Training With a Purpose - All About Parkour

Joe String

J Fitness Training

When Kyle decided to really try to take Team HF to the next level, he told me that he wanted to include every aspect of fitness. As you all know, we come from a background of bodybuilding-style workouts that include structured workout routines with set rep ranges. Sadly, in the fitness industry, those who are primarily bodybuilders, powerlifters, CrossFitters, or performers of any other type of workouts frown upon what isn’t theirs. Very rarely do you see someone involved with CrossFit vouch for bodybuilders, and you don’t see many cardio-bunnies defending weight training. It’s just how the industry is.

I’m sure you can tell where I am going with this. Kyle and myself are both looking to not only stop this conflict of interests, but we also look to bring all fitness enthusiasts to a common ground. The idea is to expose every aspect of fitness and show that although they have their own unique characteristics, there are certainly ways that they relate. A person participating in CrossFit can certainly learn from a bodybuilder and vise-versa.

While on our quest to uncover other types of fitness, I stumbled upon one that is far from mainstream in the states, but is well on its way. It is known as Parkour and I must say; it is certainly not easy. Before attempting to tackle an article about it, I tagged alongside my cousin Jim Williamson (a trainer himself) for a workout at Phil Pirollo’s Pinnacle Parkour in Cherry Hill, NJ. There, it dawned on me—why not interview the two?

Parkour, to me (prior to learning from two masters and giving it a shot), is nothing more than strategic running and jumping. Have you ever seen the people that balance themselves on structures, jump from wall to wall and do high-speed hops over fences? That is exactly what parkour entails.

With that said, it requires much more than the ability to run fast and jump. As a bodybuilder, I knew going into the workout that I would have some trouble with flexibility and such, but I had no idea what I was in for in terms of technique. In short, the vaults forced me to not only use proper technique but to arrive at a new level of confidence in myself; the swinging, holding and climbing on bars and handles required proper use of momentum and wicked arm strength; finally, the entire workout could not have been complete without an overall mental aspect that shatters any other physical task. Before every movement, I was fearful of the outcome, which greatly affected my ability.

[Picture of Pinnacle Parkour Gym Itself]

After the workout, I advised Jim and Phil of my interview idea and we got right into it. To my surprise, directly after our talk, I learned that a lot of my thoughts of Parkour were, indeed, correct. Not only that; the three of us seemed to be in agreement with the fact that the mental aspect of Parkour is by far the hardest part to grasp.

Q- First off, tell me a little about yourself—your personal accomplishments, goals, and credentials.

Jim: I am a student at Rowan University and my major is Health Promotion and Fitness Management. I wish to open my own weight lifting gym out of college which is why I also am going to minor in Business. Outside of fitness and training, I am a big fan of sports especially hockey and football. I played both back in high school and now play them both recreationally with friends around campus.

Phil: I am a Nationally Certified Fitness Professional with a BA in Exercise Science from Rowan University. I began my professional life in 2002 focusing on Personal Training, Group Exercise, Martial Arts, and now Parkour Training. I used to specialize in obstacle course training for US Military personnel from the Army, Marines, and Air Force as well as local, state, and federal law enforcement and am the co-founder of The Pinnacle Parkour Academy. I was also a finalist on NBC’s 2012 hit television series “American Ninja Warrior”. When I’m not scaling curved walls, traversing from rope to rope, and squeezing spinning logs, I enjoy snowboarding, golf, and hockey.

Q- Do you ever debate hitting the mats/ropes/course vs. hitting the weights? If so, which do you end up doing mostly?

Jim: Honestly I have such a fun time doing both. I love the fact that you can improve in each of them. In Parkour there is always a way you can do something better and in bodybuilding there is always an extra five pounds. Both push you to your absolute limits in order to get the best results possible. I honestly could not choose between the two; all I can say is that both push me in different ways and I love knowing that there is always a way I can be better at doing both.

Phil: I’ll lift weights about once a week just to get some of the good ones in there: squats, deads, etc. I enjoy staying in the weight room just to hit the compound movements and be sure that my strength is up.

Q- When did Parkour come into play and what sparked your interest in it?

Jim: Back when I was younger I had to get knee surgery for three fractures and had cartilage replaced. After that, it was hard for me to compete in athletics and I didn’t find them as fun since I could not perform as well as other healthy athletes. I started to gain weight and didn’t like the direction I was heading, so I set out to find a type of exercise that I could go at my own level that also had a fun element to it so I didn’t feel bored doing it. Once I started, I was hooked.

