The History of Parcourse
May 5, 2015 in Fitness, Parcourse
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.