APEX SCHOOL OF MOVEMENT PRESENTS

POWER ↑ PROGRAM

Get stronger, faster, & more explosive

Do you want gigantic jumps? Lovely landings? Floaty flips? Parkour is a power sport. Your ability to apply massive force in a short time will make countless techniques easier and safer. But great power is not always sustainable. To safely and effectively improve power, you must also build mobility, strength, and skill. Power ↑ Program gives you everything you need to train sustainably while also upgrading your performance.

"Power training with Ryan was super informative and gave me a foundation to start lifting on my own (how often to lift, what weight to lift at, how many reps/sets to do). I learned a lot. Thanks!"
Dylan Baker 🇺🇸
Speed parkour champion & Guinness World Record holder
"Good results with the Power ↑ Program by Ryan Ford. I worked my ass off because I had confidence in the program. And I was right to have confidence, great progression! I improved my lower and upper body power and my maximum strength too. Always happy to see such a good progression for a short period of time in both power and strength moves. Thank you for that Ryan, that helped me a lot!"
Charles Poujade 🇫🇷
Ninja Warrior & speed parkour champion
"Power ↑ Program changed my life as an athletic person. The program has taken me from being a decent athlete to one of the fastest parkour athletes in Colorado! I added six inches to my box jump, shaved seconds off of my speed parkour runs, and gained ten pounds of muscle."
Bear Schneider 🇺🇸
World Chase Tag Pan American Champion

What's in the program?

The Power ↑ Program provides you with highly organized and scientifically researched methods for developing power. Through initial assessments that help you customize your training template, you’ll arrive at a lightly individualized program to help you improve in the best way possible. We have several different levels depending on your fitness and skill level. All levels combine weightlifting with plyometrics, jump training, and bodyweight movements.

This is currently version 4.0 of this program which was originally started by Ryan Ford back in 2015 at Apex Boulder. Since then, dozens of local Apex athletes and coaches have gone through the programming and seen big gains. Many have gone on to excel in competition, performance, and life including Taylor Carpenter, Rob Schihl, Dylan Baker, Brandon Douglass, Renae Dambly, Michael Sliger, Kristine Dietrich, Jason Bergeron, Erica Madrid, Seth Wang, Amos Rendao, Justin Clark, Jesse Clark, Olof Wood, Megan McQueen, Santos Terrones, Bear Schneider, Max Boice, and Kasia Kilijanek.

Want programming and coaching that's even more personalized? Check out our individualized remote training options:

WE TAKE A SCIENTIFIC, EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH

We have developed this program thanks to the work of countless others. Our programming is based off scientifically backed principles and systems including the SAID principle, progressive overload, complex training, plyometric action, & more.

JUMP FARTHER/HIGHER

Through heavy lifting combined with plyometric movements, this program will likely boost your jumps including the broad jump, box jump, and vertical jump.

LAND SAFER

More importantly, this program can help you build stronger legs that are more likely to safely absorb great impacts. Landings are key to longevity in all sports!

SPRINT FASTER

Whether you’re a jumping or sprinting specialist, there tends to be some crossover between both types of training. As you get better at jumps in this program, you’ll see accel/decel and sprint gains too.

CLIMB QUICKER

The quest to perform a fast, technically sound climb-up takes discipline and practice. The power and skill requirements are no laughing matter. Although this program is more like 60% legs and 40% upper body, we still do some upper body plyos and lifts too.

 

PERFORM BETTER

This program is essentially a peaking program. You should not train like this for more than 6-12 weeks at a time but if you strategically use it leading up to a big competition, season, or goal, you could plan it perfectly to be at peak power levels.

WHEN SHOULD I USE THE POWER ↑ PROGRAM?

  • Strategically timed in the lead up to big competitions or events
  • If you want to try something new and see some general strength/power gains
  • If you feel like you’ve plateaued due to your current styles of training
  • If you want to get better at plyometric movements like leaps, bounds, hops, & sprints

GET ACCESS TO 3 DIFFERENT LEVELS

The Power ↑ Program includes 3 different program levels for you to choose from. It’s important to pick the right level in order to optimize your improvement and reduce the likelihood of injury. There’s no way to optimize a training program for yourself without trial and error. However, by taking into account things like your experience level, strength to weight ratio, and mobility issues, you can still formulate a program that’s an excellent fit for you.

If you do not meet all of the criteria for a particular level, you should choose a lower level. It’s important to check your ego because each program level gets more intense than the last. If your body isn’t in good enough shape, it will break down and you will get hurt!

Level 1

  • Beginner level of fitness
  • 6+ months of parkour training
  • Some experience in barbell lifting
  • Some recent experience in high-impact sports such as basketball, track, or gymnastics
  • No injuries, weight issues, or other health concerns

Level 2

  • Intermediate level of fitness
  • 1+ year of parkour training
  • Strength levels
    • Men: 1.5x BW back squat and/or 1.75x BW deadlift
    • Women: 1.25x BW back squat and/or 1.5x BW deadlift

Level 3

  • Advanced level of fitness
  • 2+ years of parkour training
  • Strength levels
    • Men: 2x BW back squat and/or 2.25x BW deadlift
    • Women: 1.75x BW back squat and/or 2x BW deadlift

Got questions? Send us an email: apexmovement@gmail.com

What do I need for this program?

Time

The Power ↑ Program requires you to follow prescribed workouts 2-3x/week for 6 weeks. There are also initial and final assessments to do before and after the program.

