Street lifting is an upcoming strength sport that very few have heard of, but it’s rapidly gaining ground in India and abroad. To know more about this sport, professional street lifter Aman Mujeeb speaks about his introduction to street lifting, the requirements to pursue it professionally, major tournaments from around the world, training routine, future goals and more!

Q 1) How were you introduced to street lifting? Tell us about this strength sport and how quickly is it emerging in India and across the world?

I was always interested in sports from the very beginning. I used to do some parkour, and in parkour, basic strength levels are required which I didn't have, so I started doing normal push ups and pull ups which is also called calisthenics or bodyweight exercises, that’s where I began to get interested in street lifting.
 
Streetlifting is doing normal bodyweight exercises with additional weight. For example, doing pull ups with additional weight hanging from you, or doing dips with additional weights. It's basically a strength sport. This sport is gaining popularity in India at a considerably good rate and is rising very fast globally.

Q 2) What are the requirements to become a professional at street lifting? Is there any specific equipment, nutrition and training that must be followed?

There is no specific requirement, all u need is just good programming like any other sport and dedication. You also need a pull up/chin up bar, parallel dip bars, some weight plates and a chain belt usually called a dip belt to hang the weight. If you want to become a professional, proper nutrition must be followed for better recovery and progress. A proper training plan is also required to avoid overload and injuries, and to recover faster in a safe way.

Q 3) What are the major tournaments for street lifting in India and around the world? What are the requirements to participate in them?

There are many tournaments around the world. The tournament where the most world records are made is organized by the International Streetlifting Federation but there are also multiple federations and tournaments around the world. In India, there is a tournament called All India Strength Wars which showcases street lifting as well along with many other categories of bodyweight exercises. Tournament categories are held according to age and weight and there are technical rules you have to learn for a particular lift.

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Q 4) What is the difference between Streetlifting Classic and Streetlifting Multilift? How are the winners decided for each of the two categories?

Classic Street LIfting is doing dips and pull ups with maximum weight which you can hang for yourself. Multifit Street Lifting is doing dips and pull ups with a certain amount of weight for maximum number of repetitions. Winners are decided in their individual weight categories. In Classic Streetlifting, the person who lifts the maximum weight (dips + pull ups/chin ups ) wins. In the Multilift version, the person who does maximum repetitions wins. 

Q 5) Tell us about your training routine to compete in a street lifting championship?

I train five to six times a week which includes basic street lifting lifts as the main exercise and then some additional exercises for assistance work. Your training routine highly depends on your current fitness level and nutrition.

Q 6) How challenging is it to pursue a sport like street lifting in India? Is there a lack of infrastructure and coaching to pursue this sport professionally?

The answer lies with your approach towards this sport. It requires a lot of time and effort to compete at the top level, but it all depends on your dedication. The second factor is that proper coaches are not available so it becomes difficult to do it on your own, which is why research is very important for those interested in pursuing the sport professionally. The infrastructure is available easily but some equipment has to be ordered from the international market.

Q 7) What are your goals and ambitions as a professional streetlifting athlete in the future? How do you plan to achieve them?

My goal for now is to improve as much as possible before even setting foot in any competition, it will take some time but anything is possible with a proper execution and a will to do it.
Competing at the world level is very hard as everyone knows but the main thing is to not give up if you have chosen to do something in your life. It may take some time but surely I will be successful one day.