Interview with Andrea Mazzoni - the agreement with StrongFirst® goes beyond purely commercial aspects - Sidea

From 2025, Sidea will become the official European distributor of StrongFirst® kettlebells. To celebrate the beginning of this collaboration, we will participate as a technical sponsor in the StrongFirst OPEN DAY Workshop, an unmissable event to get in touch with the world of physical preparation through strength training and the study of athletic movement, which will be held on
2 February in Cesena.

REGISTER and read the article, we look forward to an excellent training experience together.
CLICK HERE TO BUY 2208/1-2248/1 KETTLEBELL STRONGFIRST

Q: Andrea, from the second half of 2025, Sidea will be the official European distributor of StrongFirst® kettlebells. What led to this choice?

The StrongFirst® kettlebell certification is undoubtedly the most exclusive and prestigious in the industry, and kettlebells bearing this label have become an icon of kettlebell training worldwide. In addition, the StrongFirst® training school has a truly global presence, with a strong presence in Europe, America and, more recently, Asia.

For some years now, Sidea has been pursuing an important internationalisation process, and this collaboration fits perfectly into this strategy, representing a natural step to strengthen our presence in international markets.

Q: Does the arrangement with StrongFirst® go beyond purely commercial aspects?

Absolutely. For more than twenty years, we have supported sports training, physical preparation, and wellness, collaborating with the best professionals in the field. StrongFirst® is recognised as the most prestigious "school of strength" internationally, and this collaboration stems from sharing a fundamental principle: strength training is the basis of all athletic abilities, including psycho-physical well-being.

Back in 2010, at the "Wellcome Fitness" Convention organised by FIF® (Italian Fitness Federation), we supported a pioneering seminar on kettlebells and functional training, providing the necessary equipment. At that time StrongFirst® did not yet exist, but the seminar was held by Pavel Tsatsouline, founder of StrongFirst®, and Fabio Zonin, today the company's operations manager.

Our leadership is largely based on research and development activities, which are closely linked to continuous interaction with customers, coaches and trainers. It is this synergy that makes our constant improvement possible.

Q: 'Low tech/high concept' is one of the many guiding phrases of the StrongFirst® method. Is it also representative for Sidea?

Yes, the phrase indicates an approach in which simple or low-complex technologies are used (low tech), but with creative, high-concept ideas (high concept). In essence, it is about focusing on awareness in the use of a piece of exercise equipment, rather than its technological complexity. This principle also guides our design, where technological simplicity is designed to enhance the centrality of the human being, promoting greater awareness of physical movements. For us, the gymnastic equipment is an accessory: a complementary tool that, through overloads and even destabilising solutions, strengthens the human organism, which remains the true protagonist and the central point in the sporting sphere.

Q: Does this concept also relate to the idea of sport as digital detox?

Absolutely. The increasing technologisation of sport and everyday life has led many people to seek more authentic and 'disconnected' experiences, especially when it comes to physical activity. The idea of sport as digital detox represents the need for a return to genuine, unmediated physical activity, where the focus is on the present and the real experience. The concept of 'GYM as DIGITAL DETOX' describes a space where the individual can devote himself completely to his mental and physical well-being, without distractions. It is a slogan that we appreciate, not in an absolute sense, but for its value in promoting an approach to well-being, or rather, wellness, to use the specific language of the sector.

D: Sidea will be the technical sponsor of the StrongFirst OPEN DAY on 2 February in Cesena; a free event aimed precisely at those who wish to get in touch with this type of training?

The OPEN DAY is open to everyone. Coaches will be able to gather technical insights to be further developed later in specialised training courses, while non-experts will have the opportunity to get in touch with the world of physical training through strength training and knowledge of basic motor patterns.

For Sidea, 2025 will be the beginning of an outreach aimed at beginners, with the goal of promoting an approach to wellness as an answer to the metabolic problems of the modern world; overeating, sugar abuse, sedentariness and loss of the natural and fundamental movements of the human body.

Digitalisation and increasing connectivity, up to the increasingly pervasive use of artificial intelligence, represent the height of sedentariness, not only physical but also intellectual. This condition generates social and motor inactivity, and it is precisely the fight against these forms of passivity that defines Sidea's mission: to put the individual back at the centre, through conscious movement, sport and nature.