Hydropark kachalka Open-air gym in Kyiv

Once, Soviet Union was trying to build a super nation of strong, intelligent and beautiful people. The main accent was made on sport, every school, university and even a factory had special sport competitions that were attended by people of all ages. It is since those times that people try to stay fit, run, play football or simply to attend sport clubs. And although most Ukrainian gyms are following European traditions of comfort and style, the major part of real Kievites prefer places that are more traditional and hard-core.

It is a sort of popular in London and Santa Monica open-air gym, which in post-soviet countries is called “kachalka”.  The word literally means places where you can pump-up. The biggest and the most popular kachalka in Kyiv is located on the left bank of the Dnieper River, Hydropark metro station.

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This open air gym has no saunas, modern equipment or coaches. Kyiv sportsmen prefer wheels, joists, and tank chains to build some muscles. The training equipment is made of metal devices with grips and barbells attached to them. You can even find a radiator, used as weighting option or a special desk where people train in darting knives, handmade bicycles and an old hawser people climb to stretch. It is the most unique gym in the world, in fact nowhere else you will find such a massive hand-made construction.

Kyiv muscle gym was visited by foreign journalists; the popular British newspaper Daily Mail called it “the most hard-core gym in the world” and the German Spiegel compared it with a “torture chamber”. And though Hydropark kachalka may seem aggressive and severe at first sight, strongmen commented this place is tough as it was made for real men.

These exercise machines were built in 1970s by the initiative of Polish professor of Mathematics Kuk and gymnast Jagelsky. Most of the equipment was taken from the popular in soviet times scrap places. The main idea was to create a work-out place in the open air, which succeeded by all means. The most important thing is that all the equipment is save and ready to be run. All attenders take good care of these coarse and yet precious metal, each weekend one person, (who according to the rumors is the guard of the gym) is collecting money, which is donated by the members at their will.

By now there are over 200 different machines in Kachalka, they are placed on the beach territory of 10 000 square meters. There are exercisers for all muscles, including weights, grips, abdominal crunches and even boxing gym with punching balls made of motor truck tires. Almost all weight-lifting stations were built by local people, some of them are made in a classical sport way and some are very unusual but work out good anyways. Without any special equipment, they swim in the waters of Dnieper to cool down, instead of taking a shower.

The place is attended by people of all ages and social states. Here you can train next to the world famous body builders, Ukrainian celebrities or workers and teenagers. It is interesting that both sexes attend the place as there are various light fitness machines for women too. The important place is taken by the so-called “young granddads”, men that are over 80 years old who can easily kick ass of any young men. One of the most famous grandfathers is 83 years old gymnast who can make 30 hip pull-over on a chin bar, he says that sport is a health pill and there is no need to call doctors if you train. These people inspire greatly, the atmosphere on this brutal and hard-baked place is really overwhelming.

So if you are not afraid of trying a real men place we invite you to the Hydropark kachalka. Ukrainian muscle gym is free to enter anytime 24/7.