The last weekend (28th and 29th September) was pretty fun. We gathered a team, trained hard, and took part in a calisthenics competition. I also got to experience an outdoor concert for the first time.
The Team Calisthenics Competition
About a month ago I got news that Red Bull was sponsoring and teaming up with the Vietnam Street Workout & Calisthenics Federation to organise a massive street sports festival spanning 2 days.
(The Vietnam Street Workout & Calisthenics Federation is essentially a group of amateur calisthenics enthusiasts who work to promote the sport by holding events and competitions.)
The festival features athletes representing Street Dance, Parkour, Skateboarding, and Street Workout. For the Street Workout part, there are both team and individual competitions.
To take part in the team competition, we must gather 5 members to do the following:
- 70 Dips
- 40 Pull-ups
- 100 Push-ups
- 60 Tyre flips
- 50 Burpees
With me, Phong and Dũng doing the pull-ups, push-ups and tyre flips, we had to find 2 more guys to handle the dips and burpees. Fortunately I got Tuấn Anh from the arm wrestling team and Mr. Ba our AC repairman to do the burpees.
We trained for a couple of weeks leading up to the competition. We didn’t aim for prizes or anything since there were a couple of all-star teams who were ridiculously strong, so the goal was just to do our best and have fun.
I ended up going all gung-ho in the pull-ups part, and ended up ripping two pieces of skin off my palm. That stung like hell.
It was a very enjoyable experience overall. Every team did their 110%, and the organisers (the referees, volunteers, MC) gave their heart and soul for the event.
We ended up clocking 14m13s in total, which was quite a bit behind our target of 12m30s. Still, everyone took great care to ensure flawless form.
Mr Ba got sick just before the day, but luckily he made it in time. Dude’s stamina is bananas. He ploughed straight through 50 burpees in one set!
The Outdoor Concert
By the late afternoon everyone had left. I stayed behind to catch the concert featuring some big names in the Vietnamese music scene.
I was kind of excited as this is the first time I’ve ever been in a real concert. I was most curious about the crowd energy — this was mostly the late 1990’s and early 2000’s crowd, and I haven’t been around them much.
The concert was certainly fun. The singers were very energetic in their performances; the crowd danced and sang along. That’s it for me though.
Singer Đen Vâu performing his hit Bài Này Chill Phết. I like this song a lot.
The Weighted Pull-up
This year I was excited about the weighted pull-up competition (+20kg). I got second place in 2016 (16 reps) and 2017 (18 reps), and in 2018 I got first (18 reps). I’m pretty decent at this particular exercise.
2019 has been pretty bad though as I have barely done pull-ups throughout the year. The bronchitis, the toe surgery, and the hectic schedule certainly have not helped.
Still, this year’s prize pool is especially high: 3 million VND for the winner. So I did kind of hope that I’d be able to perform well. No expectations at all though.
Well, the winner ended up doing 21 reps. That’s freaking insane. The younger guys are getting way stronger; no way I can keep up with that.
I managed to do 18 just like last year, which is pretty okay considering my severe lack of training.
Final Thoughts
That’s it for a fun weekend . We gathered a team, trained hard for it, and went in with no expectations. Had a blast. Also an opportunity to become closer with the guys.
As for me, it’s a reminder that the younger generation is coming up and they’re strong. You really have to constantly fight and up your game to keep up with their youthful energy and dedication.