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If you had told El Mourad Hammade only three years ago that a serious workplace accident would make him discover his passion in life, he would not have believed it. Yet, this is exactly the way the young man discovered street workout.
Born on June 30, 1988, this 30-year-old French-Moroccan took part in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Saturday, August 25, to the World Championships in said discipline, which is halfway between gymnastics and bodybuilding.
«The organizers contacted me on Instagram two months before the World Championships to see if I was interested in taking part to the event. I had originally planned to participate to the Championships next year, but since I was ready, I accepted the offer,» says El Mourad Hammade.
This logistics manager, who holds a robotic science baccalaureate, lives currently in Ecquevilly, in the Yvelines department and discovered street workouts after a serious workplace accident in 2015.
The young man was afflicted by a 700 kg (1,500 pounds) bar falling on his right shoulder : «I did eight months of rehabilitation in a specialized center. I met people who were into street workout and I started to train with them, seven days a week for a year, 4 hours a day. In the end, I was able to recover,» he explains.
«In 2016, I was taken to a competition and started training six days a week for three hours a day.»
While his sick leave ends in a month, the 30-year-old does not intend to return to work. His goal today is to find sponsors and make a living off his passion. «I aim to find a way to get paid and make the sport known, why not in Morocco. By the way, I would not say no to a sport-related job there,» he says enthusiastically.
El Mourad Hammade feels actually quite close to the country of his parents. His mother is from Mrirt, and his father from Guelmim. «I have a lot of family there, including my grandparents and aunts. I go to Morocco every year, sometimes even several times a year. Yep, one has to go see his family!»
A good performance
Street workout is a sport that is practiced outdoors, combining strength, flexibility, balance and bodyweight exercises. «This sport was born in Eastern Europe,» says El Mourad Hammade.
«And the advantage is that any street amenities can do the trick : benches, poles, bars, fences, children play yards... No need for all those barbells, pull-up bars, dumbbells and other expensive sophisticated material. All the work is done with the weight of the body, but one can also add weighted exercises to up the difficulty a notch.»
«Ukraine has the largest street workout federation in the world. The practice is strongly rooted there and from an early age, street workout enthusiasts in particular, meet in academies and, as such, get to better understand their body, to know both their capacity and their limits», he told Yabiladi.
«The public authorities, with the considerable support of personalities such as the Klischtko, seem to have understood the major issues regarding the youth and the need to shape it in a way that would give young people a strong identity, both morally and psychologically», as posted by El Mourad Hammade on his Instagram account.
Above all, the young man is eager to get back to competition in the coming months, in Germany and the Netherlands.
