On the air: Exercises for the horizontal bar, boards and benches
Text: Karina Sembe
Finally, spring is not only on the calendar, but also on the streets, and I want to stay within the four walls less and less. A good excuse more often to be in the fresh air, combining business with pleasure - street workouts. From school standards for fizre and desperate courtyard entertainment, this phenomenon has become a worldwide sports trend: push-ups on the bars, pull-ups on the horizontal bar and stretching are becoming commonplace in the urban environment and are popular among various people.
Street workouts managed to become a separate direction in the world of sports and were called street workout (in Russian, the movement was dubbed workout). Five years ago, the World Federation of Workout and Calistation was created, which has since held annual street training championships in various directions and ranks. First, the championships were organized in Riga, and in the last two years they have been held in Moscow.
If, after a long winter, the gym and group fitness are not enthusiastic, we advise you not to hesitate to do sports in a park, a public garden or in the courtyard - in our selections there are exercises for every taste. But even the simplest on the horizontal bar and parallel bars have a strict technique of execution and a number of contraindications, so consult with a trainer or a rehabilitation therapist before starting classes.
Stretching
A good stretch is a guarantee of a good run: it will warm up the muscles and prepare them for the load. Stretching is also important to do as a “hitch” after a workout, to remove joint and muscle clamps, speed up muscle recovery and reduce pain syndrome the next day. If you want stretching deeper, take a yoga mat and go to the park: express complexes based on yoga will go well for a full-fledged workout.
Horizontal bar
The pull-ups on the crossbar remained in the memory of many of us as an irresistible physical culture standard, to which there is no reason to return. It is really not easy, but when you learn, at the expense of a short but intensive work with your own weight, you can develop the widest and round muscles of the back and strengthen the muscles of the arms. However, it is not necessary to limit the tightening: on the bar you can do a variety of exercises to work out the muscular corset - from swinging to lifting your legs in the air. If you are an amateur in sports, you can’t do without a coach here - he will teach you safe techniques.
Parallel bars
Bars - standard gymnastic equipment, but the basic version can be found on any sports ground. The gymnasiums are familiar with the fitness analogue: the bars are equipped with special arms and cushions for the forearms, and for beginners they have developed a gravitron designed to lighten the load. During street workouts, the effect of a gravitron will create rubber loops. How to use them is shown in one of the videos in the collection.
Bench
This simple object opens up unprecedented fitness opportunities - from push-ups and lunges to exercises for abdominal muscles. In Europe and the USA, many sports grounds in the park area are equipped with special benches for street workouts, and for the lack of those, enthusiasts take the usual benches into circulation. The main thing is not to trample on the benches too violently and leave them clean - people then sit on them.
Push-ups and straps
If you are not yet ready to go to the gymnastics on the horizontal bar and parallel bars, but you still want to do sports in the open air, you can always start with a simple functional training. Warm up your body with a short jog, and then try push-ups and slats in all sorts of variations. As an alternative support you can use a crossbar or bench. It makes sense to get special gloves, so as not to injure the palm.
Photo: H & M Sport