Reebok Become a test man on the track, we talk about the race. Reebok will hold a fitness festival in Kolomenskoye What does the concept of become human mean?

Last weekend, “Championship” attended one of the most unusual fitness events of this year. Race "Reebok. Become Human"- this is not just a challenge for yourself, it is excellent team building and a serious test of strength for your team. That is why, from year to year, the competition is rapidly gaining popularity, expanding its boundaries and opening new distances throughout Russia. At the start, you receive a rope along with your numbers. From the first minutes of the start to the finish line, you are a team that runs together.

From year to year, the tests (stages) that need to be completed in between running over rough terrain change dramatically. It is almost impossible to find information about what awaits the participants at the distance, so each new test becomes a pleasant (or not always) surprise for the team. In total, 13 completely different stages awaited us on the obstacle course this time. In this article, we decided to lift the veil of secrecy a little and tell our readers what the race consists of.

Interesting facts about the race:

The length of the running distance is 7 km;
The average time that teams spent on the distance was 1 hour 10 minutes;
Training - classic running and cross-fit training will help you prepare for participation in the race.

1. Steps

The very first test, which we came to while still cheerful, clean and in a great mood, turned out to be “Steps”. To summarize it in a few sentences, four team members had to imitate a suspended ladder, and the other participant had to walk along it. Honestly, I personally liked the test, because I was the sixth person in the team who simply followed the process (if only there were more stages like this, closer to the finish line).

What's the difficulty? Four team members hold boards, on which a person steps with all his weight - everything is simple here, the main task is to hold them. The better the coordination and ability to group the one walking, the easier it is for the others.

Lifehack: In general, if you are reading this article while on an obstacle course (which is very unlikely), then our advice will not help you. But if you're still preparing for your first cross-country fitness race, be smart about team building. The rules themselves suggest different compositions: 2 women and 4 men, 3 women and 3 men, 4 women and 2 men. To pass this stage, it is optimal to have a team of 4 men (who hold the boards) and 2 girls (one of whom moves along the stairs, and the other helps her keep her balance). In general, this is one of the most optimal arrangements: this composition is convenient when going through not only this stage.

2. Trust ball

Not surprisingly, all team members, without exception, enjoyed this challenge. The stage itself looked like this: the team stands in a chain, a large inflatable ball is clamped between each pair of people, and the column in this state must cover about 25 meters, turn around at the desired point and come back.

What's the difficulty? If the team starts moving at different speeds and loses overall pace, the balls will begin to fall to the ground, which means that the test will have to be repeated.

Lifehack: Using our ideal composition (2 girls and 4 men), we distributed ourselves so that our men were inside, and the girls opened and closed the column. The main task faced the leader: he had to “press” on everyone else, and when the first in the column felt a push from behind, he began to slowly move forward. This tactic allowed us to overcome this stage without difficulty and penalty time.

3. Rope jumping

As you already understand, most of the exercises performed during the race are aimed at coherent team work. The goal of the next test was to go a short distance, jumping over tensioned ropes, and then come back and repeat the same thing - that is, perform two approaches.

What's the difficulty? All team members must jump synchronously, push off and land exclusively on two feet, otherwise the jump will not be counted.

Lifehack: Don't jump too high, this will reduce the stress on your knees and legs in general, count out loud, all together, in order to jump in sync and not redo the jump.

4. Water carriers

It would seem that it’s complicated: you take an inflatable flask with water and carry it forward. Everything became more complicated when we learned that each step forward is not just a step, but a lunge, which is performed alternately on each leg from a standing position.

What's the difficulty? Required condition: The knee must touch the ground during a lunge. And the water in the flask continually flows from one end to the other, causing some problems associated with balance and coordination. While one participant passes the stage, there is no time to be bored: the whole team stands in the plank.

Lifehack: Be patient, keep your back straight and look exclusively forward. We agree that the life hack didn’t work out here, but we didn’t follow any specific tactics when going through this stage.

5. Trail running

And again we go against the rules! Yes, this is not a stage, but when preparing, it is very important to focus on this point. At the beginning of the competition, each team receives a rope and runs the entire 7 kilometers in one rope.
What's the difficulty? It’s not easy to guess a comfortable pace right away, so some participants have a much harder time running at the beginning than others. And just when it seems to you that the ideal pace has been found and guessed... you begin to get tired, which means that the speed must change again. The second indisputable disadvantage is that by holding on to the rope, you exclude one hand from the running process - due to the unfamiliarity, this can significantly complicate the distance.

