PREFACE: In 2015, we partnered with the biomechanics lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder to deconstruct the vertical wall run technique. Wall runs by 20 parkour coaches and athletes from various APEX schools were analyzed using wall-mounted force plates and high-speed cameras set up at APEX Boulder. Special thanks to Amos Rendao, Dr. Rodger Kram, Peter Lawson, Bryant Pham, and all the APEX athletes and coaches who took part in the study. — Ryan Ford
Soft vs. Hard Landings
Depending on the context of a drop to bilateral landing, as well as your training goals/intentions, you may want to stay stiffer/taller when you land, in order to more quickly decelerate & change direction. This is known as a drop to hard landing (aka hard depth drop in plyometrics training). Alternatively, you may want to … Read more
5 Ways to Support Female Parkour Athletes
I want you to imagine for a moment walking into a gym full of large, muscular women. They are a little bigger and stronger than you and are also insanely talented at parkour. They can do things that push your previous conception of what humans are physically capable of. You are just starting out in parkour and can only do things at a fraction of the scale they are capable of and with far less confidence. The women are trying to help you learn but offer so much advice that you can hardly think straight. When you approach to join, it feels like you are in their way. Is this level of skill even possible? Where did these super-humans come from?! Is there a special laboratory or something…is Oscorp real?!