Strength Sports Athletes Day (Strength Day)

The competitive gaming tradition and wall-to-wall fist fights are among the traditional pastimes of Ancient Rus' In the 18th century competitions for lifting weights appeared, the ancestor of which is considered to be a cannonball Over time, hand-to-hand combat was replaced by power sports from abroad The names of Ivan Poddubny, Yakub Chekhovsky, Pyotr Krylov, Ivan Zaikin, Flora Vesov and Alexander Zass are forever inscribed in the history of Russian weightlifting Every year on the first Sunday of October, the Day of Strength Sports Athletes is celebrated in Russia Powerlifting, strongman, bodybuilding, crossfit, arm wrestling and weightlifting are popular in many countries around the world The goal of regular physical activity is for athletes to achieve maximum results For example, this could be lifting a heavy load while standing or bench pressing a barbell Some athletes train to increase muscle size and achieve an aesthetic effect - bringing the appearance of the body to perfection Bodybuilders hit the gym every day to compete in bodybuilding competitions In Rus', since ancient times, peasants have participated in fist fights and lifted weights Aristocrats preferred weightlifting In Russia, the customer of the first bodybuilding machines, invented in 1857 in Switzerland, was the royal family and Alexander II personally During the reign of Nicholas I, the Winter Palace had a gym with a wall bars and a rope for gymnastics Emperor Alexander III loved to bend coins with his fingers and break horseshoes with his hands Nicholas II was a fan of many sports It is known that after being overthrown from the throne while in exile in Tobolsk, the tsar made himself a horizontal bar and did push-ups on it every day The holiday, which is celebrated in early October, has the unofficial name "Day of Strength" The solemn date appeared on the calendar in 2008 thanks to the Russian Powerlifting Federation Powerlifting as a sport was officially recognized in the USSR in 1987 Residents of the Baltic republics became the legislators of the new movement Swedes, Finns and Poles came to them to compete The Soviet authorities did not recognize the foreign sport for a long time, but after a while they had to agree with the choice of weightlifters The beginning of the development of powerlifting in modern Russia is considered to be 1991, the year the Powerlifting Federation was founded Associations and leagues of bodybuilders, armwrestlers and representatives of other sports joined her initiative to establish a professional holiday In recent years, strongman - extreme power sports - has been gaining popularity Its projectiles are gas cylinders, truck wheels and other loads, on the shoulders of which athletes cover various distances Tournaments and competitions in strongman, arm wrestling, bodybuilding and weightlifting are an integral part of the events held in honor of Strength Day