The cheapest way is to walk: it is calculated how much it costs to do sports in Russia

On August, 8, Russia celebrates the Day of the Athlete. This date became an occasion for Yandex.Market experts to study the demand for sports goods and find out how much kits for practicing various sports cost. The study used data from the service about user transitions to online stores from July 30, 2019 to July 29, 2020.

For the study, the most popular among Russians, according to service experts, sports were taken and the necessary sets of equipment for classes were selected. The study included 10 sports: football, basketball, cycling, yoga, cross-country skiing, swimming, running, Nordic walking, table tennis and snowboarding.

The most inexpensive sport is Scandinavian walking, the main attribute for which is special sticks with an average cost, according to Yandex.Market, 1241 rubles.

Yoga turned out to be a slightly more expensive sport - more often than not, Russians switched to offers of rugs in online stores with an average price of 1,864 rubles. According to Yandex.Market experts, yoga mats were especially popular during the self-isolation regime. Demand for the category began to rise sharply in mid-March and peaked on April 5 - then in a week the number of transitions to offerings of rugs increased by 162%. In general, in the first half of April Russians were interested in the category 5 times more often than in the same period last year.

In third place in terms of value was basketball. According to the experts of the service, the minimum set for classes includes only a ball, the average cost of which on Yandex.Market is about 2,000 rubles. At the same time, a set for playing football will cost an average of 6,000 rubles. As experts of the service note, boots are needed for safe play, since football in classic sneakers can be traumatic. On average, Russians choose soccer balls for 1,975 rubles on Yandex.Market, and boots for 4,033 rubles.

The minimum set for swimming (a swimsuit or swimming trunks, as well as a hat) will cost an average of 2575 rubles, and a starter set for playing table tennis, which includes rackets, balls and a net, will cost an average of 3179 rubles.

According to Yandex.Market experts, running, which many consider the most budgetary sport, is not such. In their opinion, running shoes should be used to reduce injury rates. Most often, Russians are interested in sneakers on Yandex.Market for an average of 5175 rubles.

The most expensive sports of the dozen are cross-country skiing, cycling and snowboarding, which require more complex equipment. So, cross-country skiing is more popular among Russians than downhill skiing. The minimum set for classes, according to service experts, includes cross-country skis themselves, sticks and special boots, and the average cost of such a set is about 14 thousand rubles. Cycling will be a little more expensive - on average, Russians are interested in bicycles for 18368 rubles. Snowboarding has become the most expensive sport - a set of snowboard, special boots and bindings will cost an average of 39 thousand rubles.