Calisthenics And Parkour – How Similar Are They
Both calisthenics and parkour are street workouts where athletes use body weight to navigate their way around a surface – be it a bar, elevated ground or the floor. Training one helps the other because both require massive amounts of flexibility, relative strength, and balance.
Sounds like different names for the same sport, right? Not quite. There are subtle differences that make it obvious between calisthenics and parkour athletes.
Will Training Calisthenics Help Parkour Ability
We touched on the fact calisthenics will help parkour ability; let’s explore this further.
Calisthenics is the best (and only) way to practice parkour. They share movements, such as bar holding, rolls, or underbars; all helping to build a strong muscle-mind connection when performing in real time. In addition to muscle memory, calisthenics provides sufficient strength and body mobility enabling athletes to perform parkour at a high level – without any prior experience.
Practicing is the best way to train for parkour; however, if it isn’t possible, calisthenics is the closest alternative, followed by gymnastics. They all share the following:
- Both rely on you being flexible, relatively strong, and balanced – e.g., handstands, flips, or landings.
- They utilize fast twitch muscle fibers, meaning you must be anaerobically fit- e.g, there is a lot of sprinting in parkour and explosive movements in calisthenics
- Both require bodyweight exercises – a muscle-up on top of a bar in calisthenics or a brick wall in parkour.
So if you are an expert in calisthenics, will this make you an expert in parkour? No! There is a key part of parkour that holds so many athletes back; confidence.
A huge part of parkour is conquering your fears. The type of moves athletes perform is so daring that you must be slightly crazy! Parkour is a street workout; the floors are concrete, the drop is high, and the edges are sharp. Any wrong move can result in serious injury. Calisthenics doesn’t have this risk element; so while it prepares your body, it won’t prepare your mind.
What Are The Differences Between Calisthenics And Parkour
The main difference is calisthenics is a show of body strength, whereas parkour is a show of creative navigation using your body. For example, calisthenics athletes hold impressive statics (such as the frog to handstand), whereas parkour athletes sprint on staggered surfaces performing dynamic movements (such as handsprings, gainers, or flips).
This isn’t to say calisthenics doesn’t use dynamic movements or parkour doesn’t use statics. It’s just that parkour athletes are applauded more for the creativity between connecting Point A and Point B, and calisthenics athletes are praised more for holding a position over a long time.
Some other key differences include:
- Calisthenics can be practiced anywhere, e.g., push-ups in your bedroom. On the other hand, parkour needs open space and lots of uneven surfaces, e.g., cities.
- Parkour has a higher rate of injury than calisthenics due to the complicated moves and high-risk locations. Though because of this, successfully performing a trick feels a lot more rewarding.
- Calisthenics doesn’t use sprint runs; parkour does.
- Calisthenics tricks require strength, meaning it takes repetitive practice and attempts before conquering. However, in parkour, the main battle is your fears – the movements don’t require much strength. Therefore parkour athletes can ‘send it’ at a moment’s notice.
Parkour can be thought of as a hybrid between gymnastics and calisthenics. It uses a floor and bar routine from gymnastics but also incorporates the street element from calisthenics.
Should You Pick Calisthenics Or Parkour
Are you more suited to calisthenics or parkour? Well, it depends on who you are as a person; rather than anything else.
What type of person does parkour? Well, they tend to be adrenaline junkies who thrive on the idea of putting themselves in risky situations with a margin of success. Those who admire front flips, vaults, or spinning – but feel gymnastics is too ‘professional‘ – fall in love with parkour the second they try.
In terms of calisthenics, individuals must want to get stronger, leaner, and more flexible. Calisthenics athletes love the idea of using their body weight as resistance rather than dumbbells. If you want a low-risk activity that betters your mobility and functional strength – calisthenics is the one for you.
Some more considerations include:
- Parkour athletes tend to be younger than calisthenics ones.
- Men heavily dominate both parkour and calisthenics.
- Parkour is more popular in urban areas; calisthenics is common in both rural and urban.
If you see yourself fitting into both calisthenics and parkour, it isn’t a problem! Why? It means you can try both and see which you prefer…
In terms of which is better, it’s subjective to the individual. We personally prefer calisthenics as we aren’t adrenaline junkies. However, for some, it just doesn’t cut it.
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