They say there are no bad days, just weak characters. There were definitely no weak characters to be found on Sunday on the Gdynia boulevard, where the First Pomeranian Street Workout Competition – “Street Workout Battle 2014” took place.

Street workout is a calisthenics – based form of workout, adapting the city environment – ladders, lamp posts, bars, benches and generally anything that’s fixed to the ground and can be grabbed or hung from.

It’s a sport for strong-minded people – says Mateusz Radwan from Gdynia, contestant. – It’s a high injury sports, very demanding mentally and physically. You need a strong character, because the workouts are really hardcore; you can never give up. I’ve changed everything for this sport, my diet, my way of thinking and living. Everything.

Mateusz has been working out for a good few years now; first at a gym, then he “jumped on the bar”. How does he deal with weaknesses? He just overcomes them and keeps at it. No pain, no gain.

Ewa Bumblis from Gdansk started training Street Workout, because she wanted to learn how to do pullups. That was half a year ago. This Sunday she took part in the contest, in the female amateur category. Her new goal now is to be able to do a muscle-up, which is a pullup with a transition over the bar to a straight – hand support.

It’s a good sport for women – says Ewa. – Street Workout gives you a lot of possibilities. For me it’s not only an exercise, it’s an ideology, a way of life. In every sport diet is important. Everyone knows that eating fast foods is no way to make progress. But in Street Workout there are no limits to one’s possibilities, because everything is done by stages, by progressions.

Basic Street Workout exercises are pullups, various kinds of pushups, squats, dips, crunches, handstands and a whole spectrum of gymnastic movements. Sounds difficult, but apparently it’s not. Tips for beginners?

Never fear and never give up, always remember that no one’s perfect from the very beginning – says Ewa. – You need to believe that progress will happen, sooner or later. A year ago I wasn’t doing anything connected to sports; half a year was enough for me to start in female amateurs at a tournament. I just love this sport!

Denis Wakułenko, Ukrainian living in Gdynia, started training a little over a year ago. At the First Pomeranian Street Workout Competition he started in .. the PRO category.

I’ve been doing this for over a year now, before that I went to gym a lot – says Denis. – Street Workout was a bit of a chance meeting for me. My dad bought me a pullup bar, and I saw on the Internet what people could do with just that. I’ve decided to get to their level. A lot depends on training really hard, and you need to be careful about wrist and elbow injuries. The exercises are divided between dynamic and typically strength. The first ones require a lot of determination, but generally – this sport is for everyone!

Karol Regliński from Gdynia started training almost 1,5 year ago. At first he could do 15 pushups and 3 pullups. Now he’s starting in the PRO category. He firmly believes that the only person who can tell you what you can and cannot do is yourself.

It’s enough to be able-bodied and determined – says Karol. – It’s harder to train alone, you need a lot of motivation and discipline then. It’s important to have a goal and work hard to make your dreams reality. My goal was to build a nice physique, and with time that evolved into being fit.

Some say that the only bad training session is the one that you didn’t do.

Maybe yes, but I think that you should let go a little when you’re sick, so as not to injure yourself. Sometimes it’s worth to weather the storm in a safe port – says Denis.

I’ve started not a year ago, and now I train other people – says Grzegorz “Lumberjack” Gołębski, one of the organizers of the event. – The nickname comes from the fact, that before I’ve joined the ranks of Street Workout Gdynia, I’ve trained with my own system, using only … well, logs of wood - says Lumberjack. – I went to the first Street Workout training thinking I might not cut it. Sebastian “Gizmo” Parat, the other organizer and coach, assured me on Facebook that I’ll be more than welcome. And so I was and I stayed for good, I got really dragged in. Despite being over thirty I’ve still reached a respectable level. After some time Gizmo asked me to work alongside him, and here are the fruits of our labor – a stable group of about 20 people training with us regularly, and our first sports event. This place is my second home, right after the forest.

Street Workout can also be recommended as a supplementary training for armwrestling.

Pullups use similar angles that we do when armwrestling – says Dawid Bartosiewicz, top Polish armwrestler and last year’s vice-champion of the world. – It works your wrists and fingers really hard, they do most of the work during the movement; I think that armwrestling and Street Workout are closely related. It’s a great show of power and flexibility of the human body. I myself like to do pullups and dips from time to time, I can really feel my muscles working then.

The First Pomeranian Street Workout Competition – “Street Workout Battle 2014” took place on the 15^th of June at the Gdynia boulevard, organized by Grzegorz “Lumberjack” Gołębski and Sebastian “Gizmo” Parat. Video from the event will follow soon.

Iza Małkowska

Photo: Iza Małkowska