The Street workout Fest arrives in Nîmes with a very challenging line-up

Une discipline mêlant musculation et gymnastique pour des réalisations spectaculaires. D.R.

This increasingly popular discipline will experience an international competition, organized in Nîmes on June 2, by Adrien and Thibault Schwarz.

This is new, but it may cause some noise. The "Street workout fest" will be held for the first time in Nîmes, on Sunday June 2 with a more than competitive line-up, both for the judges and the participants in this meeting. But let's start with the basics: what is street workout? The anglicism literally means "street workout" and "mixes both bodyweight training and gymnastics", completes Adrien Schwarz.

A rapidly developing practice

With his brother Thibault, they are the two brains behind this event, wanting to highlight a discipline, for the time being, &amp ;quot;less developed in France, but which has many followers in Spain, Norway and Germany, continues the man who is also events manager within the Nîmes handball club. People are used to training in the street, you can do it anywhere and it doesn't require any equipment."

No hardware, but spectacular performance. Because street workout has become organized to the point of having several categories: static street workout, where "you have to hold a position a bit like rings in gymnastics& quot;, the "set & reps", where "we will have pull-ups, push-ups, dips, etc.", the "street lifting", which "in addition to repeated exercises, adds the heaviest weights possible". And, finally, the "freestyle". And it is this last branch which will be at the center of the festival which will be held in a sports hall of some 3,000 m2. "We chose freestyle, because it’s the most spectacular. But the idea is to add a category each year, assures Adrien Schwarz. And to include women from the next edition.

Freestyle, four judges, sixteen athletes

Street workout competitions are not numerous in France, despite very high level athletes. For this first name, the Street workout fest therefore decided to hit hard: "We were able to count on the address book of my brother Thibault, who has been practicing since very long and who knows many judges and athletes." Thus, Leevan, Iliesse, Sangohan and even Daïlong, who between them have more than 500 000 Instagram subscribers will be uncompromising in judging the performances of the participants. "We had around thirty registrations, but we only selected sixteen for the show to be the best possible", specifies Adrien, who has been practicing for four years.

Coming from Spain, Morocco or the highest level of what France produces, the competitors will have to give everything to try to win the attractive cash prizes at stake. "On was lucky to have sponsors who followed us from the start. This allows us to offer great rewards with 1,000 euros; for the first, then 500 and 300 €. We have also planned challenges for spectators so that they can try to win gifts. And we will also of course have demonstrations from our judges!", predicts, all smiles, Adrien Schwarz. Who wanted this meeting to serve a good cause: "We will donate 20% of the ticket sales to the Nîmes association Coup de cœur animal which takes care of abandoned cats and dogs. We went to see their work, everything they did for the animal cause… We wanted to help them at our level."

Street workout fest, Sunday June 2, 2000 avenue du Maréchal-Juin in Nîmes. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Warm-ups in the morning, start of the competition at 12 p.m., with two rounds of 45 minutes. Catering possible on site. Single rate of 5 euros. Ticket sales on Instagram on or on site, the day of the festival.