Fitness Blog

If you're an experienced bar trainer looking to hike up the intensity of your workout, or a beginner just looking to get started in the bar game, then you might want to check out this nifty little piece of kit - the Niroc Bar Belt.

Developed by longstanding bar athlete Niroc Nirose - the bar belt system is based on the use of one or more resistance bands attatched to a central belt that's worn around the waist. 

It can be used by advanced bar athletes to add varying levels of resistance to moves such as pull-ups, dips, or muscle-ups and bar beginners can get that little bit of assistance to make the fundamental bar movements more achievable. 

If you're interested in picking up the Bar Belt you can reach Niroc via his YouTube channel.

On August 4th 2012, the second annual Street Workout World Championships were once again held in the city of Riga, Latvia. Maris Slezins, president of World Street Workout Federation, tirelessly worked with his team, day and night to bring the most recognised names in 'Street Workout' from across the globe to participate in the freestyle workout competition and crown the world champion!

Last year we exclusively interviewed SWWC2011 champion Ievgen Ether Kozyr and this year we are happy to again interview the winner of the SWWC2012 - Yevgeny Kocherha.

This is Yevgeny in action at the competition - 

Fitstream - Hello Yevgeny! ... We'd like to firstly congratulate you on your win at SWWC.

Can you let everyone know a bit about yourself?

Yevgeny - I am from Ukraine, born and raised in Odessa. I'm 21 years old and now a fifth-year student.

I started getting into different sports at around 12 years old. First I did Karate, but then tried to engage in other sports fields. Around 7 years ago I began to seriously pursue and practice Street Workout.

Fitstream - Last year the competition was big, with 20 participants from 10 different countries, but this year it was on a much bigger scale with 32 participants from 19 different countries and competition coverage on Eurosport 2 (and hopefully attracting the attention of the X Games at some point).

Do you like the growth of the Street Workout movement worldwide and that it's becomming more mainstream or would you rather it stay on a more underground level?

Yevgeny - I think that this workout has to evolve and expand. Our main goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Outdoor training is an alternative to smoking and drinking alcohol with the opportunity to develop physically and with virtually no cost. I would like people to use this opportunity and this will be the wider movement, the faster we do, we will achieve this goal.

Fitstream - This year, as well as the high bar and parallel bars, the SWWC added the monkey bars apparatus for participants to showcase their skills on.

You opted not to use this equipment in either of your two freestyle sets ... Why was that? And how do you feel about the inclusion of the monkey bars into the competition this year?

Yevgeny - Horizontal/monkey bars are a great apparatus where you can do a lot of beautiful and rich moves... the more elements the better - including the horizontal bars.

I chose not to use them because of the elements of what I had planned and it was enough for me to use the high and parallel bars.

Fitstream - The Ukrainian guys really seem to excel at this sport and so far have pretty much dominated at the SWWC in the first two years. Ether was crowned world champion last year and now you have won the championship in 2012 with Ether coming a very close second and there's also Vitali with a top five finish.

Why do you think the Ukrainians are so strong when it comes to Street Workout?

Yevgeny - We just love doing it, for us it is not just a workout ... it's more a way of life, 'our oxygen.'

There is also another factor: engaging in Street Workout, we understand that children are watching us, we understand that we must be an example to them and motivate them to our achievements. All of Ukraine - it's one big happy team, we have always supported each other and maybe that gives us strength.

Other countries have a lot of strong guys also and there will be more, I think they will show themselves more in the future.

Fitstream - There were plenty of new moves on display this year including your own 'Levitating Front Lever' - where you hold front lever and then slide your hands back and forth across the bar whilst maintaining the hold - VERY impressive!

Were there any other new moves this year that impressed you from any of the other competitors?

Yevgeny - There was a lot of strong elements, but this year I was more impressed by the creativity of some participants. The guys used their national flags, footballs and one competitor even dressed in the style of James Bond and performed his routine to the 007 music - It was fun ... creativity and artistry are also an important component of the performances.

Fitstream - Do you like the judging system that is used at the competition where each of the judges give points for their top 5 participants (5 points for their favourite, 4 for their second choice, 3 for their third etc) and each participants giving a single point to the fellow participant that they think deserved to win?

Can you also let us know who you gave your point to?

Yevgeny - I think it's a good evaluation system so that everyone can vote for the worthy.

I gave my point to Nikita Kurtain. This is a strong athlete, a good man who is actively promoting Street Workout in Israel, but this choice was difficult because there were many worthy athletes.

