What Is Wall Running? A Beginner's Guide to Getting Started

What Is Wall Running?

Wall running is exactly what it sounds like: you launch off a trampoline, plant your feet on a vertical wall, and run upward. What happens next depends entirely on your skill level and goals.

Beginners might simply touch the wall with their feet and drop back onto the trampoline. Intermediate practitioners learn to walk or run several steps up the wall before pushing off and landing on their back. Advanced athletes might add flips, twists, or combinations as they dismount. Some prefer powerful, explosive movements. Others focus on control, precision, and height. There is no single "correct" way to run a wall.

What makes wall running compelling is the vertical dimension. It blends the aerial freedom of trampolining with the spatial challenge of moving upward against gravity, opening up movements that flat trampolining simply cannot offer: wall walks, rebounds, drop backs, push-offs, and eventually complex acrobatic exits for those who want them.

If that sounds intimidating, I get it. I avoided wall running for a long time. When I first started trampolining, I thought it was not for me. I told myself I just needed to focus on tricks on the trampoline itself. I remember thinking, what am I, a circus person? But everything changed when a wider wall was built at the facility I trained at and people who were quite good at running the wall started coming through. Seeing it through their eyes, I understood that wall running added a kind of freedom I had never experienced on a flat trampoline. If I could go back and do it all again, I would start wall running much earlier.

How Is Running Up a Wall Even Possible?

Physics does the heavy lifting. On flat ground you can only convert forward speed into one or two steps of height — that's the parkour wall run, and it tops out fast. Add a performance trampoline and the equation changes: the trampoline stores and returns your jump energy, so you arrive at the wall already moving upward. Your legs then do what they do in any sprint — drive, contact, push — except the "ground" is vertical and gravity is working against every step. That's why even two or three genuine steps up a wall feel spectacular: you are borrowing momentum, then earning every step after it.

Where Did Wall Running Come From?

Wall running has roots in several movement disciplines. Circus performers have used walls and trampolines together for decades, with Cirque du Soleil pioneering many of the techniques we use today. Parkour athletes brought wall-based movement into mainstream awareness, developing concepts like the wall run, cat leap, and climb-up. And the trampoline park boom of the 2010s introduced millions of people to the basic concept.

One of our community members traces his obsession back to watching Cirque du Soleil perform at Disney World. He saw performers launching off trampolines and running up walls, and the moment the show ended he went home and begged his dad to put the backyard trampoline against the side of the house. That kind of instant fascination is something we see all the time at RunTheWall.

What Running a Wall Actually Trains

Wall running demands more from your body than trampolining alone — and the kind of training it delivers is well studied. At its core, wall running is plyometric: explosive jump-and-rebound work. Meta-analyses show plyometric training improves lower-body power and strength — in healthy adults, not just athletes (Oxfeldt et al., 2019; Sun et al., 2025). Here's what that looks like in practice:

Leg power — Every wall entry is a maximal jump; every step up the wall is an explosive push against gravity. This is plyometric training in its most literal form — the same jump-based work those meta-analyses measured.

Core strength and integration — Moving your body vertically while controlling rotation requires integrated core strength that goes beyond what planks or crunches develop. Your core must stabilise your entire body as you transition from horizontal bouncing to vertical running and back again.

Proprioception and spatial awareness — Proprioception is your body's ability to sense its position in space. Research shows that proprioceptive training improves balance, coordination, motor learning, and overall physical performance, particularly important for adults as this sense naturally declines with age. Wall running trains this system intensely because you must constantly adjust your body position relative to both the wall and the trampoline.

Coordination and timing — Wall running requires precise timing. You must coordinate your jump height, wall approach angle, foot placement, push-off force, and landing position — and your upper body is fully involved, driving you upward on every entry.

What You Need to Start Wall Running

You need three things: a quality trampoline, a properly padded wall, and guidance from someone who knows what they are doing. The equipment matters more than most people realise.

The trampoline — At RunTheWall, we use a trampoline engineered for olympic-level energy return. That means consistent, predictable bounce height every time you jump. We manufacture our own equipment here in Australia, so we control the quality from start to finish.

The wall — Our wall is padded with EVA strong foam and covered in a weather-resistant, grippy material. The padding protects you on impact, and the grip lets your feet stick when you plant them. A slippery or hard wall is a recipe for injury.

Proper coaching — We use a 7-level progression system that takes you from your very first wall touch all the way through to advanced combinations. Each level builds on the last, so you are never asked to attempt something you are not ready for.

The Learning Progression: What to Expect

Based on established trampoline wall progression techniques, here's what a typical learning path looks like:

Step 1: The Drop Back
The first skill is learning to fall backward onto the trampoline. This is counterintuitive. Your brain resists it. Dropping backward with a stiff body goes against every self-preservation instinct you have, and it's common to pike out or curl your shoulders forward. But this is the foundation. Practice taking a deep breath and falling back. It may take several tries before you do it without nerves.

Step 2: The "High-Five"
Once you can drop back confidently, you learn the wall touch. Instead of bouncing back up to stand, reach with your feet toward the wall to "high-five" it. After you drop onto your back, pull in your knees and reach with your feet. The more you can push off from the wall with the high-five, the more momentum you keep.

