Parkour – The Six Basic Elements

Parkour is made up of six different physical elements:

1. Running: to become an accomplished traceur, you will need to be able to sprint very fast and run for great distances without stopping to rest.
2. Jumping: Jumping is one of the most integral physical activities in Parkour. You’ll be performing all kinds of jumps, from running jumps to standing jumps to one-footed jumps, vaults, drops, and many more.
3. Climbing: You’ll need to be able to quickly scale a variety of surfaces in order to fluidly move about the urban landscape. This requires incredible upper-body strength and the ability to distribute your weight evenly.
4. Balance: Balance requires practice and physical fitness, and requires that you are comfortable with your center of gravity and can manipulate it at will.
5. Stealth: Stealth is the ability to make as little noise as possible while moving from place to place. Stealth isn’t a part of Parkour just for kicks; the stealthy traceur is more efficient in his use of energy and can be more precise in his placement of every single step.
6. Touch: “Touch” is a combination of grace, flexibility, and environmental awareness. A traceur with incredible touch is able to respond to a change in surface without slowing down.

Strength and Conditioning

Parkour requires incredible strength and conditioning in order to be performed correctly. In order to be able to fluidly move from one movement to the next and be able to vault any obstacle and land safely, your muscles, ligaments, and tendons must be tough, healthy, and in peak physical condition.

Parkour encourages all of its followers to realise the true physical potential of the human body, which is quite incredible. We are capable of jumping from great heights, walking up walls, scaling vast obstacles, and running for many many miles.

These feats are only considered “extraordinary” when compared to the physical condition and capabilities of the average contemporary man, who spends a great deal of his life sitting down.

It can take months and years of diligent training and practice in order to actually achieve this stage of physical fitness. The good news is that you don’t need to be in perfect physical condition to perform Parkour. As soon as you are able to connect the basic motions with fluidity and are able to traverse any urban landscape in your way, you are a traceur.

Through the process of refining your skills and practicing in the field, combined with a weekly rigorous training schedule, you will eventually notice that you have very few limitations as to where you can go. You will be able to literally go anywhere and do anything as you move from one place to another.

Strength training and conditioning is just as important as practicing the movements themselves. A fitness training regimen is an important part of the traceur’s daily routine, and does not “stop” once he reaches a certain level of fitness.

While standard weight-training and fitness programs are helpful, they don’t focus enough on the most important group of muscles and do not properly train your legs to “explode”, which is how you build vertical and horizontal leaps.

You’ll find a specific strength and conditioning program that was specifically designed for the up and coming traceur. It involves elements of cardiovascular endurance training, strength training, and flexibility training.

How To Parkour and Manage Your Injuries With Magnetic Therapy

Parkour is highly important in leading a good and healthy life. However, when you first start you may have problems with your joints and muscles.  Sprains and stiff muscles will occur as you increase your efforts and try out new moves.

These ailments happen to athletes starting or re-engaging in any sport.  You could treat your aches and pains by using classical medications. However if you want to protect your body from any side effects, you can cure these ailments naturally, with the help of magnetic therapy. This is a safe, natural and non-invasive method which is very effective.

The magnetic treatment for sports injuries includes using a premier pair of magnets. This is due to the magnetic field created between the two magnets helping the magnetic energy penetrate deeper in the body. The effect is longer and more sustaining.

Depending on the ailment you will need to place the magnets in different positions, either horizontally or vertically. Also, the location on the body where they should be placed varies according to the ailment which must be treated. This is why before starting to use magnets for healing, you should possess the necessary information. Do you put the north face to the skin or not?  It is advisable to ask a magnetic therapy specialist to take care of your serious sports injuries. But by reading this resource you will have enough information to take the first steps to using magnets on your aches and sprains.