Charles’ Parkour Training Blog

This quarter, I decided to sign up for a public speaking course which also requires you enter in the quarterly Public Speaking competition. This quarter’s topic was health, a subject I feel I have a good grasp of, especially in the department of losing weight. My speech was an attack on the widespread belief that using elliptical and treadmills for hours on end will help you lose weight. Hopefully you readers of my blog know better, but for the sake of presentation, here is my speech. This presentation won me first place:

Weight Loss: Cardio vs HIIT from Charles Moreland on Vimeo.

This post is a continuation from Part I.

Fear is a huge player in the discipline of parkour; There are dangers and risks, and everyone has the natural tendency to avoid physical harm. In the last section, I announced that I have always felt afraid doing the things I do and I outlined several strategies I use to mitigate the effect of that fear. Part II is not an outline of a problem, nor is it a guide as to how never to feel afraid. Instead, I want to pose a few questions and point out a couple factors that occur in American society that I feel have a great deal of influence in the psyche of our generation.

The biggest question I’m going to ask is, Why? I can no longer sit back and be content with the way society decides to manage itself or behave. Specifically for this topic, why is physical harm so intensely demonized at a young age?

The root of the problem is difficult to understand for some, mainly because there is no right or wrong answer; just choices and the effect of those choices. To develop this further, I give myself as an example:

I am by no means a scarless child. I’ve had my bumps and bruises, tears, rips, cuts, and scrapes. I’ve never broken a bone to this day. The most definitive thing I remember about my escapades as a child was, “don’t do that because ________.” With every caution, came a consequence. Time after time, year after year, I have become conditioned to address what consequences derive from my actions. I am not a psychologist, and I do not demonize my parents for raising me this way. I am who I am. But one thing I cannot get my head across is what life would be like if I never stressed about that next moment. What if, instead of constantly analyzing the future, I simply adapted and responded to events that occur in the present? What kind of psychological changes occur in a child who is raised with an approach of, “Try it. Explore! See what happens for yourself.”

Humans are wonderful creatures and we most certainly have advanced brains that allow us to do some very amazing things. However, to my knowledge, humans still do not possess the capability to peer into the future and know what outcomes will arise. The illusion is definitely there. I can take in all the senses around me and say with a feeling of certainty that in an hour I will no longer be in this coffee shop, because I have another appointment. But just because this is the most probable solution, does not discount other probable outcomes. What if my client cancels? What if the person next to me drops dead?

Throughout all my childhood, whenever a potentially physically threatening situation presented itself, I was told by an authority NOT to do something because this specific thing will happen to me. But who is to judge what will happen in the future? “Don’t touch that hot stove! It will burn your hand!” Anyone can agree with this statement. The stove is obviously hot and touching it will obviously burn the child’s hand. What I want to ask is: what happens if you instead say, “Try it. See what happens.” You’ve done something very remarkable there. You’ve changed that child’s pattern of thinking and exploring. They will surely burn their hand, but in the grand scheme of things, a burn is a burn. There is no authority dictating probable outcomes to that child, rather, they learn for themselves the power of certain physical and natural laws; the only true authority.

It is necessary to prove to a child that they are the masters of their own decisions for them to act that way later in life. Heinlein once wrote (through the words of Lazarus Long), “I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” Morally and physically, I am responsible for my own actions. But with my background and the mental conditioning I have, how can I possibly be expected to attack the future with a free mind? Am I truly a free thinker/mover? Or am I only as free as my calculations allow me to be?

If my shoes have a high coefficient of friction with the rail, the distance is within my abilities, and the rail is sturdy and strong, I can safely assume that I will make the precision successfully. But what is the difference between an assumption and a prediction? In my opinion, too many people believe that the world is predictable until it proves unpredictable. But after the world proves itself unpredictable, no one comes to the conclusion that perhaps, maybe, the world is simply inherently unpredictable. Everyone continues to believe that they can predict outcomes based on limited data.

I have come to the realization that I have spent way too much of my life worrying about situations and outcomes that I can’t possibly know the answers to, especially when it comes to parkour. My past mentality has surely helped me progress as effectively and safely as possible. It has also helped me take on and accomplish new tasks slowly, something I strive to promote in all beginners. But the time needs to come where I mature and finally accept that I have certain abilities, gifts, talents, and limitations and that these do not mean I need to worry constantly about what will happen in the future. I have all the tools I need to properly adapt to whatever physical situation presents itself, whether predicted or not. That is true self-confidence. The ability to say nothing is set in stone and I know that I cannot predict what is going to happen next, but instead of waiting, pondering, and worrying about how I will respond to a potentially bad situation, I will simply continue doing what I do best: adapt.

