Why conditioning is important!!!

Towards the end of last year i cut out a lot of the conditioning and focused primarily on my technique. Not because I find condition too hard or boring like many people think who try Parkour. I cut back on the conditioning to enable my body frame to become lighter and to really improve my technique by focusing on just doing Parkour. Yes I became leaner, yes I improved my technique and yes my jump and Parkour vision increased.

So I should be happy that most aspects of my Parkour was improving... What I did overlook was my resistance/body armour from being very strong, had now slowly decreased, and the larger jumps and drops where becoming more demanding for my body even though I did not notice at first.

During the Springtime this year, i was given a little warning from a small fall at Vauxhall in London. It was just a simple fall and I saved myself. So what's the big deal? Well I managed to injure my wrist, which took a good almost three months. I have bailed and saved myself many times before in the past, but I have been strong and resilient enough to handle it. However with my body's strength was not as strong as it should have been, therefore I picked up an injury.

Over the past months this year I have also read in online forums, videos and even seen Traceurs who neglect their conditioning in favour of doing the big jumps and drops, as they want to do the so called impressive stuff right away, only to find out their body cannot handle it. Parkour is not a race to see who can do the biggest or most dangerous obstacles. It is about improving your abilities safely and sensibly through training and helping others.

I would also like to point out that Parkour did not start out with the original French Traceurs/Yamakasi doing big jumps right away, but was born from strength training, from who could lift what, how many reps and various strength, power and edurance challenges; from which the urban obstacle cource evolved from to what we know as Parkour/ADD/Freerunning.

There are many Traceurs out there who can do the big impressive jumps in less the time it took the older or more experienced ones to do. However fail to see the short comings from dilution. I cannot express how important it is to read Blanes article "Dilution"

I will take my own path in Parkour and if it takes longer than others, then so be it! I want to be doing Parkour long term. So conditioning will be a balanced and integral to my Parkour training, and help me to be strong and resilient.

To be really good at anything takes plenty of time and repetition and does not happen quicky, and taking shortcuts will show!

Zeno

The power of a push up.

Giving Parkour the right impression to the public and the authority is very important. However the general public and authorities such as the Police, Security Guards and Neighbourhood Watch may be unaware that you are training for Parkour. And think that you are up to no good and are being a nuisance or being reckless.

So how do you educate the person watching you? How do you give a positive, respectful image to Parkour to the ones who think you are causing trouble?

A technique I do very often, such as when I see the likes of a security guard approaching is to drop to the ground and do 10 or more push ups. Why you say? Well the general person can identify with the push up, as a form of exercise, and then from that mental image are the positive connotations of strength fitness & discipline.

In a world where first impressions count, a positive impression of Parkour is important and so is the push up.

9/10 times this technique has worked for me, if I am told to move on, I look them in the eye, smile and say no problem – and move on. If you make lots of noise during your training or damage property then you cannot expect to get respect.

It is good when someone comes up to you, showing curiosity and asking nicely what you are doing - but for the ones who may judge you without a conversation, then visual communication is equally important. Show them you are strong and disciplined. That is the power of a push up.

Try it and see...

Twitter

I have signed up to twitter to record various training achievements and what I have been up from now on. The reason why i am doing this is friends are always asking what I am up to right now or what have I done today, what my nutrition is, and I feel like am repeating myself a lot. So from now on if they want, they can follow my training achievements, diet and quick thoughts in short bite size bit of information. Also the twitter serves as a good way to log/record small goals, and good to help on feedback and tweak my training accordingly.

Training update

Now that Spring is almost here, I have decided to shed my Winter insulating fat and lighten my frame a little more, by doing more extra Cardio, and refining my diet.

So today I went for a jog from my house to Victoria Park, around the pond and back to my house. I plan to beat my time each time I execute this specific "Pond Run"

I will update this thread with a completion time, as to record and monitor my progress.

My first goal is complete the Pond run circuit in less than 16 minutes.

1st Attempt: 19'40.50 5th March 2009 (Cold & damp day).
2nd Attempt: 18'03.03 7th March 2009 (Light rain day).
3rd Attempt: 16'38.45 11th March 2009 (Damp day).
4th Attempt: 15.23.05 18th March 2009 (Sunny Spring day).

District 13 Ultimatum (D13-U) Website

Another trailer plus additional behind the scenes clips too!

District 13 Ultimatum website in English, click here.

Released in France 18th Febuary 2009 and around late July in the UK

Enjoy!