Phil: Almost 4 years ago. Never looked back. It’s training with a purpose.

Q- Give a short description of what Parkour is and what it entails in terms of strength and/or talent.

Jim: Parkour, in my own words, is moving from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible by traversing through any obstacle in your path and being able to adapt to different situations. In terms of strength and talent, Parkour takes a tremendous amount of agility, balance, strength, and body awareness to be able to tackle any situation that is put in front of you. You need strength, speed and endurance in everything you do whether it is striding, broad jumping, or climbing.

Phil: Parkour develops ones strength, power, speed, accuracy, agility, balance, mobility, and coordination. I couldn’t say the same for the weight-training program I was on before. At 30 I’m ten times the athlete I was when I was 20.

A couple of clips of Parkour obstacles and training techniques:

Q- Is there something that Parkour offers that you feel is entirely missed in a generic, bodybuilding workout? Further, do you feel like there are missed aspects of fitness in Parkour that bodybuilding does include?

Jim: The one thing that really pops out at me when I think of something Parkour has that sometimes bodybuilding lacks is flexibility. Most bodybuilders I know have very little flexibility and quite frankly, as long as they can lift heavy weight, they don’t see a point in training it. On the other hand bodybuilding benefits you in the sense of being able to lift more than your bodyweight, which I found has given me an advantage over other practitioners because I feel my movements are more explosive.

Phil: Bodybuilding makes your muscles look bigger. Parkour training does little (in comparison) to “get you big”. Like I said, it’s training with a purpose, and that purpose is much more than just appearance-based.

Q- A lot of people who are aware of Parkour compare it to CrossFit. Give me your take on CrossFit and compare it to both Parkour and Bodybuilding.

Jim: CrossFit, in my opinion, is basically just high intensity interval workouts. It is similar to Parkour in that sense, however CrossFit is training towards strength like bodybuilding. Parkour is geared more toward training your body to be aware and adaptable to different obstacles that appear in your path. CrossFit is different from bodybuilding in a sense that bodybuilders do not like to train high intensity with short rest intervals because they want to get the maximum amount of weight per set, requiring rest periods. Another difference between Parkour and CrossFit is that CrossFit seems to include very high impact movements putting a lot of stress on your joints where as in Parkour, we are trained to be as quiet as we can with everything we do and also are taught different ways to land to spread out our impact and therefore, put less pressure on our joints.

Phil: CrossFit is working out—a mode of training under the fitness umbrella. Parkour is an umbrella in and of itself. It is a genre, a discipline, a sport, or a way of life. Outstanding fitness results are a byproduct of Parkour training…not the purpose.

Q- If you had to summarize a comparison between Bodybuilding and Parkour, what would you say?

Jim: I would say that Parkour is a little bit higher intensity and that you mainly use your bodyweight to do the movements where as in bodybuilding, you need heavier forms of free-weights to do the movements and achieve the desired results.

Phil: Parkour is moving through your environment quickly and efficiently; adapting your body’s movements to the environment (running, jumping, climbing, crawling, vaulting, landing, etc.). Bodybuilding is lifting weights to get bigger and more defined muscles.

Q- What is your favorite and what is the most difficult (in your opinion) lift in the gym and what is your favorite/most difficult movement in Parkour?

Jim: My favorite lift in the gym would have to be the incline bench press and my most difficult lift I would say is the squat simply because of the knee troubles I have had in the past. In Parkour my favorite move is probably the thief vault, which is basically like doing a gymnast’s Pommel Horse movement over a box. The most difficult movement for me in Parkour is precision jumping from bars that are high up. Its not that I don’t have the ability, it’s just about getting over the fear, which is not easy in Parkour.

Phil: My favorite lift in the gym is a bicep curl; I like the way it makes my biceps look big and I think all the girls on the treadmill like it too. My favorite movement in Parkour is the Standard Landing…without it you’re as good as dead.

As you can see, although Parkour is a form of fitness, it sits in its own area in the industry. As Jim and Phil said, it is training with a purpose; that purpose being discovering ways to adapt to any situation or obstacle placed in your path. After seeing these two tear through obstacles, sitting down with them to hear their take on my style of training vs. theirs and getting my butt whooped by a Parkour workout myself, I can conclude that if you are trying to find a new way to get active, build muscle or get lean, Parkour will surely suffice.

A big thank you to Jimmy Williamson and Phil Pirollo for taking their time to answer my questions and a thank you to Pinnacle Parkour for allowing us to use their facility.

Pinnacleparkour.com

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