My Parcourse A Community Based Society

The first parcourse trail built in the US still exists in the Mountain Lake Park of San Francisco’s Presidio. The parcourse begins at the beginning of 9th Ave, just north of the intersection of 9th Ave and Lake St.

A fitness trail or parcourse is of a path or course equipped with obstacles or stations along its length for exercising. The course is designed to promote physical fitness training in the style attributed to Georges Hébert.

In general, fitness trails or parcourses can be natural or man made, located in areas such as forests, parks, or other settings. Equipment exists to provide specific forms of exercise, and can consist of natural features including climbable rocks, trees, and river embankments, or manufactured products (stepping posts, chin-up and climbing bars) designed to provide similar physical challenges. The degree of difficulty of a course is determined by terrain slope, trail surface, obstacle height (walls) or length (crawls) and other features.

Urban parcourses tend to be flat, to permit participation by the elderly, and to accommodate cyclists, runners, skaters and walking. The new concept of an outdoor gym, containing traditional gym equipment specifically designed for outdoor use, is also considered to be a development of the parcourse. These outdoor exercise gyms include moving parts and are often made from galvanized metal.

I  highly recommend using a parcourse or a fitness trail to maximize body weight exercises. Anyone can start out on a parcourse–all ages and any fitness level.

Being more than a fun activity, Parcoruse and Calisthenics offer tremendous health benefits for any fitness level. Parcourse was designed for this purpose in mind especially combined with calisthenics.

Here are some examples:

Improves cardiovascular health and increases in muscular endurance, speed and power.

Increases flexibility and range of motion.

It is free and available to use anytime.

It’s a growing awareness and is becoming more popular to the average person.

The first Parcourse that was created in the U.S. was in San Francisco in 1973.

Two primary forms of fitness used at the Parcourse are calisthenics and isometrics.
Calisthenics are a form of exercise consisting of a variety of exercises, often rhythmical, movements, generally without using equipment or apparatus.

They are intended to increase body strength and flexibility with movements such as bending, jumping, swinging, twisting or kicking, using only one’s body weight for resistance.
They are usually conducted in concert with stretches.

Calisthenics when performed vigorously and with variety can benefit both muscular and cardiovascular fitness, in addition to improving psycho-motor skills such as balance, agility and coordination. Isometrics are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction. Isometrics are done in static positions, rather than being dynamic through a range of motion.