Andrey Ganin: from canoeing to crossfit victories

Continuing to tell you about the best athletes from the world of the crossfit industry, we could not ignore one of the leading athletes in the domestic segment - Andrey Ganin.

This is a great athlete who has been in rowing for a long time. And over the past 5 years, he has been actively interested in CrossFit and shocks everyone, both in sports form and the rapid growth of results in this relatively young sport.

Andrey Ganin is a vivid example of the fact that after 30 years, an athlete's career in CrossFit does not end, and in some cases it just begins. This is proved not only by his athletic achievements, but also by his excellent physical shape, which only improves from year to year.

Short biography

Andrey Ganin was born in 1983, when such a sport as CrossFit did not exist in nature. From childhood he was an overly mobile boy. During his school years, Andrei was attracted by sports rowing, and the parents, with great relief, sent their son to the section, deciding to channel his irrepressible energy into a useful channel. In their opinion, rowing was supposed to contribute to the all-round development and discipline of the boy. The parents were right in many ways. At least, it was rowing that gave Andrei excellent physical fitness for further high achievements in sports.

Promising athlete

So, a year later, the promising young man was transferred to the school of the Olympic reserve, and then to the metropolitan school for training athletes. In 2002, the young athlete, being a member of the Youth Team, took a bronze medal at the European Championship.

In parallel with his activities in sports, Ganin entered the Russian State University of Physical Culture, Sports, Youth and Tourism, which he graduated with honors, having the opportunity not only to perform, but also to train people.

The first "gold"

At the peak of his career, the athlete came under the tutelage of an experienced coach Krylov. While training under his guidance, Andrey won his first gold medal for his successful performance at competitions in Duisburg in 2013. It was for this achievement that he was awarded the title of International Master of Sports.

Interesting fact... Before becoming a professional rower and one of the best crossfit athletes in Russia, Ganin had been swimming for almost a year. With this sport, Andrei Alexandrovich did not work out, but during this period he received very useful basic training and the skills of correct breathing. Further in the athlete's sports career, there was a short six months period of passion for martial arts, namely judo, after which he nevertheless found his vocation in rowing.

Crossfit athlete career

Ganin got acquainted with CrossFit even before the peak of his career in rowing. The fact is that already in 2012, he became interested in the increasingly popular sport and decided to try several training complexes. That is, for almost 5 years he performed in both disciplines in parallel, until in mid-2017 he left rowing completely, deciding to devote himself entirely to functional all-around and opening his own gym.

First experience in CrossFit

Andrei Alexandrovich himself recalls the beginning of his crossfit career with embarrassment. He honestly admits that in the early years it was quite difficult to perform the complexes, although it was interesting.

Many modern crossfit experts believe that in the case of Ganin, it was the functional all-around training that helped him win the gold medal in the 200-meter relay.

Andrei came to professional crossfit as an eminent athlete, having a long experience in sports performances behind him. Nevertheless, both the coaches and future colleagues in the sports workshop were very skeptical about him, since there were already famous athletes in their team. For example, the same Dmitry Trushkin, who had victories in the main Russian crossfit competition behind his shoulders.

According to Ganin himself, it was the lack of a condescending attitude towards him that pushed him to achieve new heights. Indeed, if CrossFit athletes are skeptical about international masters of sports, then this discipline is really on the brink of human capabilities.

Teamwork "Crossfit idol"

Within a few months after the start of classes, he was recruited to participate in the main crossfit competitions. In particular, he went to regional competitions with one of the best Russian teams from the Crossfit idol club.

After the first competitions, in which the team did not take a prize, all the participants were inspired and decided to radically change the training facilities. The very next year they took quite good positions in the overall ranking of team competitions and, having delved into the theory and practice of crossfit, the athletes were going to qualify for individual performances.

However, it was in that year that Castro once again radically changed the Open program, which is why the whole team, being not ready for such specific loads, performed a failure. By the way, not only the program, but also the composition of the exercises at the games then also changed dramatically. It was in that year that Ben Smith finally became the champion, who for a long time could not break into the leaders because of his specific build.