GLASGOW PARKOUR SPRING GATHERING ! APRIL 4th

One Year on, Glasgow Parkour hosts the second Scottish Parkour Gathering.
With a few twists on last year's day - the format will be more informal and traceurs will get the opportunity to take a 'grand tour' of most of the main spots of the city.

For more info Click here!!

Or

If you have any questions about this day, you can post your question in the Glasgow Parkour Forum, by clicking here!

See you there!

Zeno

Looking back on 2008

My mental and physical ability has improved these past few weeks and I am looking forward in seeing what I am really capable of leading up to Spring 2009...

Below is a chronological set of clips, (January 2008 to December 2008) of my Parkour Journey.

The point of posting this clip below is to draw a line of where my ability was, as I feel different now as my mind, body and spirit are very close to being in harmony.

Zeno

Traceur Zeno [Glasgow Parkour] 2008
Uploaded by TraceurZeno

DISTRICT "B13" 2 : ULTIMATUM (trailer)

DISTRICT "B13" 2 : ULTIMATUM (2009) - Official Trailer [HQ] Cyrill Raffaelli - David Belle



Release date 18th February. :o)

My Parkour highlights of 2008

Below are some of my Parkour highlights that was 2008.


JANUARY
Back to training from having a couple of days rest...


Started off the year with two of my closest training Partners Chris Grant and BJ Lang.

I also began to concentrate more on my diet, by eating little to no processed food, and began to cook more types of healthy dishes from scratch. So Parkour was making me a better cook.

I also made one of my accomplishments, the upwards precision at the top of the stairs at the Adam Smith, Glasgow University.

January also seen the start of Parkour and Conditioning with my Fiancee. :)

FEBRUARY


Finished filming my video, before heading off to Berlin, Germany for a few days.

Glasgow Parkour celebrates it's 3rd birthday.

For February I trained technique training intensely, which seen my jump increase by a whole foot. :)

MARCH
Glasgow Parkour Coaching first Adult workshop begins.

Three day training session with Parkour Generation's Dan Edwards and Forrest in London with my fellow Glasgow Traceur Chris Grant.

APRIL

Glasgow Parkour Coaching Scotland Wide Workshop 05-April-08
Uploaded by TraceurZeno

Glasgow Parkour holds it's first "Scotland wide Parkour workshop".

Establish training with new comer Omercan.



MAY
Conqueored the Big Scary Level Cat at Wellington Church.

I Also decided to eat more and incorporate at little more fatty food into my diet as my diet was so clean, I felt I was running out of energy pretty quick.

The 4 day trip to Evry, Paris for the opening of Yamakasi/Majestic Force Art Du Displacement Accademy.

Lisses Trip from where I badly sprained my ankle just 4 hours of arriving there, but ended the trip on literally a high after making it to the top of the Dame Du Lac, despite barely being able to walk.


From the footage I filmed leading up to my injury i posted my video "The awakening"

In the month of May, I turned 30 years old.

Lots of Ice days to reduce the swelling of my ankle...


JUNE
Recovery begins on my badly sprained ankle.
So i concentrated first on protection of my ankle, by wearing an ankle brace, which I ordered off ebay.

My training had to be adapted... And when i was not doing upperbody conditioning I would work on getting my injured foot's range of motion back, by sitting of the ground and writing the imaginary alphabet several times a day with my big toe, focusing the range of movement from my foot only and not moving my leg.

After about two weeks of working on my injured foot's range of movement, I began lowerbody conditioning to focus on strengthening my legs and weak ankle


JULY
Training light jump techniques with my healing ankle.

The initial pilot of Glasgow Parkour Coaching youth accademy begins with a few outdoor workshops in the Southside of Glasgow.

I attended the big Parkour Jam at Erskine, which was great fun despite recovering from my Ankle injury.



AUGUST
Despite my ankle not being 100%

I still managed to finish off filming a joint Parkour video, with BJ Lang


SEPTEMBER
UPG come to Glasgow for the Merchant city festival, from where Glasgow was entertained in a fantastic display of Parkour and dance from the guys and gals of Urban PlayGround, of which former Yamakasi member Malik skills where on show.
Zeno and Malik Diouf

OCTOBER
I spend October trying to get my fitness, strength and mind level back to where it was before my ankle injury.

NOVEMBER

Barefoot training begins with weekly barefoot distance jogs. (the video is of low quality because of initial file size, but gives you an idea where I jogged to.

The idea of barefoot jogging, especially in the cold rain was to toughening my mind as well as my feet, to sharpen my concentration and push through former comfort zones, so when I had my shoes on and doing Parkour, things would seem easier, and so my level began to rise again.