Fitstream - Can you let everyone know what your weekly training programme looks like? Do you always train the power moves or do you do train the basics also?

Yevgeny - There is no system as such ... I'm always trying to change something and do not get hung up on one or the other. I work with both body-weight and with extra weight added. I combine outdoor workout and the gym, train the power components, and basic exercises.

Fitstream - Yevgeny, next year the competition will again be bigger than the last, with World Street Workout Federation president Maris Slezins confirming that the event will again be held in Riga, but this time taking place in the centre of the city, on the square of Riga Central train station!.

Can you confirm that you will be back next year to defend your championship?

Yevgeny - Of course I will attend the next event, it brings me joy to be involved, but if the organizers wish to invite me as a judge next year, rather than a competitor I will be still be happy.

Fitstream - Thanks for your time Yevgeny, we can't wait to see more videos of you in action in the months and years ahead, best of luck champ.

Yevgeny - Thank you.

For those that didn't see it - here's the Eurosport coverage of the SWWC event -

The long awaited event "WORKOUT FEST 2012" took place on June 2nd, 2012 in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Participants and supporters from around the world gathered to attend the renowned calisthenics event, with representatives from 12 countries accepting the invitation from Dennis Minin, president of the All-Ukrainian organization "Street Workout" to participate.

Some of the participants or workout teams included the international workout crew - Bar-Barians who had members attend from United States, Great Britain, Lithuania and Russia.

The list also included Hit Richards of Calisthenics Kings from United States, Russian bar athletes Alexander Borisov, Dmitry Popandopulo, Constantine Albukov, Nikolay Labanov, and the then World Bar Freestyle World Champion - Ivegen Ether Kozyr from Ukraine, plus many other participants and guests of honor, including Maris Slezins - president of World Street Workout Federation, Latvia.

Event Competitions

• Max Pull-ups with the additional weight of 32 kg - Vitaly Humenny (Nikolaev, Ukraine), pulled on the bar 18 reps.
• Max Dips with the additional weight of 48 kg - Oleg Efrosinina (Rubizhne, Luhansk region, Ukraine), 19 reps.
• Max Muscle-ups with perfect form - Valentin Novikov (Gorlovka, Ukraine) and Denis Gavrikov (Kremenchug, Ukraine), 18 times.
• Max One arm pull-ups - Eugene Kocherga (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) and Dmitry Malakhov (Kremenchug, Ukraine), 8 times.

There were also freestyle bar exhibitions and free-running exhibitions.

In addition to the classic performances from these renowned crews there were new teams introduced such as Workout Kids and Workout Girls.

This video features the pull-up competition with competitors performing reps with a 32kg attached to the waist -

The free outdoor event was a huge success and continues to see growth in the sport. There were more than a thousand supporters at the event, who even braved a torrential downpour to see the athletes in action. 

The festival winners all decided to donate the prize fund of 25,000 hryvnas to children with disabilities and patients with cancer.

At the final conference of the teams of the festival, it was decided, each year to make the first Saturday of June "International Street Workout Day" where the event will take place in Ukraine.

Check out the full Workout Fest 2012 photo album. 

Heart Stop Beating is the miracle story of two pioneering doctors from the Texas Heart Institude, who in 2011 successfully replaced a dying man's heart with two 'continuous flow' pumps they developed. 

Billy Cohn and Bud Frazier are the visionaries behind the operation, who both proved that life is possible without a pulse. 

Check out this truly mind blowing short movie to learn more... (oh and a word of warning to the squemish amongst us - the scalpel makes an appearance!)

The terminally ill patient, Craig Lewis made the history books and survived for 5 weeks without a heart, experiencing life he otherwise would not have had the chance to live (ultimately the illness which crippled his heart originally spread throughout other organs in the body).

This era of body hacking has just been escalated a level. Not only are we replacing organs, but fundamentally changing the way they work. As a continous blood flow can place less stress on the body than a surging pulse there are potential advantages to this approach. It's a thought provking achievement and challenges fundamental perceptions on what it is to be alive. 

"we have proven human physiology can be supported without a pulse".

The Olympic Games kicks off in London in a little over two weeks and we're getting excited...

With the events fast approaching we thought we'd profile one of our favourite strength training tools that features in the games - gymnastic rings. 

Check out our write-up on the Olympic rings and you can tune in to the Olympics to watch these incredible athletes in action from July 27th - 12th August.

The Men's Olympic Rings event will be broadcast Monday 6th August 2012.