11/3/13
Today
training:
Ruck
in park with 30lb. Xvest for 1.5 hours. lots of body wt. exercise in park.
Bands,
GHD situps, jump rope and stretching warm-up. (afternoon)
Kettlebell heavy cleans with 2 bells.
BB
power cleans 30 min of singles. 70% wt.
Log
cleans and holds
Kettlebell
one arm press. Sets of 2 reps and holds.
Heavy
bag punching and kicking for 10 min.
Parcourse-Linear
playground
In about 1968 a Swiss gentleman
developed a system of outdoor exercise involving running on a trail with
“exercise stations” to perform body wt. exercise, distributed at various distanced as you ran. It did not
become popular here in the US until the 1980’s, at the height of the running
boom, when runners wanted to add some exercise to complement their running.
Today there are still many of the 4000 plus or so Parcourses or fitness trails
still remaining, but for the most part they are not that well used.
Many times you will see a parcourse in
disrepair or vandalized from lack of use or support from the public. There is
one course near me that is just about completely destroyed by a disrespectable
public and can no longer be used. The older parcourses where mostly constructed
with wooden timbers and pipe(Lincoln-log esque) so the weather and ease of destruction
takes its toll. Basically I like the wooden structures as it blends with the
environment but they don’t seem sustainable.
There are companies now that make a
complete parcourse arrangement made of metal that even a mutant cannot destroy
and can be installed by the parks dept. in a short time. The new models have
more detailed exercise explanation of how to perform at each station.
That brings me to why they are not
that popular and you hardly see anyone using them. I believe there is a
misconception that the body wt. exercise is not that efficient as weights or
machines you see in gyms. Think about this; the Navy trains SEAL’s on just that
kind of program and they are the fittest on the planet!! Then there is exercise
knowledge of body weight movement that the general public is not that well
educated in. So when a new person started on a parcourse, they are not sure
that they are performing the exercises correctly ( most lightly they are not)
or how much they should do.
The act of running and using body
weight exercise has a great PHA or peripheral heart action, which streams the
blood flow to all the extremities as opposed to running that targets the lower
body for the most part. By adding exercise with the running or walking on a
trail you get better GPP for the total exercise time.
You don’t need a lot of equipment, but
a pair of gloves with some grip ability is advised, as you will be handling
metal handles or bars. Summer sun beating down on the pull-up bars will fry
your hands or in winter, ice or cold metal will take off some skin. As for body
wear, you may not want to wear your best training outfit as you will get rust
or dirt from the stations being outdoors. Unlike gym equipment, there is no waiting
for your turn but I there is someone on the course, for the most part they like
the company and even help or show off a little if they are experienced.
You
can’t go wrong if you add some Parcourse stations when you run or ruck.
However, if you don’t have a
Parcourse, a playground arrangement that can be utilized for most of the
exercises and then some. Play ground apparatus in most parks are hardly used
except for an occasional young family, mainly in the summer mornings. Don’t
push the kids off the play ground just so you can do your shit. I use the play
ground near me when ruck training between miles of rucking.
Ken
The mission is sacred.
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