November also seen the coaches from Parkour Generations, visit Glasgow in part premotion of EA Games "Mirror's edge"

Johann, Zeno, Thomas, Chris & Stephane

There was a great turn out from our community and a fun workshop was enjoyed by all at Bellahoustoun Sports Centre


DECEMBER

Glasgow Parkour and Edinburgh Parkour attending Rendezvous 3.

December saw the great gathering in London, for Parkour Generations "Rendezvous 3" two day event. And despite the rain the spirit of everyone was excellent. It was good to travel down to London with several guys and gals from Glasgow and Edinburgh Parkour.

Blane & Zeno

The closing of December saw the end of year Christmas Parkour Jam.

Below are three videos filmed and edited by Ian Lyon, Nina and the other by myself.


Ian's edit

GPK Jam 27-12-08
Uploaded by TraceurZeno

Nina's Edit

Zeno [Glasgow Parkour] Uni Run

I would normally show control by stoping when landing my precisions, like in my older videos, however I wanted to show continious movement in this clip.




Thanks for taking the time to watch.

Zeno

Zeno & BJ Lang [Glasgow Parkour]

Just a wee vid of us two.



High Quality version available on my youtube page

Thank you for taking the time to view.

Zeno

Erskine Jam July 2008

Footage from the Erskine Jam July 2008.





Cheers

Zeno

Zeno "The Awakening"

I have been working on pushing my fears and mental barriers these past few months. And so this video is more about me dealing with these mental barriers, rather than being slick with many varied moves. With a growing sense of confidence, I feel my Parkour vision beginning to open up more and my passion and spirit deepen further.



Thank you for taking the time to view.

Zeno

Dame Du Lac

A nice chilled out day at the Dame Du Lac with my fellow Traceurs and Traceues, and a nice way to finish up my 4 day trip in Lisses.

Thomas, Zeno, Kazuma, Chris

Zeno & Dan Edwardes

James, Alex, Dan Edwardes, Chris Grant, Zeno & Andy

Despite picking up a bad ankle injury on the 16th May, I was determined to end my trip to Lisses and Evry on a high, so I climbed to the top of the Dame du Lac with the help of Thomas Couetdic and the encouragement from my fellow Glasgow Traceur Chris Grant who also made it to the top too.

Zeno

Trip to Lisses (May16th)

Training at Lisses with my fellow Glasgow Parkour Traceur Chris Grant and Camera man Ben.

Scotland wide PK workshop day

Here are some of the highlights that I managed to shoot with my camera of the "Scotland wide PK workshop day" which was held April 5th 2008 in Glasgow, UK. This was a positive gathering of like minded humans who came together to learn and push their Parkour abilities, regardless of gender, race or experience.

I would like to thank all of the Traceurs and Traceuses who attended. I hope they either learned new ideas, improved on their technique at the beginner workstations. And to the experienced ones, I hope you discovered new weaknesses that need to be addressed.

I would also like to thank the rest of the coaches, who put in the free time to organise and teach.

Below is a peice of rough footage filmed by Ryan Montieth and myself. The professional filmed version will be completed by our qualified camera man Ben, and will be online in the near future.

Glasgow Parkour Coaching Scotland Wide Workshop 05-April-08
by TraceurZeno

Overcoming my weakness...

Four months has passed since making my decision to drop conditioning sessions and focus exclusively on my technique training. I have also included working on my mental factor within my technique training.

In the past few months I have been training, I have been working off my written list of techniques, which consisted of techniques, obstacles and mental barriers that I seen as weaknesses within my Parkour. I knew deep down I could or should be capable of executing particular challenging moves, but put them off. It was very important to complete as much of that list as possible with it's tasks and reps.

I said in my previous blog entries, that “Rendezvous 2” was a turning point for me. I had the strength but I knew I had to improve on the following from that Special night:
* Up my technique level
* Up my ability level
* Increase my confidence
* Increase my endurance
* Lose muscle mass (de-bulk) and become lighter and become more athletic.


Up my technique level
When watching video clips of myself, I look for flaws in my technique or listen to constructive criticism from my fellow Traceurs. As an example when I did precisions I often did not lift my knees up high enough, or when I did wall climbs I relied on brut strength over fluid technique with strength. So on my list along with many other flawed techniques I drilled my weaknesses until they improved.

Up my ability level
For a few months leading up to “Rendezvous 2” I felt my ability had stagnated and it was getting me down which affected my confidence as well as mood, and “Rendezvous 2” was the icing on the cake. So I decided enough is enough, and ask why I am not improving... I realised I was only drilling moves, obstacles or single techniques that where in my comfort zone. The decision I had taken was to include on my “Written List” was jumps, moves, obstacles that where on my limit and feared, but knew if I stuck to my gut feeling I could do.

