Freestyle and triathlon on the horizontal bar: street workout competitions were held in Vitebsk

A summer street workout gathering was held on Sunday at the stadium of Secondary School No. 25 in Vitebsk. We attended the competition, assessed the athletic abilities of the participants, and spoke with the organizer of the street training sessions.

Street workout is a type of mass physical activity. It involves performing various exercises on outdoor sports grounds (using horizontal bars, parallel bars, Swedish walls, and other structures) or without any equipment at all (on the ground). These workouts require significant physical strength and endurance. The movement is very popular in Russia and Ukraine (street workout is even supported by the son of President Viktor Yanukovych). Recently, this form of healthy lifestyle has been gaining more and more followers in Belarus as well.

As Andrey Samsonov, Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Public Association "Sobriety-Optimist," explained, Vitebsk supporters of the street workout movement train regularly at the stadium of Secondary School No. 25. Competitions are also held here once a month.

“We hold such tournaments so that the guys can realize their potential, and we reward the best with various prizes. Today, we will have two contests – power freestyle and power triathlon. The participants will demonstrate various strength elements on the horizontal bars and parallel bars. In the power triathlon, they will need to do pull-ups with a 21-kilogram kettlebell, push-ups on parallel bars with a 32-kilogram weight, and perform muscle-ups. Three professional judges will observe the process,” says Andrey Samsonov.

“How much training is needed to be ready to perform at such competitions?”

– One of our guys, Sergey, took first place in the city competition a month ago, which involved about 50 people. He has been training for two years, daily. And now he already surpasses many more experienced guys. He started with ten pull-ups – that's a standard school requirement. Street workout is his way of life, as it is for many who are passionate about this movement. It's better than endlessly sitting at a computer. Now in Vitebsk, there are about 200 active supporters of street workout – these are people who regularly come to our training sessions and competitions. But in reality, there are many more – we can't know all the guys in the city who practice this sport in their yards but don't come to our club.

Besides competitions, we have been holding the "Push-up for Peace" event on Victory Square for two years in a row. This year, the guys did 25,000 push-ups – for each peaceful day after the Great Patriotic War.

– How do you assess the condition of city yard and school stadiums, are they suitable for such training?

– A "three". Many yards lack parallel bars and pull-up bars. Many guys want these pieces of equipment to be within walking distance in their yards. We want to write a collective letter to have a general playground built in Vitebsk where we could hold competitions and have an instructor during training. For example, the vacant lot between the "Yevroopt" and "Omega" shopping centers on Stroiteley Avenue is suitable as a location for such a playground. Why not create a place for parkour and street workout for young people there, with a running track around it? For instance, in Kyiv, there is a unique playground: it has a hydropark, an outdoor gym…

Girls also do street workout

By the way, many guys are willing to participate in the construction of such a facility themselves to have the opportunity to train outdoors. You see, there are only young people here – schoolchildren and students. Not all of them can afford to go to the gym at the Ice Palace or other sports facilities because it's expensive: they don't earn money themselves yet, and their parents have limited financial capabilities.

That is why I want to go to our city executive committee regarding the construction of a street workout area. We also want to acquire a portable area. We are invited to various city events, but we do not have a proper portable area with pull-up bars to showcase our abilities.

As the competition participants shared, quality sports goods are not cheap today (for example, the same set of adjustable dumbbells costs 2 million rubles). Therefore, a pull-up bar is an excellent alternative for those who want to be healthy and beautiful but cannot afford to buy expensive sports equipment or a fitness center membership.

The winners in freestyle strength were: Sergey Sverchkov (1st place), Denis Bykovsky (2nd place), Timofey Kovalevsky (3rd place). In strength triathlon, Anton Morozov showed the best result by total points, Denis Bykovsky took second place, and Vlad Nazdrachev took third. The guys received sports nutrition as prizes.

Information for those who wish to join the Vitebsk street workout supporters: their training sessions are held at the stadium of Secondary School No. 25 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays from 19:00 to 20:30 (except on days with bad weather). Contact phone number: +375 29 7 100 200 (MTS). Additional information can also be found on the page http://vk.com/workout_vit.

Tatyana Matveeva