Unconventional Athletes Issue 9

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After a half year of doing these basic
reps, I went to a new outdoor park
near my work, and there I met a lot
of people doing the freestyle part of
the sport. I immediately loved this
and after a month I joined the very
first World Championships (WSWCF)
for women.
How did your first event go? Can you tell
us about your other competitions, too?
I placed 5 th in my first World
Championship in 2014. Then in 2015,
I placed 4 th . In July 2016, I was hoping
to place in the top three in the World
Championship held in Moscow. I
ended up winning first place!
I’ve been in a lot of other competitions,
too – King & Queen of the Barz, WCO
Battle of the Barz and a lot of more
localized competitions.
I think the toughest competitions
were Fibro 2016 and the 2015 World
Championship. After the first round of
that World Championship I felt really
low in energy. Now I know this was
because I didn’t eat enough carbs.
What must you do in a World
Championship competition?
You must do a 2 minute freestyle
routine. The top 15 guys and top
5 girls move on to the finals. Then
you do another 2 minute round. I
choreograph my own routines.
Do you ever compete against men
or are all competitions divided by
gender?
The World Championships are against
women only. But I did compete in two
other events against guys – one I won
against 5 guys and the other with 20
guys, I placed 2 nd .
It seems like street workout groups
form tight bonds? Is it like that for
you?
Yes, it is a close family! We do meet
up to train and compete together. I’m
an Official Barstarzz and have team
members worldwide.
Do you think that calisthenics is
harder for women as men naturally
have greater upper body strength?
Yes, that’s true. That’s why for women
it’s harder to achieve some goals. We
need to train longer for some things
than men. But overall I don’t think
it is more physically demanding for
a woman. Of course, if you’ve never
trained you should start with some
basic exercises like pull-ups, pushups
and dips. But this is a sport for
everyone…men, women, young, old!
How is this sport progressing with
women?
There are more woman than ever
with my level, and that’s a very good
thing because it gives me even more
motivation to keep training!
Is it true that the muscle up doesn’t
look too difficult, but there’s a lot
involved in executing it fluidly? How
does one work up to doing it?
A muscle up needs work, but I
don’t think it is too hard to learn.
I have seen many people doing the
muscle up!
First you should start off with pullups
and straight bar dips. Try to do
at least 10 in a row before you start
training the muscle up.
It’s hard to say how long it takes to
master because it depends on how
hard you train for it and how much
strength you already have. But let’s
say a couple of months, maybe? Your
back, chest, shoulders, arms and even
a little core are working together to
get this muscle up! So what a great
workout right!?
Issue 09 - Volume 1 | 2016 Page 31