Increase my confidence
I always knew that with better technique and ability my confidence would grow. I drilled the jumps, moves and obstacles that I feared but knew deep down I could do in my mind. I had to push my mental fear barriers sensibly and drill these jumps moves and obstacles until they become a natural reflex to me. The higher my confidence the more I will challenge myself but with becoming complacent when moving or becoming arrogant.

Increase my endurance
Yes on my “written list” was a decent sized challenges that where executed without rest. One such weakness for me was cat-walking on rails, so on my list was to 10 reps of a large rail, as well as dealing with upward and downward gradients to really sharpen up my technique as well as endurance.

Lose muscle mass (de-bulk) and become leaner, lighter and more athletic
In the past I spent so much time conditioning I was becoming heavy in muscle and the hypertrophy of my body frame hindered my movement. I had good strength but my techniques had to match my strength potential. Now due to doing very little to no conditioning recently I have become less bukly in muscle, more leaner, and much lighter on my feet. My power and technique has increased dramatically. Although my strength has decreased a little, my strength is perfect for Parkour at this present time. I will however introduce some conditioning sessions in the near future, to keep my strength topped up and more importantly to prevent future injuries. I am really grateful that I did a hell of a lot of conditioning for the first year and half of my Parkour training, as it has benefited me physically, mentally and kept injuries at bay.

I still feel it is important to keep a balance of conditioning and technique training to be a strong and capable Traceur. Over the past 4 months my technique has improved as they have become cleaner, natural and powerful. My ability has progressed dramatically, such as my jump distance going up by 1 foot. My endurance has increased but can be worked on a lot more. My confidence is an area that has increased more than I planned and grateful for. Lastly I have become more athletic, powerful and lighter, due to not doing more conditioning than technique training.

I look forward to the next 4 months with great optimism. I will optimise and adapt my written list accordingly on a fortnight basis to ensure steady progress, and that I challenge my fears and weaknesses.

The point of posting this is not to tell you to drop conditioning. It is to say... Write out your personal weaknesses and go and work on them until they become a strong point!

Zeno

Borne Magazine Article

The Glasgow Parkour coaches recently took part in an article for Borne Magazine which has been published this month.

I feel it was a truthful and positive artcle, in which the writer Iain Nevill wrote an honest and refreshing article, that covered our Parkour training, spirit and beliefs.

Zeno

Traceur Zeno [Glasgow Parkour] Feb2008

Just an update of the progress in the last six months.



Thanks for taking the time to view

Zeno

Random thoughts at this precise time.

Where I am and where I am going.
For the last three weeks I have stopped doing conditioning routines and my focus has been purely on techniques. Although it is very important to do conditioning when starting off in parkour to have the strength, I am content with my strength at the present, but I want my technique up to match my strength level.

This week my jump distance has went up, and so has my mood and confidence. Therefore I am going to continue to train this way for the time being.

The weather and general environment has been excellent recently with lots of wind, rain and darkness falls in Glasgow about 3:30pm, so most my training is at night. Am I being sarcastic... Nope! I have been training the past few weeks in cold, dark and wet conditions and for the first time in the wetness I have been doing Parkour and not body weight strength conditioning.

Today for example I popped up the blind and looked out the window, and smiled. At one time I would have been annoyed and frustrated seeing rain and wetness, but today I just grinned. It was wet after a crazy down pour of rain and today was a Saturday Jam session in Glasgow. Despite the cold and wetness, I managed to do my biggest precision to date, as well as vaults, jumps, cats, cranes and balancing/walking on the wet rails.

I am finding training in the wet is heightening my senses and sharpening up my technique, as I do not want to slip and fall. I have to be very precise in my movement. Even in this very short time i feel I am adapting faster than I usually would, and my mind strength has improved, with higher concentration levels, faster instinct and an even more positive attitude to myself and to others.

I am becoming addicted to training in the wet now, due to the highly focussed mentality, almost like meditation at certain points. After training at Rottenrow I went back to the west end and drilled 51 wall climbs and 100 precisions all on my precision limit, plus one extra precision for you lot who where not there... A productive day!

If I can handle Parkour in the wet, then surely it will improve me when it becomes dry and I will feel even more confident as well as competent.

I still have a long long way to go, but i feel happy and can see and feel my current progression.

My new years resolution??
My new years resolution will be the same as last years one... "Not to have a resolution"... I am already doing what I need to do because it is relevant in my progression at this precise time in my Parkour journey.

Zeno