You’ll see a lot of fitness information on other freerun sites via forums, article sections, experts and video’s all weighing in on the issue of strength and conditioning for freerunning. On top of that there are a ton of methods being espoused; crossfit, bodyweight training, naturelle, self resisted and various other methods. For practitioners wanting advice this is a doubled edged sword, you are naturally inclined to believe the ‘experts’, but amongst the good information is to be blunt, a steaming pile of shit. So how do you sift out the good and the bad and the keyboard warriors form the fitness guru’s?
“Education in the critical faculty is the only education of which it can be truly said that it makes good citizens.” - William Graham Sumner
There is an issue within the industry, the issue of misinformation and quackery. Many threads on websites being dedicated to the nonsense that various ‘experts’ are spewing. Many of these trainers have gained their certificates from supposedly legitimate organizations. But this begs the question; did they sleep through their lectures? As someone who has spent a lot of time in education and working in the field I can tell you a lot of online information sucks.
The other danger is that people without support will recommend training programs either they themselves use. While their intentions may be good, they often fail to check up on what the sports science community is doing in terms of strength and conditioning to ensure the best for athletes (sadly gross roots Strength and conditioning support in the UK is pitiful, but that’s another issue). It makes sense that ego’s can get hurt when someone tries to correct them. If ego’s didn’t get hurt we wouldn’t have the 1000’s of hours and hundreds of pages dedicated to arguing on the internet.
“Argue online, save the world” – Anon
Brief story highlighting my point - many years ago I once corrected a woman with terrible squat form because she was in immediate danger of hurting herself, she was turning it into a knee extension good morning exercise and was happy for my help. she mentioned that “Something didn’t feel right” and carried on. What I didn’t know was she was another trainers client. I was then approached by the trainer who is incensed that I correct one of his clients. This trainer was Reps level II and Wabba certified and even mentioned that in our conversation. He admitted that his squatting instruction was flawed, but because of his ego, he wouldn’t let it be.
The other thing to avoid is fad’s, trends and unspeak (using clever terminology to hide a crap idea). The big one here is use of the word “functional training”. This is shrewd wordplay because if training is called functional then surely everything else is nonfunctional. “Don’t listen to him his training isn’t functional”. All training is functional as long as performance goals are met.
Other trends included, bosu balls, swiss balls, power blades, high reps, parachute pants, doo rags and Gillian Mckeith. Because people didn’t take a step back and think critically about the usefulness of such things and someone made alot of money from their ignorance.
The way I and Im sure other critical thinking coaches train athletes is evolving all the time, while the core of what I do hasn’t changed much in 4 years, because of fundamental truths (lifting heavy weights will make you stronger etc) the accessory work I do, nutritional interventions and recovery work keeps changing and improving as new research comes to light. What im doing in 10 years may be totally different because something bigger and better may be just around the corner. It all about being open minded to change but staying on your toes to sift out the crap.
The Sports Science area’s teaching and learning philosophy is focused on developing independent critical thinkers who have the knowledge and the skills to work in the fitness, health and sport industries. The emphasis is on students applying the theoretical and conceptual bases for physical activity to the real world. Some conversely seemingly don’t make that real world jump and are so bound up in theory and idea’s that they haven’t taken the time to test them. Thus not really deciding to implement or discard them.
In my early days being the wide eyed martial arts enthusiast I picked up a copy of Bruce Lee’s ‘The art of expressing the Human Body’ and stupidly I followed the routines inside, thinking it would make me like Bruce Lee. I made the mistake of not questioning the sources. This program wasn’t for me it was from the notes of Bruce Lee, who by today’s standards had a flawed understanding of training (I now welcome the glut of hate mail from Bruce Lee fanboys). While it was a great book I made the mistake of not thinking critically about the material. This is the mistake many make when jumping into a training program/philosophy or dogma in Freerun/Parkour that might work for one of their youtube heroes.
Good teachers cultivate critical thinking, some example questions you should be asking are:
• What is the source of your information?
• What is the source of information in the report?
• What assumption has led you to that conclusion?
• Suppose you are wrong. What are the implications?
• Why did you make that inference? Is another one more consistent with the data?
• Why is this issue significant?
• How do I know that what you are saying is true?
