Physical Wellness

Squat For a Free Train Ride in Moscow [VIDEO]

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Nov 14, 2013 07:18 PM EST

The summer and winter Olympics are sporting events that celebrate and praise the strength and power of the human body. Talented athletes throughout the world train hard and long in order to qualify and compete in one of the highest levels of sports competition. Next year's winter Olympics will be in Sochi, Russia and as a way to celebrate the event, the Russian city of Moscow has developed a new campaign. This campaign offers commuters the chance to perform 30 squats for a free train ticket.

"We wanted to show that the Olympic Games is not just an international competition that people watch on TV, but that it is also about getting everyone involved in a sporting lifestyle," Alexander Zhukov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee, said reported by the Huffington Post.

For the campaign, which also encourages people to be physically active, machines were created to track people's movements in order to determine whether or not their squats were done correctly. According to the officials, this system cannot be cheated. Therefore, people are better off performing the 30 squats as opposed to finding ways around it. The machines have been placed at the Vystavochnaya station. 30 correct squats will reward commuters with one train ticket worth 30 Russian rubes, which is equivalent to just under $1.

"It was hard at first but I managed it," Lyudmila, a young woman commented after trying the machine. "Two minutes is enough time."

 "When the Russian Olympic Committee developed this project, we wanted to show that each person is a part of the Olympic movement, of the Olympic Games, of the Olympic ideals," said synchronized swimming champion Maria Kiseleva according to Euronews.

Even though 30 squats could be hard to do for some people, the campaign hopes to get people excited about the upcoming events.

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