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Do you think you are too old, geeky or tall to train parkour? You err! Why? Hear me out!
Today I want to tell you the story of how sedentary programmer Sergey learned parkour.
He was 39 years old when I met him,
- father of two
- 1.93m tall
- and “underweight”
according to his own words. He was very lean indeed.
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You often see frequently asked questions like “am I too old to train parkour, I’m [insert any adult age here]?”.
Then you will also find the same question but instead of “old” they will ask “am I too fat (overweight), tall, weak” etc. etc. etc.
The short answer to all those questions is a resounding “no”! Or in other words:
You are never too old, fat, weak, geeky, whatever to start training parkour.
The long answer – as most people never believe you when it’s too simple – is …
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The antidote to apathy and routine is parkour training. When you run, jump, climb you always are fully alert and focus on your surroundings. Like any kind of mindfulness you can expand your practice of parkour back to your daily life. Then it literally becomes moving meditation.
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Guess what, this “sedentary lifestyle” is what you should be afraid of – not simply the numerical aging as in becoming 30, 40, 50 years old or even older.
You can beat and defeat aging by not simply sitting down and letting your body rot.
A study comparing middle-aged and elderly people has proven it.
Some people sat all their life, others moved. You won’t believe what happened next!
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Let’s agree that it’s a worthwhile endeavor to try to overcome fear. Can fear even be extinguished completely? Is it even desirable?
Yes, there are basically three ways to overcome fear.
Two of them are not for most of us or sound desirable. The third one is probably what you’re after and I will focus on in this post.
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Most of us just follow the path others have paved before us: parents, teachers, advertisers, politicians, priests.
We often attempt to go the way of least resistance.
Yet sooner or later we will encounter obstacles on our path anyway.
You grow physically and mentally with the obstacles you overcome. You become stronger and more resilient. The more you improve the more unique your path while training and in real life will be.