First success at CrossFit Games

Ganin himself does not consider himself an outstanding athlete. He says that completing each set to send to the Open is inconvenient for him, and he strives to show the best result every time. Sometimes it takes a whole day, and sometimes more. But it was precisely because of the difficulties in trials that he achieved what he achieved.

After the 2016 competition, Andrei received his legendary nickname "Big Russian". This was due to the fact that the Russian turned out to be one of the heaviest athletes, who, nevertheless, performed absolutely all the complexes on a par with everyone.

Well, his good disposition with external severity, as well as his relatively high height - 185 centimeters, contributed to considerable success among his fellow CrossFitters. So, for comparison, the current champion, Mat Fraser, is slightly above 1.7 m. Against the background of all other athletes, Andrei really looked impressive and powerful.

Coaching activities

Simultaneously with the end of his career in rowing, Andrei Alexandrovich took up coaching. It was here that his higher education with a degree in physical culture teacher came in handy.

It was during this period that he got acquainted with CrossFit, which allowed him, as a fitness instructor, to reach completely new heights. Combining classical techniques with crossfit training methods, he not only improved his own form, but was also able to prepare a huge number of novice athletes, who, at the same time, were his voluntary "experimental" in experiments with specific training complexes.

Unlike many other fitness instructors, Andrey is an ardent opponent of any doping. He explains this by the fact that he has seen with his own eyes the consequences for athletes. The prohibition of an athlete's participation in international competitions is the smallest of the problems that the use of stimulant drugs entails.

Most importantly, an experienced athlete believes that decent physical fitness can only be achieved without additional stimulation. Indeed, unlike "steroid indicators", this form will partially remain after the end of a sports career.

Despite his high qualifications, Ganin does not seek to bring up as many undisputed champions as possible. On the contrary, he strives to show that CrossFit is available to everyone, that athletic people are not necessarily Olympic champions or heavyweights who work with huge weights in powerlifting.

The athlete believes that being overweight is a problem of our time. He is of the opinion that the problems of obese people are not at all in their metabolism, but in weakness of character. Therefore, Andrei directs his efforts to work with fat people, in order not only to radically change their weight, but also to transform their attitude.

Best performance

Despite the absence of a champion title, Ganin is one of the best Russian athletes of our time. In addition, he adequately withstands inordinate competition with Western athletes, fighting for the title of the fastest and most enduring athlete. This is despite his age and quite a lot of weight for CrossFit.

At the same time, he is not inferior in his power performances, which gives him a huge bonus and the opportunity to come closer to the title of "the most prepared person on earth"

Competition results

Despite the fact that Ganin did not win prizes in the main crossfit competitions in the world. He nevertheless became one of the first domestic athletes who received admission to these competitions, which makes him one of the most outstanding athletes in Eastern Europe.

In addition, Andrey regularly performs with his club in smaller competitions. One of the last was the Siberian Showdown 2017, in which they entered the top three.

Every year, the athlete's form is getting better and better, which suggests that the athlete will still show himself at the 2018 CrossFit games, possibly becoming the first Russian athlete to enter the top 10 of the best.

Ganin vs Froning

While the whole world is arguing about which of the athletes is better - CrossFit legend Richard Froning or modern champion Matt Fraser, Russian athletes are already starting to step on their heels. In particular, at the 2016 Games, Andrei Aleksandrovich Ganin simply “tore apart” Froning in the 15.1 complex.

Of course, it's too early to talk about a complete victory over the legendary athlete, but if you consider how young CrossFit is in the Russian Federation, then this can already be called the first confident step towards ensuring that domestic athletes become on a par with world athletes.

Finally

Today Andrey Ganin is the founder of the Crossfit MadMen club, where he practices the combination of crossfit and MMA training. After all, the main task of this sport, according to the athlete, is the development of functional strength and endurance. And CrossFit is only the first stage, which replaces classic training with a more productive and advanced system. Thanks to functional all-around, now all athletes have a good opportunity to improve their results in their sport.

Having actively engaged in coaching, Ganin did not quit training, and is actively preparing for the qualifying season of 2018. Fans of his sports talent and coaching activities can follow the athlete's progress on the official pages on the social networks VKontakte, Instagram.

Watch the video: The CrossFit Games - Individual Fibonacci Final (May 2025).