Tech

This program uses technology to improve your training experience. You should have access to:

  • Smartphone, tablet, or a laptop/desktop
  • Reliable, consistent Internet connection
  • Any camera that shoots good video. Most smartphones will do the job.
    • Preferably HD (1080p or better) and with options for slow-mo
  • Google account for using Google Sheets

Equipment

To complete the workouts as prescribed, you need access to all of the following equipment in 1 place:

  • Barbells & weights (enough to do heavy squats and/or deadlifts)
  • Something sturdy to jump on & off (plyo boxes, benches, walls, etc.)
  • Open space for warm-ups & jump combos
"I’d like to thank Ryan for the program. I think everything worked well during this training block. It was physically exhausting but I felt it made me work on my main weaknesses. I could feel it made me stronger than I was when I started.”
Mehdi Hadim 🇫🇷
Actor + parkour & World Chase Tag athlete
"I've done the Power ↑ Program a few times. In that 1.5 year span of training with Ryan, I made big gains including: 1) Broad jump 7’11” → 8’7.5” 2) Box jump 40” → 51” 3) Multiple weightlifting PRs and 4) overall better technique & confidence. I noticed the strength training also translated over to my tricking. I found myself being more confident in my movement. I definitely wouldn’t be the athlete I am today without Ryan."
Taylor Carpenter 🇺🇸
Parkour athlete & World Chase Tag Pan American Champion
"The balance between strength work and parkour was great. Felt like it was easy to progress in both at the same time. Also, really loved that the strength training was closely related to parkour (plyometrics, climb-up stuff, etc.) as it felt like I was able to feel the improvement in my parkour training straight away. Really enjoying this way of training and it seems to be working so far."
Julius Brander 🇫🇮
Parkour athlete & coach
"This the first program I have really committed to completing. I tried the 15 week jumping program, Air Alert, back in the day and I didn't see the results I expected because I could never finish all 15 weeks. I really enjoyed the simplicity of this 6-week Power ↑ Program. Now that I'm a dad, I have very little extra time and the 2 workouts a week were ideal. I still have a lot of room for improvement but I'm happy that I stuck with it and improved. Thanks Ryan!"
Paul Darnell 🇺🇸
Stuntman + founder of Tempest Freerunning & Hollywood Freerunners

MEET YOUR COACH

Hey, I’m Ryan. I’m a parkour coach, athlete, gym owner, author, and the founder of Apex School of Movement.

I spent most of my early years focused on soccer, football, and track & field. When I found parkour at 17 (in 2004), I taught myself using Internet videos because nobody else in Colorado trained at the time. 2 years later, I started the first parkour classes in North America, while also performing parkour worldwide for brands like ESPN, US Embassy, New Yorker, and K-Swiss.

In 2009, I founded Apex School of Movement in Denver, Colorado. In 2016, we launched our Apex online academy to accelerate parkour education around the world through: 1) implementing strong, authentic parkour culture, IRL & online 2) educating students & coaches to use safe, effective training methods.

Now I create athlete and coach education for parkour + strength & conditioning, remote coach & program for people all over the world, & work with athletes to increase performance in many sports including speed parkour, speed climbing, World Chase Tag, Ninja Warrior, CrossFit, and OCR.

Since 2004, we’ve traveled the globe, honing our skills and collaborating with experts in parkour, biomechanics, strength & conditioning, traditional sports, and more. Our coaching certification, born in 2014, aims to empower the global parkour community with sustainable training methods and the highest coaching standards.

For my first 10 years of parkour, I struggled to find teachers or mentors who could help me as a parkour athlete, coach, and gym owner. This Power Program is the comprehensive training program and knowledge-base that I wish I had during my first decade of learning and growing into my future roles as an athlete, coach, author, and gym owner.

I originally became interested in plyometrics to solve my own jumping and power-related woes. Eventually I made some gains and started helping others too. It grew into a popular program at Apex in which dozens of our top athletes and coaches did it at least once or twice a year for many years. Over the past few years, we gradually opened it up to select few in other states and countries, and now it’s finally available to everyone!

Let’s move!
— Ryan

FAQ

Our most frequently asked questions & answers for Power ↑ Program:

No, you can choose to enroll at any time you like, and complete the program according to whatever timeline suits you. There’s no time limit for completion, and you can study at your own pace.

All the content is delivered online so you can study anywhere in the world. Through this format we have created a multi-faceted approach to learning which includes text, GIF, video, image, quizzes, and more.

Yes, we welcome learners from anywhere in the world.

Yes, there’s no time limit to your access. Once you have completed the course you will always have everything for reference and revision purposes.

We don’t currently offer specific links or ways to mass download our course content but there are plenty of clever ways for you to copy/download/save digital content for later or offline usage (e.g. screenshots, save as, etc).

Continue to expand your education with us and through many other sources too! Keep working to apply the insights and experiences from our knowledge-base into your own training and coaching practice. You can also consider signing up for another Apex course, individualized remote training, or an IRL athlete/coach seminar. 

HOW TO EXPENSE APEX EDUCATION

What if you could take this course for free? You might be able to! Many companies offer a learning & development budget (aka an education or training budget) that may partially or fully cover the cost of programs like the Power ↑ Program.

To further increase your odds of free tuition, we compiled a few simple strategies and templates to help you get your employer to invest in you.

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