Lifehack: Find a rope and incorporate team running into your pre-race training - this will help you get a feel for each other's pace and will greatly reduce the possibility of injury on the course.

Very soon the races will take place in your city, don’t miss the chance to become a person:

Kazan- July 22
Nizhny Novgorod- July 29
Saint Petersburg- 5th of August
Rostov-on-Don- August 19.

For me, “Become Human 2018” is the first such race with overcoming obstacles. Somewhat similar to fun starts, that we were at school, but the loads are much more serious. I can't say that I'm not sports man, since childhood I have been involved in dancing, volleyball and athletics. But preparations for the World Cup, constant travel on business trips and routine office work made their own adjustments to sports. Largely because I missed physical activity, decided to take part in the race this year as part of the “Championship” team.

Preparing for the race

As I mentioned above, the race involves serious tests for the body. So, it is very important to prepare yourself correctly, to know and feel your body. There are several options.

Some tips

Since the weather in May decided to please us, the race took place in open sun and a temperature of 22 degrees Celsius (although at times it seemed even higher). Therefore, one of the main tips is not to forget about hats and sunscreen. Water should also not be written off. During the race you will be asked to freshen up only three times. And then, the first one is only before the sixth milestone out of 14 possible. Before the start, be sure to do a team warm-up. Try running with a tightrope to understand how to balance your strength correctly.

Difficulties of the race

There are several challenges that caused particular difficulties for the Championship team. What were the mistakes and how to avoid them, I will describe below. This will also help save your time.

The main load in this test goes to the arms and abs. This stage cannot be called super difficult; rather, concentration and teamwork are important. Task: lie down in pairs on mattresses, lift your body and legs off the ground, and in this position, without touching the mattress with parts of your body, pass pancakes weighing from 5 to 25 kilograms back and forth four times. The penalty for violating the rule is squatting.

Error: Team members are located far from each other on mattresses. Because of this, the entire team received 24 additional squats, which affected the performance of the following tasks. How to fix it: take your time to do the exercise, carefully check how far away you are from each other, try to imitate passing the pancakes to your teammate. Only after this indicate to the volunteer that you are ready to complete the stage.

At the previous stage, we created a problem for ourselves, because of which some of the guys’ legs began to clog and they were unable to jump or squat. And the main load in the test goes to the leg muscles. Task: jump a distance with a fitball over your head from a sitting position back and forth, at this time the team squats 10 times with a rope over your head.

Mistake: jumping out with a fitball, pointing it only upward. This did not allow jumping forward to cover the distance. How to fix: When jumping, hold the exercise ball above you, but pointing it forward. This will make long jumping much easier for you, and you will save time. Lifekah: don’t forget to shake and lightly massage your leg muscles whenever you have a free minute.

Stage No. 13.

The horizontal bar and rings - at the end of the entire distance - are a very powerful load. Here you need to endure with all your might. The qualities of real fighters are revealed. Task: participants must do 60 pull-ups on the rings from a lying position. At the moment when one performs pull-ups, the rest hang on the horizontal bar.

Mistake: wet hands! How to fix: there are two types of horizontal bars on testing. The lower ones are without bandages, the higher ones are with bandages. It is better to sit a person with wet hands on a horizontal bar, wrapped with a bandage, so that the person is less likely to fall.

In general, I advise everyone to try their hand at running the “Become Human” race. This is not only a sport, but also a fun time spent with friends or colleagues. Songs and charges can be heard along the distance, and the teams even sometimes help each other with encouragement. Challenge yourself and believe me, you won't regret it!

In 2016, the Reebok race expands its geography and enters new level.

Working on oneself and the desire to become better changes not only people - in 2016, the Reebok “Become Human” challenge race reaches a new level, expanding its scale and geography. In the new season, not only residents of Moscow, but also the six largest cities of Russia will be able to test their strength. Already this summer, teams from St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don and Kazan will challenge themselves and compete with others for the title of the strongest. To prepare for the races in these cities, Reebok will open training grounds in parks where everyone can exercise for free under the guidance of professional instructors.

Three big races will take place in Moscow this year. In addition, from April to November a series of competitions “Become Human” will be organized. Start”, which will be held every 2 weeks at the central training base (Reebok will open it in the spring in one of the capital’s parks). Also, all fitness fans will be able to continue training at Reebok sites, which have everything they need for CrossFit, running and mixed martial arts.

