If you are an athletic person with a natural affinity for extreme sports, you may have already considered taking up parkour. Parkour is oftentimes called the art of movement. It is all about overcoming obstacles, both physical and mental. In this article, we aim to present you with a beginner’s guide on how to do parkour at home.

Some people say that doing parkour is a walk in the park. You may want to find out more about whether anyone can learn parkour in our article. If you feel confident that you can learn parkour by doing it at home, read on to discover more useful information on how to go about it.

If you are a beginner who wants to learn how to do parkour at home, note that it is not impossible. You will need both mental and physical preparation and plenty of room at home. To start parkour you should have realistic expectations and know your body and your limits. However, most importantly, you should have a burning desire to become a traceur.

If you have have a medical condition, such as asthma or you wear glasses make sure to check whether you can do parkour with asthma or with glasses.

How to prepare for doing parkour at home?

Parkour is about both mental and physical preparedness. It is about pushing the limits of your body, without causing injuries to it. To become a traceur, you need to be in good shape. Let’s take a look at how you should prepare to do parkour at home.

Mental preparation

When you want to do parkour, you have to prepare yourself mentally. To do that try to follow these steps:

• You mustn’t let your fear hold you back – awaken your inner child’s natural curiosity and have a burning desire to explore the unknown. Get excited about learning the ropes before you jump to more complex parkour movements.
• Safety first – showing off will do you no good, especially if you are a parkour rookie. At all times think about safety. This is especially true if you decide to do parkour at home. Make sure you have plenty of room and that your parkour rolls and jumps don’t pose any danger to you or anyone around you.
• Motivation matters – there’s nothing wrong with getting your motivation from YouTube parkour gurus. Perhaps they spark the passion for parkour in you, but after a while, you may start to feel that YouTube videos are not enough to keep you going. Don’t hesitate to look for a parkour trainer who is an experienced traceur.

Physical preparation

You need to know your body well and you should be able to estimate your current fitness level before hopping into any parkour activity. If you are a beginner who wants to do parkour at home, we encourage you to follow these steps to prepare yourself physically for the challenge.

#1 Bodyweight training

To get you started in parkour you need to focus on strength training that relies on your own body weight. This is essentially what parkour is all about, right? Parkour requires a significant level of upper body strength, especially for moves such as cat leap or arm jump. Focus your attention on these moves:

• 10 reps of push-ups
• 10 reps of squats
• 10 reps of leg lifts
• 10 reps of pull-ups or bodyweight rows

You should strive to do two sets of these, every second day. The best and most convenient thing about bodyweight training is that you can do it at your home, without using any special equipment.

#2 Running

Running is super important when it comes to parkour. You need to be able to get from one point to another fast. In parkour, you will do that by running, jumping, and climbing. This is why it is extremely important to include some cardio exercise in your routine. If you are not too keen on running, try considering swimming or boxing instead.

#3 Warm up and cool down

As with any physical exercise, you shouldn’t skip warm up and cool down when you do parkour. Both are equally important in preventing injuries. Make sure that you devote enough attention to all the major muscle groups in your body, as parkour doesn’t engage legs only. If you do yoga regularly, you will greatly benefit from the flexibility and strength that comes with it when you do parkour too.

#4 Healthy diet

It goes without saying that you should take care of your diet when you want to do parkour. Food shouldn’t weigh you down and you should have a balanced diet. Your source of protein should be lean meat, nuts, and seeds. Get your carbs from fresh veggies and fruits. Most importantly, stay hydrated.

#5 Equipment

You may have wondered why a parkour wears baggy pants or if you can parkour in boots safely. In order to deliver the best parkour performance, what equipment is really essential for beginners? Gloves, backpacks, and even pants are all less important than shoes. You should buy a pair of shoes that provide you with enough cushioning, are breathable and lightweight. Make sure that they are affordable as well as durable, as you will need them to protect your feet against many obstacles.

What basic parkour moves can you do at home?

There is a variety of parkour moves that you can learn. However, here we will aim to start off with the most basic ones. Once you master those, you can build your confidence and try the more challenging ones, such as back handspring. Let’s dive into four basic moves that you can do at home:

1. Jumping – it is one of the most common movements in parkour. You can start by doing simple exercises, such as jump squats, and broad jumps, and move to jumping upwards. Once you are comfortable with basic jumps, you can start with obstacles. You can use steppers or stairs at home. You should strive to learn how to do precision jumps as a fundamental parkour move.
2. Landing and rolling – learning how to land properly after jumping is vitally important for protecting your joints and preventing injuries. You can learn how to roll safely in our blog. Rolling is a skill that you can easily learn at home.
3. Two-handed vault – as a beginner you can easily learn this skill. You can also modify it by using one hand. This modification is called a one-handed vault. Different techniques of vaulting will help you overcome low-level obstacles.
4. The muscle-up – this is a skill where all of your pull-up exercises will pay off. You will need to master it to overcome higher obstacles such as fences and walls.

How to do back handspring at home?

If you have a background in gymnastics you may already know how to do back handspring. We will try to give you a few basic steps to follow when you try to learn this iconic parkour move at home. We advise you to try this move only after mastering all the basic moves.

Make sure that you have a soft surface beneath you, such as a gym or yoga mat, to avoid injuries. If you aren’t confident enough to attempt this move alone, get a spotter to guide you through the process. Alternatively, you can use a backwards roll and turn it into a back handspring. These are the six steps that you should follow on order to do back handspring:

1. Lower yourself into a sitting position and generate momentum by swinging your arms over your head.
2. Use your length strength to push off the floor through your toes.
3. Fall backwards without arching your back too much.
4. Plant your hands firmly on the floor. Try not to put all your pressure in your wrists. Use your palms and fingers also.
5. Use your arm and core strength to pull your legs over your head from a handstand.
6. Plant your feet firmly on the floor and make sure that your knees are slightly bent when you land on the floor.

How to make a parkour course at home?

Once you become a parkour master, you may wish to pass your wisdom to others. Making a parkour course could be a great business idea that you can easily put into practice at home. Think about what inspired you to start parkour, what your obstacles were, and how you can monetize your parkour knowledge.

You can choose to create a video course, in which case you will need to purchase all the recording equipment. You also need to make sure that you have enough room in your home to perform all the parkour moves you wish to teach. The option of creating a video course could be a bit pricey.

If you are looking for more affordable options to make a parkour course at home, think about creating an e-book that will serve as a guide for all future parkour enthusiasts. You can include step-by-step written content, as well as photos. If you produce a quality course, you can even sell it on Udemy!

To sum up

If you are a sporty person looking for challenges and a bit of adrenaline rush, give parkour a chance. You can start by learning it at home and then slowly take it outdoors, where parkour is meant to be practiced. Parkour is a full-body workout, so the health benefits of doing it are manifold. It will foster your creativity and boost your confidence and let’s be frank, it is for the coolest kids on the block and those forever young at heart.