Parkour involves strength, agility, quickness and grace. Precision jumping is a fundamental parkour move that encompasses all of those traits. I first learned of precision jumps when I was beginning parkour this past winter and I’ve been practicing them ever since.

As the name implies, this skill is about leaping onto a small target (often a ledge or rail) with the utmost accuracy. Precision jumps are typically performed from a stationary position, with both feet together during the take off and the landing.

You can precision jump between two points of equal height, from high to low or from low to high. Jumping from a lower surface to a higher one will make it harder to cover long distances, while jumping down will allow you to cover a greater distance (though downward precisions can be harder to control).

Remember there are no set parameters in parkour; the idea is to work with what you’ve got in front of you. Don’t feel confined by so-called “rules.”

Precision Jumping Technique
To get the most distance out of your precision jump, lean forward from your ankles while reaching your arms up and away from your body. Once you are in the air, bring your legs up to get as much height as you can. More height means more distance!

Keep your eye on your target and remember to sink into the landing like you were performing a squat – this will help you absorb the impact. For this reason it is common to land towards the balls of your feet. Your objective should be to have as quiet of a landing as possible.

Precision jumping, like most things, is about your mental state as much as it is about physical fitness. It can be scary to attempt a long jump (especially if you are high up!), and if you psyche yourself out, you probably won’t make it. It is best to begin practicing with distances that you can cover without any hesitation.

Watch the video below for more:

Lunges are one of my favorite leg exercises, but like everything in life, you don’t want your leg routine to become, well, routine.

Once you’ve gotten comfortable and confident with regular lunges, give yourself a new challenge. Turn them into a plyometric exercise by adding a jump. Here are 3 ways to do this:

Stationary Jump Lunge
Lower yourself into the bottom position of a lunge with your feet about a leg’s length apart. Jump up out of the lunge, gently landing back where you started. You can swing your arms for momentum or keep them at your sides. It might take a little practice to land comfortably without losing your balance. You can also try to jump laterally, so that you’ll land a few inches to the side of where you began.

Cycle Lunge
The cycle lunge is a harder variation of the jumping lunge. It starts out the same as the stationary jump lunge, but once you are in the air, quickly switch legs before you land. Continue to alternate legs, going from one rep right into the next.

Lateral Leapin’ Lunge onto Bench
Jumping up onto a bench can be hard enough without making it a lunge too, so don’t try this one until you’ve gotten good at the other types of jumping lunges. You’ll need to find a relatively long surface to leap up onto; a bench works great but feel free to explore other options. Once you’re ready to go, lunge down next to the surface you plan to jump (remember to position yourself parallel to the object) and go for it!

Have a Safe Landing
Always stay light on your feet during the landing phase of a jump. Remember that lowering down into the lunge as you hit the ground will help you to absorb the impact. These types of exercises will help you to build strength and flexibility, as well as balance and total body control.

Watch the video below for more:

The squat is the king of all lower body exercises. Squats work every muscle in your legs as well as your abs and lower back. Since your legs are such large muscles, they require lots of blood and oxygen to perform squats. This makes squatting a great way to give your heart and lungs a workout too.

Don’t Know Squat
A lot of personal trainers, myself included, might tell you that proper squatting form requires you to keep your knees behind your toes. However, this is not always the case. Telling a client to keep their knees behind their toes during squats is a cue to help them understand the mechanics of moving from the hips. It isn’t necessarily the literal truth for everyone.

Dorsi Flexion
The term “dorsi flexion” refers to the movement that occurs at the ankle joint during a squat. People with more ankle mobility can keep their heels flat and put their knees in front of their toes at the same time because of dorsi flexion. As long as you initiate your squat from the hips, keep your heels down and retract your shoulder blades, you’re good to go.

How Low Can You Go?
Another common cue for squatters (no, not the punks living in the abandoned warehouse) is to lower down until you’ve reached 90 degrees of flexion at the knees. This is another generalized cue that is great for most, but not ideal for all.

First off, newcomers and people with limited mobility might not be able to get that deep without sacrificing proper squatting form. Second, many able-bodied fitness nuts will be able to squat much deeper than thighs parallel to the ground. One way to test your range of motion is to place your hands behind your head and squat as low as you can without coming off your heels (this is sometimes called a “prisoner squat”). If you can maintain a straight back (having your hands behind your head should help facilitate that), then feel free to go ass to the grass.

Advanced Squat Techniques

Front Squats
You might be surprised how much harder it can be to hold a weight in front of you when squatting as opposed to resting it on your back. Aside from the added challenge of supporting the weight on your shoulders, the balance changes when you have a weight in front, increasing the emphasis on your quads.

There are two basic ways to hold a barbell for front squats. One method is to bend your wrists back under the bar, the other involves crossing your arms in front as the bar rests on your shoulders. You can also perform a front squat with a kettlebell(s). For more information check out Stronglifts’ article on front squats.

