Titans, according to mythology, have incredible strength, both physical and mental. It is not without reason that the most difficult tasks are called “titanic labor”. It seems to be exactly what the participants of the show “Titans” faced. Artificial intelligence, as always, challenged the athletes, but not everyone managed to cope with it.
leader of the “Street Athletics” sports movement
“This task left the most powerful and heavy athletes out of the show’s doorstep. Let’s see why.”
Rules of the test
The essence of the challenge is weight retention. Since the athletes have different weights, an individual apparatus was prepared for each of them. Ice was attached to the rope, the weight of which was equal to 50% of the participant’s weight. Athletes had to hold the rope with their hands for as long as possible, but it was forbidden to clamp it with their legs, neck, shoulders or head.
What results did the athletes show?
The winner of the stage with the best time was Anna Logashova, the world champion in the sport aerial ring. She was able to hold half of her weight for 60 minutes. Magomedrasul Rabadanov, a rock climber and stuntman, had the second best result after her; he did not let go of the rope for 39 minutes and 5 seconds. The third place was shared by Maxim Bitarov, European champion in armwrestling, and Daria Nagornaya, Olympic medalist and world champion in artistic gymnastics, with a result of 31 minutes and 52 seconds.
The worst results were shown by men, including Ruslan Sadykov, Russian streetlifting champion, Kirill Kosharin, two-time European rugby champion, and even Dmitry Zhemarkin, weightlifter and 40-time world champion. So why was it that a fragile girl was able to defeat big and strong men by such a margin? Let’s find out together.
How to cope with the test?
To win, you need to have not only physical strength, but also the ability to properly distribute the work of muscles. Let’s consider all the factors that affect the successful completion of the task.
Firstly, the lower the own weight, the smaller the load that had to be held. The winner, whose own weight was 40-42 kilograms, held a rope with a load of 20 kilograms. Secondly, part of the load could be reduced by choosing the right position: if the whole body was placed in a counterbalance position, the load was halved.
But the key factor in this test was special physical training. It is characterized by the selective development of individual muscles and muscle groups that bear the main load when performing exercises. For an aerial gymnast, this is the development of grip strength, as the main load falls on the hands.
Special physical training or SPP – is a purposeful process to develop and improve physical fitness, necessary and characteristic of the chosen sport.
The same special physical training for the development of grip strength is characterized by athletes who have shown the best time: rock climber, armwrestler, cyclist and gymnast. All of these sports are characterized by an emphasis on training the hands and arms to ensure successful performance in competitions and achieve high results.
When holding the rope, athletes used several types of grip: the squeezing grip and the holding grip. There is a third grip, the pinch grip. Of course, for success you need strong arm muscles, starting with the hands and ending with the shoulders.
Exercises for grip development:
- hand flexion with dumbbells;
- farmer’s walk;
- holding a weight in front of you;
- hanging on the bar;
- exercise with a wrist extender.
It’s not always mass and lots of muscle that pushes the way to victory, as this challenge proved. Harmonious development of the whole body is the key to victories, even if not as big as the participants of the show.