Step 3: Standing Wall Touch
After mastering the high-five, you aim your feet low on the wall to stand up again after pushing off. This builds the coordination for transitioning from vertical to horizontal movement.

Step 4: Wall Entry
Jump up and down on the trampoline, then put your hands and one foot on the wall, burst off it, let yourself fall back, and practice high-fives. This introduces the upward running motion.

Step 5: Walking the Wall
Progress from touching to taking one step, then two, then three up the wall. Work on how far up the wall you can go, then practice your timing and rhythm.

Step 6 and beyond: Advanced Movements
From here, the possibilities expand: running higher, push-offs with rotation, backflips, twists, and combinations. This is where personal style emerges.

Your first session covers our Level 1 — 12 tricks in about 90 minutes, including your introduction to the wall and your first wall touches. The higher levels take weeks or months, depending on how frequently you train.

Is Wall Running Safe?

Any athletic activity carries some risk, but wall running with the right setup and instruction is far safer than most people assume. The launch surface is a trampoline, not concrete: rebounding is a genuinely low-impact way to load the legs, with a fraction of the joint stress of running — running sends a force of roughly two to three times your body weight through your knees, hips and ankles with every stride, while NASA-Ames research on trampoline jumping found the forces spread more evenly across the body (Bhattacharya et al., 1980). The padded wall and foam surfaces at our facility further reduce the chance of injury.

The coaching element is critical. Our guided sessions mean you always have an experienced instructor watching your form, spotting problems before they become dangerous, and progressing you at the right pace. We do not throw beginners into the deep end.

Why Adults Love Wall Running

One thing I noticed early on is that walls tend to attract more adults. Trampolines at parks are often dominated by kids, but the wall acts as a natural filter. Adults gravitate toward the challenge and focus that wall running demands, and the environment ends up being more mature and concentrated.

That observation is part of why RunTheWall exists as an adults-only facility. Our sessions in Brookvale, Sydney are exclusively for people aged 18 and over. You get a focused training environment without the chaos of a typical trampoline park.

Beyond the physical challenge, research suggests that activities like wall running, which involve calculated risk and intense focus, deliver genuine psychological benefits. A study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that participation in extreme sports is associated with increased positive psychological outcomes including greater self-confidence and reduced anxiety (Brymer & Schweitzer, 2013). Curious what regular bouncing does for your body more broadly? See our guide to the health benefits of trampolining for adults — and if you're closer to 50 than 30, start with is rebounding good for you after 50.

Wall Running FAQ

Can you actually run up a wall?

Yes — with a trampoline launch. The trampoline returns your jump energy so you arrive at the wall already moving upward, and your legs drive you the rest of the way. Most beginners get their first wall touches in one session; genuine steps up the wall usually come within the first few visits.

Is it possible to run up a wall without a trampoline?

Only briefly. The parkour wall run converts sprint speed into one or two steps of height — impressive, but it caps out fast. Trampoline wall running is the version where you can genuinely run, step after step, metres up a vertical wall.

How long does it take to learn wall running?

Our Level 1 takes about 90 minutes and covers 12 tricks, including your introduction to the wall — the drop back, the wall "high-five" and your first touches. Walking several steps up the wall usually takes a few weeks of regular sessions. Advanced exits (flips, twists, combinations) are a months-long journey, and that's the fun of it.

Do I need to be fit to start wall running?

No. The progression starts with falling backward onto a trampoline — no strength prerequisite at all. The fitness comes as a by-product: explosive leg work, core control and balance training are built into every level. If you have an existing injury or a health condition, check with your GP before your first session.

Is wall running just for young people?

The opposite, in our experience — the wall naturally attracts adults. RunTheWall is adults-only (18+), and our members span their 20s to their 50s and beyond. The progression system means you move at your pace, not the room's.

Ready to Try Wall Running?

Whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced trampolinist looking to add a new dimension to your training, our guided sessions will meet you where you are. Our 7-level progression system, purpose-built equipment, and experienced coaches make RunTheWall the best place in Sydney to learn wall running safely.

Book a guided session at RunTheWall and find out why so many adults are discovering this sport for the first time.

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References

Original Studies:

• Bhattacharya, A., McCutcheon, E. P., Shvartz, E., & Greenleaf, J. E. (1980). Body Acceleration Distribution and O2 Uptake in Humans During Running and Jumping. Journal of Applied Physiology, 49(5), 881–887.
• Brymer, E., & Schweitzer, R. (2013). Extreme Sports Are Good for Your Health: A Phenomenological Understanding of Fear and Anxiety in Extreme Sport. Journal of Health Psychology, 18(4), 477–487.
• Oxfeldt, M., et al. (2019). Effects of plyometric training on jumping, sprint performance, and lower body muscle strength in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analyses. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. PMID 31136014
• Sun, J., et al. (2025). Effects of plyometrics training on lower limb strength, power, agility, and body composition in athletically trained adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports. PMID 41034241

Additional Research:

• • Effects of Proprioceptive Training on Sports Performance - BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation
  • Wall Run Parkour Guide - Parkour Learn More
  • Your Brain and Trampoline Wall Class - The Seattle Times