Ben Foden Parkour Interview

Today Ben Foden has been attending a parkour (Free Running) master class with the country’s leading free runner Kie Willis in an attempt to bolster his preseason preparations down in London today. This collaboration was set up by the guys at Multipower  to bring together two very special ambassadors and Here at Fitness Blogger HQ we got a chance to speak with Ben Foden after the event.

Q1/.  Hi Ben, before today have you ever tried Free running or Parkour before ??

I can safely say that no I haven’t tried free running before. I’m not really a big fan of running in general, and obviously with all the sport I do, in my time off I like to sit and watch TV and let my body relax. So this is definitely the first time for me

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Q2/.   We have been watching some of Kie’s YouTube videos and was wondering  Have you been jumping over the rooftops of London today ??

Not rooftops, I don’t think I’m at that level just yet, but Kie is pretty impressive when you see it live. The distance he covers in his jumps and the power he creates in his body to do the things he does is pretty impressive. I have a long way to go before I reach his standard.

Q3/.   This is not your usual pre-season training how did this collaboration come about ?

Both of us being ambassadors for Multipower is sort of the meeting point but I’m also interested in how other sports men approach their sports and what their trying to do to look after their body. My ankle has been a problem recently and I’ve been doing rehab and activities that can strengthen my knees my hips and the way you fall in rugby is big a part of that. Crossing both sports and picking things out you can relate to and it’s quite interesting to meet someone from a different sport to see how they deal with injuries. Seeing how they can bounce back from similar injuries is really interesting and it’s all about how you can handle your body in those awkward situations.

Q4/.   Are there any similarities to how professional Free-Runners train to how a typical rugby player would train ??

I think there is definite similarity in terms of how we both land. Sometimes you can fall awkwardly or be tackled when you least expect it, you need to make sure you land safely otherwise you risk getting injured.

Q5/.    We hear you have been trying the out the famous Parkour “Front-Flip” move today ??

Yeah, I tried out the front flip today and obviously falling into a foam pit helps with the confidence, but I was put in my place by Kie shortly after. The guys ridiculous he did a crazy Arab spin into a full 360 summersault. It’s fun trying to control your body in the air then landing correctly and hopefully  I’ve learnt some move that I can show off to the guys back at the club.

Q6/.    Parkour has lots of explosives moves, jumps and flips will we be seeing any of these acrobatics on the rugby pitch next season ??

I’d love to do the forward flip as a celebration to score a try, especially after some of the celebrations we’ve seen in the football recently. Maybe I should start a new craze but I think I’d be too scared that I’d drop the ball, I don’t think you’ll see me on the pitch again.