In Russia, ultra-conservatives are worried about the emergence of “quadrobics”, this fitness trend consisting of imitating animals

Considered a “deviant and “satanic” ideology by the government, “quadrobics” is a discipline which consists of doing sport by imitating animals. It could well be banned in Russia.

Perhaps you have already seen people on social media doing sports, often on all fours, imitating animal movements, sometimes wearing dog or cat masks. This is “quadrobics”, a sporting activity that is unusual to say the least, popularized by the Japanese Kenichi Ito, world record holder for the 100 meters on all fours.

Although this leisure activity may seem surprising, in Russia, the most vigilant guardians of traditional values ​​perceive it as a typically Western deviance. This idea is notably put forward by the Orthodox philosopher Sergei Mikheev, who believes that “quadrobic” is “directly linked to the spread of various perversions in modern Western society”.

Sergei Mikheev even compares this discipline to BDSM sexual practices: “It’s sadomasochistic shit. It’s about trying to get kids involved in this stuff from a young age.”also declared the Russian philosopher.

For the past month, reports and debates devoted to quadrobics and its followers have multiplied on television. There are no figures on the number of young Russian fans, but it was enough for a few videos to circulate on social networks for a Duma deputy to announce that she would introduce a law to ban this trend.

The subject even came up at a very high level on Tuesday October 8. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then told his Armenian counterpart: “Do you have quadrobers in your home?“. The astonishment can be seen on the faces of the Armenian delegation which seems not to understand the question.

Despite everything, in Russia, we border on a state affair. Quadrobics is accused of all evils and serves as a justification for homophobic remarks.”Did you know that among quadrobers, there are ten times more people who identify as LGBT?“, for example, launched the propagandist Nikita Mikhalkov, on the continuous news channel Russia 24.

He develops his reasoning, believing that “quadrobers and the LGBT community, in this rejection of the naturalness of human life, are absolutely identical“. Speeches with ultra-conservative overtones, while in recent months, the Russian government has increased laws against LGBT people.