A video has been released by the Kremlin that shows Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev lifting weights and using various other exercise equipment at Putin’s Black Sea residence of Bocharov Ruchei, near Sochi. After their workout, the two are then shown grilling meat and drinking black tea together.
If the video is meant to make Putin look strong, it failed. In it, he looks old and his exercise form is terrible.
Every fitness guy knows the laws of the gym. Don’t curl in the squat rack, never skip leg day, and ALWAYS focus on form. That last bit is especially important if you’re going to share a workout video with others (for showoff purposes). If you commit a fitness felony, you suffer the consequences: enter Vladimir Putin. The president of Russia took a break from posting questionable shirtless selfies to give us a glimpse of how he and his prime minister Dmitry Medvedev build their political pecs.
M&F Deputy Editor Matt Tuthill had some scathing critiques, saying Putin is “Russian” (sorry, had to do it) his cable work.
“His cable crossover form is crap,” Tuthill says. “[That’s] weird because it’s such an easy exercise. His reps are fast and bouncy. That exercise is all about getting a good contraction, and it doesn’t look like he’s getting any. Meanwhile, the prime minister [Medvedev] is doing some legit pullups. It’s telling that we only see Putin doing lat pulldowns. Whenever two guys are working back and it’s time for pullups, the weaker guy always opts for pulldowns.”
We’re not just casting stones here, M&F is all about correcting these problems. Here’s how that move SHOULD look. Unfortunately, we don’t have a fix for Putin’s very non-Putin use of workout gloves.