Box Squats
At first glance, a box squat doesn’t look much different from any other squat except that you have a box underneath you. Once you attempt this exercise, you’ll see the challenge of the box squat is to initiate the movement from a seated position without any downward momentum to assist you. Beginning a weighted squat from a seated position is surprisingly difficult. This concept is similar to what I call phase one of pistol squats.

Overhead Squats
An overhead squat is another variation that adds a great degree of difficulty to an already challenging exercise. Overhead squats require tons of core strength and lots of shoulder mobility. I have difficulty performing this exercise properly with any significant weight due to my tight upper back and shoulders. This is going to be the case for most men when starting out with overhead squats. If that is the case for you then go light and focus on proper form. Check out Dave Draper’s article on overhead squats for more information.

The pistol squat is one of my favorite bodyweight exercises. Pistols are challenging on many levels, requiring core strength, leg strength and flexibility. I often get asked about this exercise, so I decided a formal tutorial was in order. Once you’ve gotten comfortable with two-legged squats, you’re ready to learn the pistol. I like to break it down into three phases.

Pistol Squat – Phase One
Begin by sitting on a bench with one foot flat on the ground and the other extended out in front of you. Reach your arms forward and simultaneously press your foot into the ground while tightening your abs. Don’t let your heel come off the ground. If you’re strong enough, you should be able to lift yourself off the bench. Once you get to a standing position, try to lower yourself slowly and repeat. You will likely lose control during the lowering phase and wind up plopping down onto the bench at the bottom. That’s fine for now. In time your control will improve to the point where you no longer need to sit on the bench.

Pistol Squat – Phase Two
Stand on a bench with one foot hanging off the edge. Squat down so that the opposite leg drops below the level of the bench. Make sure you stick out your hips and butt, and lean forward a bit. If you are having a hard time balancing, hold onto something to guide you. A broom handle works well if you are doing these at home. If you have a training partner, have them assist you by either holding your hand or standing near you so you can grab them if you lose your balance. This is an exercise where I will literally hold my client’s hand through the first time they try it!

Pistol Squat – Phase Three
Get down into a deep squat with both feet flat on the ground. Try to reach one leg out in front of you while balancing on the other. You’re now at the bottom position of a pistol squat. Get comfortable with your balance here; it will come easier to some than to others. Once you can balance in the bottom position, try to stand up. It’s okay to use assistance until you can perform the move independently. With practice, you will build the necessary strength and stability to perform the pistol with confidence – then you can move onto advanced pistol squats!

Editors Note: Make sure to check out the new tutorial on pistol squats for more info on this exercise.

Watch the video below for more:

I began training a new client recently who had been working out on her own for years. She realized that she was in a bit of a rut with her routine and that she would benefit from taking me on as her trainer. Smart girl.

There is always an assessment period when I begin working with a new client. The first session or two allows me to get a feel for what that person is already capable of in order to find out what challenges I can present to them, and what weakness they may have that we can work towards improving. (This assessment period usually works both ways–they are feeling me out as a trainer as well!)

One of the exercises that I typically have a client do during our first session is the squat. After watching my new client do a few squats I cued her to initiate the movement from her hips and also to go down lower. (These are two of the most common corrections that I give people on squats.) As soon as she began following my cues, she exclaimed “Wow-I really feel this now,” then added, “I guess I’ve been doing them wrong all these years!”

The second part of what she said bothered me. I told her, “You weren’t doing them WRONG–it’s just that now you are doing them BETTER.” Doing squats the way that she had been might not be as effective or efficient as the way I instructed her to do them, but it is way better than not exercising at all! I am certainly not suggesting that improper form is great for you, but it isn’t the end of the world either. This is a really important distinction to me and it comes up all the time–and not just with squats but with everything.

I generally do not believe in the concepts of RIGHT and WRONG. I find them to be a huge oversimplification. Like all things, squats are not simply a case of black and white–there are a lot of shades of gray in between. There is no such thing as a perfect squat–perfection is an illusion.

Having said that, there are certainly ideals that we want to strive for when performing a squat and there are ways to potentially injure yourself by doing squats improperly. Keeping good posture, making sure your heels stay in contact with the ground and initiating the movement from your hips are three key components to performing squats safely and effectively. But even if you fail to do those things, you’re still probably going to wind up okay. You might not get the results you want, but you haven’t done anything “wrong” as far as I am concerned. Just make sure you improve your form before you start loading up a ton of weight.

My point in saying all this is twofold. First, I don’t want you to beat yourself up over thinking that you’ve been doing things wrong. If you are making an effort to improve your fitness then you are doing something right. Second, it’s important to remember that in exercise, like all things in life, there is always room to expand your knowledge and see things from another perspective. Allow yourself to be open to growth, but try not to be hard on yourself when your weaknesses are made apparent. Being humble doesn’t mean throwing yourself a pity party. In fact, it’s just the opposite.