I may be older than most who take this up, but I know I can have fun with this. I have always had a self-image of being someone who is athletic, fit, flexible, and there have been times when I was some of the above, but in the last few years I have put on weight, gotten injuries, been old, tired and achey.
It’s time to remember that I CAN do backflips, cartwheels, be light on my feet, be undaunted by the urban obstacles around me.
luinel did pilates today.
How old are you? I’m 26 and have lost nearly forty pounds. I hope to start adding Parkour to my workout soon, perhaps after I lose another ten pounds. I still have a long way to go, though.
..which is close to twice your age. I have some permanent injuries from motorcycle accidents and some reoccurring ones from work stuff (I’m a medic and firefighter). So while you have a ways to go, I do, too. I can’t believe you’ve lost 40 lbs, that is ferociously impressive. I actually haven’t lost even a pound, but by increasing my cardio workout, I’ve managed to lose some inches, which I can feel in my uniform, it’s much more comfortable already. And I’ve already added some small jumps and coordination exercises to my workout…
Keep it up! You’re doing great. 40 lbs, wow.
What type of Parkour like exercises are you going to start with?
luinel did pilates today.
Well the first movement i plan to attempt to learn is the roll. In junior high i took gymnastics for a couple of weeks one summer and just practicing rolls (the only thing we really covered) helped tone and strengthen me quite a bit. I still remember how to roll as in gymnastics but no longer can properly stand up coming out of the roll. I expect that learning how to roll as in parkour will be very similar (though the technique is a little different) and that working on this would help me as I start to build my strength up. I need to walk more consistently and start working in running intervals. I also plan to work on the Basic Landing and the Precision Jump, the latter being something that was similar to an exercise I used to practice during my volleyball days back in high school. A large part of the reason that I want to take up Parkour is that I have felt trapped inside my body for such a long time. I believed others when they told me I was fat long before I actually was. In high school my knees bothered me a lot, and I’m glad to say that they no longer do, but a year ago I hurt my back when I fell down bowling and I’m afraid that if I don’t lose weight and get back closer to the shape I was in during high school then that pain will continue for the rest of my life. I love my body and don’t know how I got to the weight i am, nor really how i am losing the weight now, it just seems to have its own ideas about how to react to exercise and diet that don’t fit conventional wisdom. As i reach the halfway point in my weight loss I hope that parkour will finally help me feel empowered and whole again as well as enabling me to be in the best shape of my life.
44, and falling in love with parkour… problems with neck, overweight, and so on.. but decided to try it.
I loved gymnastics back in school, and when I see parkour videos I really long to be able to do the same.
Let’s support each other.. I started with push-ups, jumping on the chair and those things. Also heard doing spiderman walk, jumping in the spot are good ones.
How’re you doing? see your post is month old..
I’m 33, with neck injuries too, but I’m still pushing to do parkour anyway. I feel way older than everyone else starting, but my brain SOOOO wants to do it! The only question remains, can my body keep up? We’ll see.
It depends entirely on who you compare yourself with. Can you keep up with a healthy 17 year old who has been athletic all his or her life? Probably not.
Can you keep up with most other 33 year olds? Quite possibly.
I work in the fire service and have to constantly remind myself to keep a lid on those comparisons. Every few months we get a new batch of probies (first years, fresh out of the academy), and they are so eager, and gung ho, and in shape, and excited to wake up in the middle of the night because they might get to go to a fire. When I compare my self to them, I feel like an oldtimer, many (not all) of whom are overweight, tired, battling high blood pressure and heart disease, couldn’t care less about ever seeing another fire (I’m not really quite there yet).
And when I compare myself to regular citizens my age, women who are not in a physical job, I usually feel strong, confident and competent.
Which goes to prove again: it’s all in your mind. You can do anything you want, except BE young and uninjured (can’t turn the clock back). But you can feel young again, and confident in your body.
Sorry about the soapbox, I think I was trying to get myself motivated to go run some stairs today…
I finally managed to put the brakes on the slow and steady weight GAIN (not the good kind) I had been going through for about a year. Now it’s slowly going down again, and I’m starting to enjoy being physical again.
I went hiking for a week in Yosemite and realized again how much i would benefit from being lighter on my feet…
I’m focusing on building muscle to burn weight first, and cardio. But I’ve been incorporating coordination drills, like jumping over low barriers using my hands as pivot points, and balance drills like jumping from garden wall to garden wall.
All of this is small scale, of course, I don’t want to injure myself hauling this weight around.
But I’m having fun and feeling good, so I must be on the right track!
starygirl wants to stop procrastinating
get my lip pierced
draw more
play strip hide-and-seek
complain less
Sing in front of a crowd
play the sims for free
go to japan
watch Batman Begins
go to a marilyn manson concert
mesawyou wants to open a Roth IRA
remix a song
design my own tattoo
stop stressing out
Learn how to play bridge
forgive my parents
Practice Yoga
clean my room
Ailbhe Leamy wants to help new mothers develop strong breastfeeding relationships with their babies
Visit France
Switch to linux
