VIV Says: Blog

Imagine that: Your immediate surroundings double as a jungle gym in parkour.

When we saw this World Freerunning & Parkour Federation (WFPF) promo on YouTube, it sparked our curiosity: Is scaling walls like Spider-Man really the next trend in fitness? And not just for skinny teen boys, but for women our age?

Developed in France, parkour is fairly new as a recognized international sport. In parkour, athletes use the cityscape as an urban jungle gym to free-climb walls, swing from scaffolding, jump over banisters and balance on barriers. Now Equinox in New York City is bringing the sport indoors, offering its members a taste of the action with Parkour Power Play, a 60- or 90-minute class that simulates the free-form urban experience by incorporating jumping, tumbling, rolling, vaulting and balancing to build strength and agility. If you’ve ever stepped in a pothole or stumbled over a curb, you’ll recognize immediately the benefits that the training has in the real world: The body awareness it teaches makes you more able to avoid falling or to catch yourself in an urban setting, as well as teaching better consciousness of terrain. Parkour Power Play is team taught by an Equinox instructor trained in parkour skills as well as one of the WFPF athletes.

According to Lisa Wheeler, national creative manager for group fitness at Equinox and co-developer of the program with WFPF, the philosophy behind Parkour is to use your mind and body to overcome physical obstacles. “During the program, you’re tackling your own physical and mental obstacles by learning how to get from point A to point B more efficiently,” she says. “I had a 72-year-old woman last week in class and she did great; the beauty is that the moves are so graceful, so natural.”

“The WFPF has defined five fundamentals for the practice of parkour that everyone can work at no matter what their fitness level: coordination, agility, balance, core strength and safety,” adds Victor Bevine, co-founder and CEO of WFPF.

Equinox will roll out Parkour Power Play in Los Angeles in January. What do you think — would you be willing to give parkour a try if it were offered at a gym near you?

Photo credit: Jamie Denyer