I want to end by saying that recently I’ve become extremely intrigued in watching experienced practitioners bail. I feel that in these few precious moments, true pakour is demonstrated. There is no time for calculation. No time for worry or anxiety. There is simply reaction in its pure form. Imagine what it would feel like to be in that state of mind every minute; to have complete acceptance of the natural/physical laws that guide us, and although we don’t know what’s going to happen next, confide in our training and our personal abilities to guide us and keep us safe.

This past gymnastics session, I decided to meditate on all the worries, fears, and anxieties I have with tumbling, manipulate them into a ball, and cast them away. I am aware of my limitations, my strengths and weaknesses, and through this knowledge I can act accordingly. Last Sunday I did my first roundoff backhandspring, roundoff back tuck, four backhandsprings in a row, and a side sumi. I had never attempted any of them before simply because I was always afraid of what might happen.

I’m not calculating anymore. I’m done being a slave to my own imagination.

The one armed handstand has been a goal of mine for quite some time now. After becoming rather proficient in it last year, I developed a right shoulder over-use injury affecting my levator muscle. Since addressing the issue, I am slowly coming back and have regained my one armed handstand.

It is not the prettiest nor the longest and I still have a long ways to go before I am satisfied, however I wanted to make a post to mark my current progression.

One Armed Handstand progress from Charles Moreland on Vimeo.

I’m still sure that my legs are my limiting factor here. The weight on my shoulder is easy to handle and the stress on my right arm is minimal. My left leg is currently slightly more flexible than my right and causes my hip to torque out of alignment. Also, although it is hard to tell in this video, I tend to lose my straight lower back ~2 seconds into any OAHS.

After I achieve a solid 10 second I will feel comfortable enough to write a thorough tutorial for this movement.

Rochester Parkour’s usual training spot of Manhattan Square Park is nice and all, but a change of scenery is always a pleasant surprise. While lost in the city last Sunday, I stumbled upon a brand new spot that I’m extremely excited about. Behold:

Sadly, while doing some OAC training, I pulled several muscles around my right shoulder. It’s going to be a week or so until I can explore the possibilities of this new place but I have high hopes.

Sleep - Only about 3.5 hours…I need to work on this

Warm up -

supersonic oasis

500m row 1:34

Work Out- (pressed for time)

Squats

• airsquat x 10
• 135# x 5
• 185# (High Bar Position) x5
• 255# (Low Bar) 3×5

OAC (right arm only)

• 3×3 3 finger assisted, slow negatives

No dips because the gym has yet to replace the weight belt…sigh…

Front Lever

• Adv Tuck 1 minute – 12-15 second holds

Deadlifts

• 135# x 5
• 185# x 5
• 225# x 5
• 275# x 5 (New PR)
• 295# x 5 (New PR)

 

I was pressed for time today so didn’t get too much in. The weight belt not being replaced is really starting to piss me off. I would love to get back on the road to my 2xbw dip. Squats didn’t feel too bad although still fairly light. I wish I could get back into my normal schedule and squat every other day, but work and school has been consuming my life.

I didn’t set out to PR today in the deadlift, but I was cutting in with another guy today, and after doing the set of 275# and realizing how easy it was I decided to push it further. The 295# was definitely heavy but not “hard.” I’m excited to see where this goes. 

I’ll update my equilibre practice tomorrow. Need to rest the right shoulder (supraspinatus). I’ve been pushing it kind of hard.

“You’re pretty thin for a weight lifter..” exclaimed the border patrol agent. I smiled and calmly replied, “I guess I’m deceiving, officer.” He gave me an interesting look, paused, and turned back, a smirk coming to his thin lips. “Show me your hands.” I chuckled to myself and did as I was directed…

 

 

“Yeah…you weight lift…” was his reply. “Go on through. I hope your friend is okay.”

 

Alright, so it wasn’t really a lie I gave to the fine young gentleman that protects our nation’s borders. I was, in fact, in Canada for the weekend to “exercise” and a parkour jam could, technically, be referred to as a “seminar.” I understood how strange it would be to not only have to explain parkour to an already suspicious-by-nature federal agent, but to also be driving a vehicle not registered in mine or any immediate relative’s name. But these are the twists I must deal with in my life and I never imagined the injuries my left hand sustained this weekend would make my explanation easier when crossing the border. Sometimes things just work out…

 

This past weekend’s turmoil took place at none other than The Monkey Vault, a unique parkour gym owned by Daniel Iaboni in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto is an easy three and a half hour drive across the border from Rochester and we figured it was time to take some of the RocPK kids for an adventure. We packed our bags and set out late Friday afternoon.

