Of all the classes available at Primal Fitness in Doral, the one that draws the most queries is parkour.

Derived from parcours du combattant, a French term for a military obstacle course, parkour (also called free running) involves traversing through one's surroundings -- usually an urban environment -- and over or around features and obstacles using only one's body and a series of acrobatics movements. In a typical parkour session, a ``kong vault'' (a leap over a fence or high obstacle) may quickly lead to a ``wall spin'' (flipping upside down and kicking off a vertical surface) and then a ``360 ledge grab'' (spinning mid-air while grabbing onto an elevated ledge).

Students learn basic parkour moves in classes that meet three times a week at Primal Fitness. They then put it all together in excursions in various South Florida neighborhoods.

In a recent session, Primal Fitness trainer Adrian Gonzalez and eight students explored downtown Miami, starting in the Brickell Avenue area and making their way to the AmericanAirlines Arena in typical parkour fashion -- sprinting across narrow ledges and railings, jumping over fountains and stairwells, flipping off the side of walls and engaging in what looks like general daredeviltry.

``We get some weird looks and people asking us what we're doing sometimes,'' Gonzalez says.

Victor Ruiz, 23, is a former-gymnast and a self-described ``adrenaline junkie'' who took up parkour after meeting Gonzalez. ``It shows you where your limits are, helps you cross the limits you're afraid to cross,'' he said.

While the scenic runs are extracurricular, they are the impetus for traceurs -- parkour practitioners -- to train in the gym. The classes emphasize compartmentalized moves, focusing on the details so that when traceurs are out on a run in an urban setting, their maneuvers bleed into a seamless fluidity that may resembles a ninja being chased by muggers, or some other cinematic scenario.

Gonzalez said that is part of parkour's appeal. ``It's fun to think of stuff like that,'' Gonzalez said. ``It gets your heart pumping.''

In classes, students may practice a standing jump over a mat a hundred times before attempting it during a run.

``Three feet looks a lot wider when it's over a three-story fall,'' notes Jared Woods, another trainer at Primal Fitness. ``Before you jump over a gap, you have to know that you can make it.''

The Get Up, Get Out column runs every other week. To share your unique South Florida workout experiences, e-mail dquinones@MiamiHerald.com.

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