By Shane Robert
I am just old enough to remember the fall of the Soviet Union. I have a very vague memory of watching footage on the news of the dissolution of the Soviet Parliament and my parents saying they couldn’t believe it. I was 5, so I didn’t have any idea what was happening, but the memory is there. So too were the lingering cultural scars that the Cold War left on American society. It would be some time before that started to fade. Despite being young, I definitely had the sense that these former godless communist Russians were the bad guys, but they were also very strong and formidable foes. It can be debated whether that was actually true. However, what can’t be denied is that they were, indeed, quite strong when it came to athletics.
The western obsession with Soviet sports dominance lasted for the better part of 50 years and, arguably, still influences much of strength and athletic training to this day. We now know, of course, that much, but certainly not all, of the Soviet advantage came from 3 things: drugs, athlete selection, and state sponsorship. When you can select athletes that are perfectly suited for a sport, train them from a young age as if it were their literal job (which it was) and give them unending, high-quality PEDs, you have a recipe for success. Before these things became common knowledge, it was thought that their success was due to a different way of training or, perhaps, because they were using different, read: better, exercises. Success leaves clues afterall, so I can’t fault the forefolk of lifting for thinking that the Soviet success came from these exercises.
As a result of the Western obsession with Soviet “special” exercises, we find ourselves with a non-insignificant list of exercises named for various former Soviet countries, all of which were, at one time or another, attributed to the success of said country in one realm of athletics or another. Despite that not being entirely accurate, it turned out that many of the movements performed were actually quite good exercise.
Bulgarian Split Squat
Perhaps the most well known of all the movements, the Bulgarian split squat is named for the highly successful Bulgarian National Weightlifting team. The story goes that Angel Spassov, a coach of said team, introduced this, and a high step up, to a Western audience in the late 1980s, claiming that the Bulgarian team did these in place of back squats due to the toll that extremely heavy back squats took on their weightlifters. It’s hard to find evidence of this, and the Bulgarian team famously did little else than snatch, clean & jerk, front squat, back squat and pull/power variations of the classic lifts.
The origin controversy aside, the exercise stuck around due to how effective it is (and how much it sucks. Sucks = better in weightroom ideology)
Romanian Deadlift
This exercise, a shortened deadlift that focuses on a strong hip hinge back, often stopping right around knee level, was done to mimic and strengthen what is known as the second pull in weightlifting. This is the movement from slightly below the knee to the hip before a lifter pulls themselves under the bar. The name comes from two Romanian lifters, Nicu Vlad and Dragomir Cioroslan, who performed this movement while visiting the US at the former USA weightlifting head coach Jim Schmitz's gym in San Francisco. Cioroslan eventually became the USA weightlifting head coach for a while. When the American team saw this weird exercise, they immediately understood its value and went forth to evangelize the world in all things RDL, as it became known.
*Geopolitical note: I know Romania wasn’t technically part of the USSR; however, it was part of the Soviet sphere and certainly a totalitarian communist state.
Ukrainian Deadlift
I’ll be honest. I don’t exactly know the origin of this movement. It’s fair to assume that it was something that Ukrainian weightlifters, powerlifters, and/or strongmen used this variation at some point. I heard about it from powerlifting demi-god Louie Simmons. Whatever its origin, it works a treat.
To do this movement (since most readers likely aren’t familiar with it), stand on two fairly high boxes (regular gym benches will work) with your legs wide. Place a kettlebell or loading pin on the ground and lift it up with mostly straight legs. The wide position and straight legs will absolutely wreak havoc on your hamstrings and adductors, while your lower back will get a heck of a stimulus from being somewhat rounded, which it necessarily will be. The weight won’t be huge, nor does it need to be to benefit from this movement.
Polish Good Morning
The good morning was a staple movement in Soviet training systems for all athletes, not just weightlifters. They loved it. And for good reason. It builds a strong and resilient back and posterior chain. Learning from their Soviet allies, the Poles decided to improve upon the concept. Taking a page, perhaps, from the Bulgarian book, they said, “What if we did this with one leg? Better yet, what if we did this with one leg, but the rear leg was supported on a bench?”
Thus was born the Polish Good Morning, aka rear foot elevated split good morning. That’s a mouthful, so Polish good morning is much easier to say.
Russian Step Up
This is what most people likely know today as a step up. One foot is placed on a box, you step up, and lift the trailing leg high at the top. It is this knee lift that the Russians are credited with first incorporating into the movement to increase hip flexor strength and hip stability. The movement is done with an explosive concentric (lifting) and controlled eccentric, and aims to minimize the pushoff of the trailing leg from the ground.
As I understand it, the Russian step up was a favorite for Soviet track athletes.
Hungarian Core Blaster
I’ll admit that it’s a stretch to include this in the list. It is technically a piece of equipment and may not actually be Hungarian. Since you can only do one exercise with it, I think it can count on the list as an exercise. As to the origin, I believe it was the throwing community, like Sorinex and Dan John, who coined the name, whether it actually came from a Hungarian thrower or was just a funny name, I can’t say. Either way, the name stuck, so I’ll count it.
The core blaster is simply a loading pin with a T-handle that you can put weight plates on. You then do swings with it. It sounds simple, but being able to do stupidly heavy swings, way heavier than a kettlebell, is hard and quite useful.
Cuban Press
This movement, like so many others, traces its origin to weightlifters. It’s simply an upright row, with your press grip, that flips up into a press. The weights used are light, but it is incredible for shoulder health. In a sport like Olympic Weightlifting, where your shoulders take quite a beating, shoulder health is an important part of any good training program. The Cuban Press helps shoulders while also strengthening in a way that carries over very well to the classic lifts (and the press, when that was still contested).
*Note: Once again, like Romania, not technically part of the USSR, but Cuba was under the Soviet sphere of influence and certainly a totalitarian communist state.
For some reason, nearly all of these are leg/back exercises. I’m not quite sure why. It’s telling, however, that some of the strongest nations on earth have exercises that make strong legs and backs named after them. Strong legs and backs make strong people.