 

After dealing with the border patrol grilling us to find out more about what parkour was and why we were traveling to Canada for it, as well as several wrong turns, we finally arrived at our destination. The gym was nothing at all what I expected.

 

Danno’s gym is everything you could possibly dream about when you think of a hole in the wall “gymnasium” that does it right. Upon entering, you will be hit with the sight of gymnastics, bouldering, and parkour all coming together to make a wonderful training friendly environment. Much of the bottom floor is covered in expensive gymnastics style spring flooring accompanied by a medium sized foam pit (conveniently located under the second floor balcony!). In the back is a small bouldering area that wraps its way around much of the right wall. The rest is rather undeveloped still.

 

Upstairs you’ll find a quaint, but entirely functional barbell lifting area equipped with a squat rack, pull up/dip/leg raise machine, bench station, and a GHR (as well as assorted dumbells, kettlebells, and medicine balls). Also upstairs is a full bathroom with a shower that spews nothing but Canada’s finest freezing water. I forgot to get a shot of the upstairs, so here’s Zac sleeping!

 

When I arrived, the others were already waiting patiently in a circle, eager to start moving around. We started with a dynamic core workout which looked something like this:

 

3 Rounds 10-20-30 of:

 

Reclined explosive knee raises (I’ll explain this in a later article)

V-Ups

Toe touches

Candlestick raises (explain later as well)

 

V-Ups killed me and this is the first time I have experienced abdominal DOMS in a very long time. We moved onto the lower body and began doing box jump circuits which tranistioned into tic-tac rebound training where we had to tic-tac from one wall and double leg bound to the opposite wall in as little leaps as possible. After this, Danno placed a vaulting box in our path and instructed us to tic-tac and box jump onto the box utilizing only one jump.

 

It was late and we were all tired. One by one we fell asleep inside the gym.

 

Saturday came and we woke up to the disturbing sight of parking tickets. Jesse and I grabbed a shovel and hammer respectively and began smashing away at the wall of ice that was blocking the way to safe parking. Once the situation was handled we headed off into Toronto for some quick breakfast before bouldering.

 

We spent about two hours at the rock gym and I managed, as I usually do with bouldering, to give it my all until I physically cannot grab a hold. I have an issue with obessing over bouldering problems until I have them complete and this one was particularly frustrating. I was too short to make the reach presented below and each time was required to lose my footing and jump to the next hold with my left hand. I accomplished this several times. My final attempt at completing the problem seemed promising but my strength was gone. I fell to find that the final attempt had demolished my left hand and left several, large open wounds.

 

We were met back at the gym with some younger PKTO traceurs who were already practicing and training. I joined in with the others after tending to my wounds. This part of the session was very loose and open and involved much creativity. Instead of explaining I will simply post a series of photos taken during the session.

 

 

The session was fun and exciting, but not without consequence as one of our own, Sam Owen, would come to sustain a devasting broken ankle. I hold Sam in high regard and have nothing bad to say of him as I’m sure he has learned his lesson, however, I do feel a need to reach out and express to my readers that while flips, tumbling, and tricking are fun and exciting…they are dangerous and taxing to the body and need to be assessed as such. Your body requires a lot of time to adapt to the strain you place on it and as a beginning traceur you should always take the time to step back and make sure you are not progressing faster than your body can handle.

 

 

 

“That’s a bitch of a circuit,” the mastermind of that night’s upper body pain mumbled upon completing his final round. Saturday carried on that day’s emphasis on upper body annhialation with a circuit around the gymnastics floor. This next video is Danno’s final round. Don’t judge him; This round was completed after four previous rounds and was his first try at RTO (Rings turned out) Dips.

 

 

Danno’s Monster Arm-Annhialating Circuit from Charles Moreland on Vimeo.

 

 

Jesse and I ran off into the chill Toronto air to find a feast as others slowly passed into slumber. When we returned, Graham, our wonderful EMT-trained friend, informed us that Sam’s ankle was not getting better and was probably broken. Sam needed to get to a hospital. Graham took Sam back across the border that night and left the keys in my hands. “This should be interesting…” I sighed.

 

Sunday was a rather lazy day and the rest of RocPK, minus Zac, Jesse, and myself, took off early. Not before Adam, the new recruit to the crew, beat the gym’s current pull up record, completing a not-too-shabby 23 pull ups before falling. After the crew departed, Danno jumped in our (Sam’s) car and took us to Cloud Gardens to give us a horrible teaser as to what to expect from the big Toronto jam at the end of July. I felt like a kid in a toy store…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the ride there, Danno showed us the major spots that Toronto housed, and by major spots, I mean entire blocks and entire streets of hot spots. Toronto is a traceur’s dream come true with hotspots in literally every direction you turn. It is no longer a wonder in my mind as to why this city has such a massive and thriving community.