Due to the fact that Reebok is expanding the geography of races, improving the training program, and also opening new equipped training grounds in the capital and regions, participation in the Moscow “Become a Human” races becomes paid. All funds received will be used to develop the project so that in the near future it will cover more cities, and tens of thousands of people in different parts of Russia will be able to become the best version of themselves in physical, social and intellectual aspects. It is worth noting that “Become Human” is already the largest competition of its kind: last year alone, more than 2,400 teams took part in the races, and the events themselves were attended by about 30,000 guests.

*Detailed information about the place and time of the event can be found on the website www.stanchelovekom.rf.

About Reebok challenge races. Become human"

Races with challenges “Reebok. Become a Human” is a competition for teams of 6 people (recommended combination of 3 men and 3 women, 4+2 is also acceptable). The distance ranges from 5 to 7 km and includes 9-10 tests, most of which are designed for group performance. The test scheme changes each time, specific tasks become known only on the day of the competition. The technique of performing exercises during the tests is monitored by judges, and the time taken to complete the course is recorded by a telemetry system. Persons over 18 years of age can participate in the races.

Participants in the “Become Human” race will not only have to overcome a given distance, but they will have to cope with ten serious challenges while working as a team. Reebok held its first “Become Human” race in February of this year. Then members of the teams, each of which had six people, had to run three kilometers, completing tasks for strength, agility and endurance along the way. Dressed in warm sports uniforms, the race participants climbed over walls, overturned huge tires, carried logs, and squatted in single file. The second race took place in the summer, but so that the task did not seem too easy, the distance was increased to five kilometers.

The next - third - race “Become a Human” will be held on the territory of the Badaevsky plant (each time the organizers choose a new location) on October 3 and 4. As always, participants cannot find out in advance what kind of obstacles they will encounter along the way - they will only become aware of this on the day of the test. You can register for the race on the website stanchelovekom3.rf until September 28. It is best to assemble a team of six people in advance, selecting your most reliable and hardy friends. If there is no team, but you really want to test your strength, you can also register - in this case, you need to wait until the captain of a team starts looking for the missing players. Participation in the race is free. For those who are still hesitant to participate in a difficult test themselves, but want to see how others do it, the organizers have also come up with an activity: throughout the event, coaches will conduct a variety of sports master classes for spectators.

Participants of previous “Become Human” races about their experiences

editor-in-chief of the Harper'sBazaar website

At the end of May, one of my friends began to assemble a team for “Become Human” and called me because he knew that I had a good physical training(seven years of choreography classes as a child, and now jogging three to four times a week) and I love non-standard activities. I just wanted to test it new uniform Reebok: put on tights, a T-shirt, sneakers - and off you go. I remember very well how I had to jump a distance of about three hundred meters with my ankles tied, lift the weight a hundred times (we, of course, conceded this to the male part of the team) and do pull-ups on the horizontal bar a hundred times. The most difficult thing is the last three hundred meters, when your strength is already running out. We were lucky to have a professional on our team - a WorldClass coach - who motivates, makes us run and doesn’t cut himself any slack.”

Producer Buro 24/7

“I’ve been playing tennis since I was five, now I sometimes run in my neighborhood and go stretching. At the time of the summer race, I was far from in the best physical preparation, since, spending most of my time at work, I did not have time to train well. Our team consisted of representatives of different media - from “Snob” to Harper’sBazaar. We were not the most athletic, so we were given a WorldClass coach on the team, without him we definitely would not have reached the finish line. For us, all the obstacles were a surprise. The most difficult thing was lifting the weight; I almost fell backwards with it. Pull-ups were surprisingly the easiest, as the boys were allowed to hold the girls and help them. This is really much more fun than running alone, although, on the other hand, there is more responsibility, since here you are running not only for yourself, but also for the whole team and cannot let them down. Now we are just discussing the next race, I will gladly take part in it.”

musician and blogger

“Our team did not have any special sports training. My friends and I just saw that there would be such a race in the summer, we thought it was interesting. To be honest, we thought it would be much easier, but then we saw the photo report of the previous race, we were terribly scared, but in the end we decided that the main thing was not victory, but participation. The most difficult were the pull-ups; the whole team agreed that the pull-ups at the end of the race were a test for the bravest. What we liked most were the team tasks - for example, when we all had to pull something together. According to the results, we were among the last, but this is not the main thing. We are going to participate in the next races with the same composition. I would recommend “Become a Human” to those who are just starting to exercise regularly (since this is a serious motivation to become better), and to those who have already gotten involved and now want to test themselves. We realized that our physical fitness was not up to the required level, and we began to play sports more often.”