After getting a suggestion from jack to do this.The idea is that you submit your video here as a link or tell us it is your flash box and then whatever video has the best feel to it will be put as the flash box.This will give the page a more community feel and get more of the great unknown tracuer out there shown.So this months is from Jack as he suggested the idea and i think he deseves it as he is a great traceur.Start submitting links now and the vid will be changed on the 28th of Feburary.Also i dont mind a few few flips in the video like Jacks but no more than 1 or 2 as it will give out the wrong image.Also looking for images to put on the page so if you have a good few pics and dont mind me putting them on this page just leave a comment telling us and if they are any good il put them on.

Leave a comment on what parkour means to you.This will give people who dont do it a chance to see how important it is to us.It also will give you an insight into how other people feel about it.Please comment in this and show your support for parkour.

Physical training for parkour

Introduction

In Parkour, the conditioning aspect is often neglected and overlooked by it's participants. Physical conditioning is essential for the development of skill and performance. Without it, progression is limited and certain movements and techniques cannot be mastered and used effectively. In order to manipulate one's body weight in the most efficient way possible, the body must be developed enough to cope with the demands parkour imposes, body weight must be kept to a minimum whilst strength is developed to a maximum etc... To simplify things, the body must be as powerful, light and fit as possible in order to perform difficult movements usefully in succession. Training must be implemented to achieve this.
In parkour, we use our strength to move our body weight in order to overcome or navigate an obstacle. Since traceurs never apply strength to manipulate an external object or resistance, weight training is not a functional means of developing strength in parkour, however weights can be attached to the body in order to increase its weight and the resistance of exercises, but this is normally not required until a traceur reaches an advanced level of training. This is why weight training for parkour is not as useful as body-weight conditioning. Weight training increases strength in a different way than body weight exercises do and tends to create a kind strength that is not functional for use in parkour movements. Also, a good strength to weight ratio cannot be reached through the use of weight training. Isolation type movements are popular in weight training, these movements are not as beneficial to parkour as compound, body weight exercises. Weight lifting is best avoided when physical conditioning for parkour is involved.
Body-weight conditioning involves progressing through difficult body-weight strength elements. For example, when people first start training, they often cannot perform a muscle up, but with practice it can be achieved, not only providing great gains in strength and power, but a functional and highly useful technique which can be used to overcome many different kinds of obstacles. The only way to get better at these movements is to drill them. This is what conditioning is based on, the body improves and adapts and certain movements become possible, as the challenges become harder, the body becomes stronger, faster and more powerful in order to be able to perform them. Once one difficult technique has been mastered, the body is ready to progress to another, more challenging technique. For example, once multiple muscle ups have been achieved, the next step would be a muscle up to handstand press, a one handed pull up or a front lever, there are many different tasks, exercises and drills which can be performed and the progressions are almost endless. This kind of conditioning is particularly suited for parkour because every movement serves a useful purpose, traceurs also use a similar kind of training to condition their bodies in order to perform extremely hard strength elements safely and effectively, parkour is not much different.
A great way to simulate the physical demands which parkour puts on the body is to link difficult, heavyweight and explosive strength drills together into circuits with low intensity, local muscular endurance and cardio drills. This kind of training stimulates the body in the same way parkour does, combining anaerobic and aerobic exercises into a circuit allowing maximum improvement in parkour performance. The anaerobic exercises simulate the explosive and strenuous activity performed whilst passing a difficult object and the aerobic exercises simulate travelling to the next obstacle.
After an intense session of physical conditioning, the muscles are damaged on a microscopic level, tiny tears occur in the muscle fiber called micro-tears, when the muscle fibers are repaired, the muscle becomes stronger and the process can be repeated. Af