Strange Bias

[Coach Sommer]

Someone just pointed this out to me today.  

 

The following competition is designated as the "world championship" of bodyweight exercise, but the regulations expressly prohibit world class gymnasts from participating.  How can it be a World Championship if the best in the world are not allowed to compete?  

 

 

From the Street Workout World Championship 2014 Regulations:

 

Sec 4.4 - Athletes who are or have been enclosed in the list of licensed sportsmen of the International Federation of Gymnastics - IFG are not allowed to participate in the SWNC 2014.

 

Click here for the full copy of their regulations.

[Toni Laukkavaara]

because everyone knows that gymnast would beat them easily

[Christian Nogueira]

Unless there's some real, real good reason (can't think of any), I think it's a shame. Would be cool seeing what world class gymnasts could come up with.

[Alessandro Mainente]

5.10.1 Participants must wear closed-toe shoes. Gymnastic shoes are not allowed. 

5.10.2 Participants must wear long trousers or shorts that are not shorter than 5 cm above the 

knees. Jogging shorts or gymnastic shorts are not allowed. 

5.10.3 Tight-fitting gymnastics shorts are not allowed. 

5.10.5 Any tight-fitting gymnastic suits are not allowed. 

 

You don't know but my gymnastic uniform gives to me impressive strength power....

[Matthew Proulx]

I think they are just trying to differentiate themselves from gymnastics and also as a sport by having their own dress code, not that anyone would confuse the two. But the part of gymnasts not being allowed to participate is clearly bias and strange. 

[Jon Douglas]

 

5.10.1 Participants must wear closed-toe shoes. Gymnastic shoes are not allowed. 

5.10.2 Participants must wear long trousers or shorts that are not shorter than 5 cm above the 

knees. Jogging shorts or gymnastic shorts are not allowed. 

5.10.3 Tight-fitting gymnastics shorts are not allowed. 

5.10.5 Any tight-fitting gymnastic suits are not allowed. 

 

You don't know but my gymnastic uniform gives to me impressive strength power....

 

[ForzaCavaliere]

Agree with MattProulx the 'no gymnastics uniforms' is to make the competition unique from gymnastics. It is a real shame though that they expressly prohibit elite gymnasts from participating, maybe it's like how in the Olympics only under-23's can go in the football squad and not the more experienced players?

[Jon Douglas]

Honestly though I quite enjoyed the whole philosophy of street workout and originality, but this really rubs me the wrong way. Hard to take a competition seriously when you single out such a specific group to prevent entering, for no reason I can see other than them being stronger than you...

Then again pro athletes of most sports are prevented from playing in local tournaments for the same reason. No surprise that strong for a gymnast is ridiculously strong for everyone else, I suppose.

[David Creekmore]

I don't see the words 'World Championship of Bodyweight Exercise' anywhere in the document.

 

It says 'Street Wprkout World Championship."  

 

'Street'  in this case means 'self-taught amateur'.    So of course they would exclude trained gymnasts.

 

There are world championship amateur poker tours too.  American idol doesn't take professionals.  The Olympics didn't used to allow pro hockey players.  

[Brian Li]

Wow I never knew gymnasts weren't allowed in Street workout competitions. That makes me lose some respect for the movement or regulators of street workout. I thought some of them were gymnasts.

 

Maybe it is only for the world championship and not the other competitions like the street workout world cups because I know at least one of the competitors (Ruslan Minachov and maybe even Vladimir Sadkov) is a gymnast based on his videos of him training in a gymnastics facility and doing tumbling and dismounts on high bar. If that's true then it's still strange why they would ban gymnasts from the world championship, but not the world cups.

[Keilani Gutierrez]

probably because there's different circuits. there's the big boys(olympics grade) and then the notch before that, it seems. they do the same in surfing, there's the ASP and within it there's the WCT....i can't remember the name of the other circuit/entity/whatever. but WCT is like the "steroids" league for surfing and there's "everything else". incredible athletes on both sides, but just different tours. 

 

funny there would be a similar situation with SW/barstarzz/whatever, but to openly exclude gymnastics, is understandable(because of the level) but at the same time, a little wierd because what everyone is doing in SW is....basically gymnastics but with the twist of no supervision of a coach. (that i know of at least)

[Alexander Egebak]

"Let us make a worldwide gymnastics championship without gymnasts being able to participate. And make it look different by adding a random dresscode."

 

They feel threatened I guess.

