Mad Max Vibes At Kyiv's Scrap-Metal Gym

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The Kachalka gym has around 200 makeshift exercise machines spread through the trees of Venetsiansky Island on the Dnieper River.

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A man pumping iron in the alfresco gym. In 1965, a new subway line across the Dnieper allowed access to the island, which soon became a popular picnic spot.

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An 83-year-old showing the youngsters how it’s done. The gym began with a single chin-up bar in the the late 1960s.

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A young strongman grappling with a pec-deck. Yuri Kuk, one of the founders of the gym told the Associated Press “We wanted people to have an active leisure time, not just play cards on the beach.”

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Many of the weights are hunks of Soviet machinery dating back to the Cold War days when Kuk says scrap metal “was just lying about.”

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Today the weights are chained down to prevent theft.

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Men pummelling stacks of tires. The gym is free, and never closes.

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A worker repairing a dumbbell. Donations have enabled a small group of volunteers to install lights for night workouts, and repair the exercise machines.

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The rugged machines give the gym a distinctive Mad Max vibe.

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Some of the weights are reportedly up-cycled hunks of military vehicles.

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A young couple between workouts. As well as old and young, the legendary gym reportedly attracts rich and poor.

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A youngster pumping Soviet steel.

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Elderly locals grinding through reps. One of the attractions of the outdoor gym is the freedom for people to wander through the trees and throw themselves in the river after a heavy workout.