 

 

 

With that, we said out goodbye’s and were on our way back to the parkour desert that is Rochester, NY. Toronto is simply a dream for me and the friendships made there during our short visit will surely be taken to heart. Danno’s attitude toward training is greatly inspiring and I cannot wait for July to roll around.

 

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Danno and the PKTO traceurs we met along the way that made our adventure so exciting and beneficial. You have my greatest appreciation.

 

Charles

 

Small workout on rings last night in place of my usual morning workout:

Warm Up -

30 second upper straight arm support
10 normal dips
10 half BW pullups

Work Out -

3×5 RTO dips (these never seem to get easy…)
1 minute pseudo-adv tuck planche 12 reps
1 minute adv tuck front lever 5 reps 
3×3 false grip pull ups

OAHS practice – New progression! Finally made the jump from two finger assist to one finger. I’ll probably video this soon. My progress on the new program has been fast, but not without consequence. Experiencing some slight wrist soreness on my right hand. I’m going to have to wrap it and let it sit for a few days.

I was actually extremely impressed with my strength in the advanced tuck front lever position. My first hold was somewhere along the lines of 15 seconds. My pull into FL I can stop statically for about 2-3 seconds now and my straddle is only around 6-7 seconds. I’ll be training my adv tuck more often until my straddle or jackknife variant becomes stronger.

Video soon of my OAHS progress.

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Warm up -

     2×30sec RTO support hold (rings)
     2×20sec  floor handstand
     2×5 pullups
     2×5 dips

Workout -

     4×5 Bulgarian Rows
     4×5 Bulgarian Push ups (RTO)    
     25min Shoulder stand practice (longest hold 8sec, jump into position)
     1min L-sit 
     3min Adv tuck FL ~17 reps
     1min Tuck planche  ~5 reps     
     2min Adv tuck BL ~ 8 reps     
     1min Straddle-L  ~5 reps (needs a lot of        work) 

Cooldown

     20 minutes intense mobility stretching of the hip, torso, and shoulder girdle

 

So I realize I haven’t been updating my workouts in a long while. I feel I’ll start them again now.

All work done on rings with 8ft straps.

Warm up -

Upper support hold RTO 30sec x 3
10 dips
10 pull ups

Workout -

3 Rounds of:
10 second adv tuck BL + 5 Inverted hang pulls (hands past hips)
10 second tuck PL + 5 Bulgarian push ups
10 second adv tuck FL + 10 second RTO L-sit hold

Weighted Pull ups
3×5 25#

Handstand holds (not on rings)
4×30 seconds (minimal rest)

Shoulder stand (rings)
5×10 seconds

Cool down -

High volume, intensive stretching of the upper body and hip region

The main rings workout wasn’t timed. My first round of planches was adv tuck, but after that my shoulders just simply couldn’t support me and I had to revert back to tucks. Bulgarian push ups are my new favorite.

Been a while since my last update, but 16 credits, 4 jobs, all my clubs and hobbies keep me obscenely busy. I kick things off again with a new concept idea that I think may be a good new addition to this blog stream: The Lifestyle Log!

This new log style is one I fashioned out of a conversation I had with Zac a couple of weeks ago regarding Twitter. Zac had used Twitter before and had had the idea of utilizing it to quickly and easily create a diet log/journal. Later that day I had a few clients ask me not only about what exactly I eat on a daily basis, but also what exactly it is I do. Thus, the Lifestyle Log was born. 

My log uses Twitter to track me through my day as I update my stream via mobile phone with my diet and activity for the day. Granted a lifestyle is so much more than just diet and mentionable activities, but I feel this is a good start for now. 

As most of my returning visitors know, I do keep a track of my workout log here in this blog, and I plan on continuing that (although I haven’t updated in quite some time…sorry!). Twitter only allows for 140 characters each update so my core workout routine and other major activities will still be listed here in full detail with some added media content. 

Just for sake of disclaimer, there is nothing I leave out of this log diet wise. Activity wise, I will use proper judgement to only record suitable material that I feel contributes to my personal fitness and health. 

If this gets a decent response, there will be some added content in the future through the log including games or challenges. 

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I hope this log gives you more of an insight into how I train/sustain myself on a day to day basis and help those looking for guidance to better/healthier lifestyles. 

The Liftestyle Log can be found here: http://twitter.com/charlesmoreland. Don’t forget to become a follower!

Charles