[Christian Nogueira]

I could understand it if it where a competition that excluded professional athletes or even ex-pros, as being paid to train and compete is really an unfair advantage if the competition is aimed at amateurs.

 

However it's not really doing that. You can be a professional street workout performer and participate. The regulation is aimed at gymnasts and ex-gymnasts regardless of their professional status. It's purely a measure to level the playing field.

 

I'd advise them to exclude handbalancers as well, they're also awesome bodyweight specialists.

[Jono]

Wow, that's ridiculous. You can feel the vibe in their rules that they have a disliking for gymnasts.

 

It's implying that gymnasts are a different species, when in reality, everybody is human and are all training bodyweight exercises. Different methods, not different species. To not allow gymnasts in is equivalent to not allowing people who train with the best and most effective method to compete. So if you want to compete in streetworkout, it's against the rules to bodyweight train in the best way possible - LOL WAT.

 

Next there'll be a street track and field championships. You are not allowed to train with a proper running track or a sand pit - it must be on the grass/dirt. Get caught on a track and you're banned from competing

[Bryan Wheelock]

Why does the World Series not have more international teams?

As large man, I wonder why they are no weight classes in gymnastics. I'll have to generate three times the force typical gymnast,to do some of the exercises. There's only been a handful of people in history that I've done at an iron Cross at my size. (based on my Internet searches)

[Daniel Burnham]

Why does the World Series not have more international teams?

As large man, I wonder why they are no weight classes in gymnastics. I'll have to generate three times the force typical gymnast,to do some of the exercises. There's only been a handful of people in history that I've done at an iron Cross at my size. (based on my Internet searches)

Because gymnastics isn't just about strength skills. Some things don't scale directly with weight. For example the taller people at my gym tend to have better pommel skills than the shorter. I agree that shorter tends to have an advantage in the all around but a lot of this can be overcome by optimizing your routines to fit you.

I also think that being tall could have an advantage on highbar where you can gain better momentum by stretching yourself out.

And I know tall and big aren't necessarily the same but weight is something you can optimize.

[Joshua Slocum]

Why does the World Series not have more international teams?

As large man, I wonder why they are no weight classes in gymnastics. I'll have to generate three times the force typical gymnast,to do some of the exercises. There's only been a handful of people in history that I've done at an iron Cross at my size. (based on my Internet searches)

Most likely because there's not much demand for it. If FIG decided to add a 6'+ or 180lbs+ division, there'd be very few people ready to step in and compete. Perhaps this is a bit of a self-reinforcing issue, but it is what it is.

[mourad1996]

we know that all pro gymnast are taking steroids + they are paid for being a gymnast so they can dedicate their entire life training

but in street workout all athletes have a job or still studying

[Joachim Gryholm]

It's strange. I also know Nike started using the calisthenics people in marketing stuff. A shame that these guys get so much attention all around compared to Olympic Gymnasts who are way better in terms of impressive bodyweight feats. 

[Chris Hansen]

I can see it as a way of trying to level the playing field since most people don't have access to professional gymnastics instruction.

[Daniel Burnham]

I can see it as a way of trying to level the playing field since most people don't have access to professional gymnastics instruction.

In fact everyone does: https://zp130.infusionsoft.com/app/storeFront/showCategoryPage?categoryId=28

[Chris Hansen]

In fact everyone does: https://zp130.infusionsoft.com/app/storeFront/showCategoryPage?categoryId=28

There is that

 

I can still understand how a single, relatively unknown, source of good instruction might not be enough for them to alter the rules. And there's still the difference between having good material to follow and being coached to a competitive level.

[Alexander Egebak]

we know that all pro gymnast are taking steroids + they are paid for being a gymnast so they can dedicate their entire life training

but in street workout all athletes have a job or still studying

Need some info on the steroid claim; else I consider it invalid.

[Coach Sommer]

we know that all pro gymnast are taking steroids + they are paid for being a gymnast so they can dedicate their entire life training

but in street workout all athletes have a job or still studying

 

Idiotic claim.   So when SW get strong it is because of their dedication, but when gymnasts get stronger it is because they cheated?  When you have no knowledge of a subject, other than heresay, that is a good time to close your mouth and open your mind.

 

The 16,000 hours that I spent training Allan might have had just a little to do with his physical development.  

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Alan Tseng]

I once read that back during the 1970's when East German's Secret Police was doping over 10,000 athletes, they approached Dieter Hoffman to test drugs on their male gymnasts.  However a couple months later they stopped because the athletes were simply getting too sore from using them