• What is an alternate explanation for this phenomenon? there are many other possible Socratic questions. The key is that the teacher who fosters critical thinking fosters reflectiveness in students by asking questions that stimulate thinking essential to the construction of knowledge. So when you’re reading information, ask the questions above, what is the person trying to teach you? What can you take from their lesson?
More About The Author - Will Wayland
Will’s academic background, coupled with his ‘under the bar” experience , has proven to be a recipe for success. Will has worked with athletes of all levels, from youth sports to the professional. Will specialises in developing the body for the goal of enhancing performance. Heavily inspired by russian conjugate squence system his training methods are used by athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts of all ages and from all walks of life. He has a Bsc honours degree and HND in Applied Sports Science from the University of Teesside, and he specializes in the muscular and neurophysiology of human movement and performance. He currently trains, consults, and lectures around the country. You can find him on the net at http://williamwayland.blogspot.com
Our intention is for the information here to be used as an open resource, so anyone wishing to use our material on their own websites may do so. All we request is that a courtesy email is sent to us first at parkour@urbanfreeflow.com and that a link back to Urban Freeflow is provided and a credit given to the author of any articles used.
Disclaimer
All of the information contained within these articles on the Urbanfreeflow.com website are provided for informational and educational purposes. This includes any videos, fitness programs, fitness workouts and general articles. In no event shall Urban Freeflow or any individual or company involved with the development of these articles be liable for special, indirect, incidental or consequential damages of any nature, including but not limited to personal injury, loss of anticipated profits or claims from third parties. If you are unsure about your fitness levels, please consult with a doctor before you carry out any exercises demonstrated here.
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when i train hard i get migranes is that normal? is it becuase i over train or dont eat the right foods?
I found this a refeshing read, as I seem to be in constant battle with people telling me, weight training will make me heavy and slow. The funny thing is my Parkour has improved since I started weight training and I have no noticed that I have more energy and i don’t seen to have the same injuries that I did when I done so called Parkour conditioning. It’s even gotten to the point I dont bring up my training as clones seen to repeat muscles make you slow without even giving me the reasons behind the answer
The internet is a real minefield of information and hearsay and conjecture you hear from friends family and other freerunners can be just as stupid
In the case of migraine, if it occurs during this is called an “effort migraine”, and it’s not uncommon. But if it occurs after exercise it can be a sign you have high blood pressure or any other number of problems. I suggest you should visit your doctor.
http://www.williamwayland.blogspot.com
“Comment by: pkmoe5
Posted on January 15th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
when i train hard i get migranes is that normal? is it becuase i over train or dont eat the right foods?”
In the past, I experienced something similar to this, I would get terrible headaches anytime I tried to workout. This was during lent when I had decided to give up meat. I’m not positive about this, but I think I wasn’t getting enough protein in my diet, and I was still trying to workout 3 hours a day, 5 days a week.
I would say, try to eat more lean protein such as fish, nuts, pork, beef, etc…
I not positive that this will help but it might.
Pkmoe5, the migraines are typically a food issue. I’m an acupuncturist & nutritionist, and I had exercise-induced migraines from about age 10 until just a few years ago, when I got my nutrition dialed in. You might also benefit from acupuncture. The chief thing is food. Make sure you’re getting enough fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts & seeds. Those things, along with lean protein, comprise the ‘paleolithic diet,’ a raw-food based diet rich in nurients. That’s what saved me and now I can train hard & not get the migraines. It will take a few months, but stay dedicated & it will pay off.
Also, migraines are a symptom of dehydration. Overall, it’s about what you put into your body.
Sometimes, I get migranes if i do exercices without warming up or if u don’t practise sports oftenly. I think it is a problem of blood circulation. Don’t overtrain too much and do sports every day. It works for me, although I’m not professional.
my secret is honey that stuff is great haha always bring water out with u and u know when u have worked hard when your thighs kill the next day haha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyAvPVkn_Sg watch me and my friends doin a bit of freerunning we have only been doin it round about a month to 2 month at the most so let me know if u think we any good
i train every day to get to my physical peak i made up my own stomach workout u get ur top 4 abs toned in 3 sessions if u put it and u only do 25 of them but it absolutly hurts and made me pass out once so i dont recomend it to anyone
看不懂。。。 - -，