar I'd do those, but in general, pull-ups and push-ups will have the most effect because many of the high-exertion movements in parkour (like lifting yourself onto a wall that you cat-leap onto, under-bars, and vaulting in general) use the same muscles that push-ups and pull-ups exercise, namely the biceps, triceps, and the back muscles (the latissimus dorsi and trapezius, primarily) do.

My favorite workout is performed at a playground at the elementary school down the road: I have a sequence of moves for getting from one side of the jungle gym to the other that my friend and I do over and over, as it works the muscles used and helps greatly my ability to do new jumps without as much hesitation when the motions are second nature.