Later this evening I’ll be heading home to Warren County up north, and from there I’ll be chronicling my attempts to stay healthy off-campus. We’ll see how it goes. And I hope any loyal readers I’ve earned will stick around for the ride.

Gabriel Arnold vaulting & climbing

Finally, I’m putting this up. I want to thank Gabe and the other members of his group for taking the time to talk to me and for letting me hang around – I hope to work with them some more next semester!

Gabriel Arnold is the de facto leader of a parkour group on the Rowan University campus in Glassboro, NJ. I say “de facto” because the group has no official positions, and is not in fact itself an official organization. Gabe tells me that he’s in no hurry to get the group chartered – “There are just to many hoops.” Although chartering the group would get them some school funding, Gabe is worried that it would also leave them with a good deal more oversight than he wants to deal with. “They might restrict where we can go,” he says. “We want t keep our freedom to go where we want to go when we want to go there.”

Although Gabe and the other members of his group do spend their time climbing on and vaulting over school archetecture, they’re very polite about it. “We get kicked off of Bunce regularly, but we always leave as soon as they ask us to without a fuss,” Gabe explains as he scales the wall in front of the Rowan bookstore.

Another worry about becoming chartered is that if any injuries were to occur – although none have so far – the group could be shut down entirely.

So Gabe is perfectly happy to keep his group “unofficial.”

They were featured in the Whit last semester, which Gabe says brought the group a few regulars.

One of these, John Larocco, a graduate student getting a degree in electrical engineering, got into parkour as a way to keep fit while living away from his usual activities. “It’s the closest thing to martial arts on campus,” he tells me. “Plus, I like the philosophy. I can work towards my goals.”

Parkour’s philosophy is something that regularly sparks debates of varying degrees amongst its practitioners; specifically, the difference between parkour (l’art du déplacement) and freerunning. Parkour’s philosophy focuses on strict efficiency in moving from point A to point B, where is freerunning emphasises more of a total freedom of movement and allows for some flashier but more “unnecessary” moves such as flips.

“Personally, I make very little distinction between the two,” Gabe says. “As long as you know there’s a difference between the two, don’t worry about it. Parkour evolves very quickly, and I switch between what would be considered parkour and what would be considered freerunning several times in a single run.”

The video posted earlier in the year on this blog of a student vaulting, flipping, climbing and rolling over the Rowan campus might fall into what would more be considered freerunning. However, as it turns out, the student shown in the video is not a member of Gabe’s group, nor does he actually really know Gabe at all. “He put that video out while I was still in high school,” Gabe says. “I talked to him once or twice on Facebook after I came here, and that was about it.”

In fact, nobody has ever filmed any members of the Rowan parkour group in action – until this semester. They’ve been working with sme radio/television/film majors to create a documentary video which will debut on May 11. Hopefully, it will be available on the internet not too long after that.

Luckily, they’re not in it for the stunts anyway – “I’m not a trained monkey!” Gabe jokes, mentioning how one of the first things most people ask him to do when they find out he practices parkour is a flip. Rather, the Rowan traceurs, as they are called, enjoy doing what they do for the benefits it has for mind and body.

“I love parkour because I’m constantly improving my abilities,” says Adam Vazques, another member of the group currently in his junior year. “No matter how good you get, you can always get better.”

Adam’s roommate Anqi Cui has also started attending the group’s thrice weekly meetings. Although he notes how taxing parkour can be, especially when one is first starting out, he doesn’t seem discouraged. “I just have to keep working on my techs,” he says.

“The important thing to remember is to just stick with it and have patience,” Gabe tells me. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Performing what is known as a "kong" jump over the wall in front of the Esby Gym

This morning was also the first morning that I got to meet with Gabe’s parkour group when it was not raining. I finally got to see them doing their thing, and was quite impressed. Gabe operates his group as an instructor, and doesn’t leave people behind – exemplifying the parkour motto “be strong to be useful.” I got to talk to a few more group members who I hadn’t yet met, as well. All in all a varied group of interesting people – and I’ve still only barely gotten involved!

Another chance for you readers to give some feedback. When you go to the gym, what machines or workouts do you use? For instance, I usually spend half my time doing fat burn on an exercise bike and the remaining two quarters on upper and lower body weight machines. What about the rest of you? What do you spend the most time on? What order do you do things in? Don’t be afraid to elaborate on your votes in the comments section. Also, take note that you can select more that one option in this poll, so if you do aerobic and cardiac exercises, go ahead and select both of them when you vote.

I spent a short time on Google Maps marking a few locations near the Rowan campus that are nice spots for walking, biking, or jogging. If it’s a great day and you don’t want to get your exercise indoors at the gym, why not head outside and hit the streets? For my fellow students living on the Rowan campus, let me tell you that there are plenty of places to go and things to see in the immediate area – no need to drive to a park. Go take a look, and if you know of any other great spots for walking in the area, leave it in the comments for this post and I’ll add them to the map!

Another one for anyone reading: did you experience any weight gain during your freshman year (or your first year away from home, if you transferred from a community college)? And if you did, how much?

I know I put on five or six pounds my first semester, which is what spurred me to start College Calories in the first place – keeping up with my posts each week helps to keep me going to the gym, too. So what’s the common experience? As with the last poll, comments are encouraged!

Now, going with the quite likely possibility that no one who knows more is reading this, I’m going to be trying to find out more by just asking around campus myself after I get back from Easter break. So anticipate hopefully finding out more!

The high amounts of fiber and protein found in peanut butter makes it very filling, and Peanut-Butter.org offers a variety of other facts about the good peanut butter can do for you. One key point mentioned is the presence in peanut butter of an antimicrobial agent, resveratrol, that can help ward off bacteria. Other benefits include lowering your risk of developing gallstones, and even protecting against Alzheimer’s disease when eaten regularly.

If you love peanut butter, take solace in the fact that there’s no health-related reason to cut it out of your diet! It can still do you plenty of good, and snacking on some good ol’ PB is a lot better for you than some of the other things you could be eating instead.

If you’re interested in seeing some of the great (and healthy!) foods you can make with peanut butter, check out For the Love of Peanut Butter in my blogroll – it’s full of great recipes and ideas.