Hours in the gym?

your child, as such a young gymnast, should NOT be able to compete such high levels skills on the amount of hours she is training she is not doing enough conditioning and drills to make her muscles and joints strong enough for these moves, she is more than likely performing them incorrectly, or could be severley damaged in later life, a specific amount of conditioning needs to be done for these skills at her age, as her body has not yet developed, particularly her joints, coaches who 'throw' skills as i call it, to impress the parents, are completely out of order. your child could be seriously injured if this continues

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Lasswade, I don't think it's fair for you to make that call without being familiar with the coaches or the kid in question.

littlegymchampsmom: if you are concerned, bring up your concerns with the coaches. Odds are they'll be willing to listen and discuss it with you.

[JBS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by LasswadeCoach your child, as such a young gymnast, should NOT be able to compete such high levels skills on the amount of hours she is training she is not doing enough conditioning and drills to make her muscles and joints strong enough for these moves, she is more than likely performing them incorrectly, or could be severley damaged in later life, a specific amount of conditioning needs to be done for these skills at her age, as her body has not yet developed, particularly her joints, coaches who 'throw' skills as i call it, to impress the parents, are completely out of order. your child could be seriously injured if this continues

This is why I was asking what you do for 40 hours a week. "Throwing" a skill is not what damages the body (it damages the coaches back)....it's the week in and week out constant pounding. Right or wrong...overuse injuries come from overuse. Yes, they happen much more often when the wrong technique is used. But at 40 hours per week, your gymnasts have a lot more time to overuse themselves. Many gymnasts are bow legged...this has nothing to do with muscles. Bones and growth plates are still developing at a young age.

Yes...developing great muscles and technique will minimize injuries...unless the injuries are coming from doing too much strength. Proper strength for a young child can be achieved in just a few hours per week. At my peak I was only doing a half an hour to 45 min of strength a day. I was STRONG!

A gymnast with great technique will, by nature, develop much more power. With more power...little bodies are getting hit harder. The key is the advances in equipment. Are you letting your gymnasts pound themselves to death on hard surfaces....or are they on trampolines and soft mats most of the time????

[littlegymchampsmom]

Lasswade,

I appreciate what you are saying, and maybe in some cases this is correct. In our case, my dd's coaches spend the majority of the time in the gym working on strength, conditioning and flexibility. They only spend about 14 minutes on power tumbling. I have watched how they work and I trust them. I don't understand about "throwing"?? not sure what that means. I can tell you that my little one would have done it with or without their help... she can not be forced into anything, but if she wants it, she figures it out. She has her basics and they teach them to do everything correctly. The coaches require certain skills before they even approach more difficult ones, Strong long hang pullover straight legs and then forward, then repeat
5 times , and then be able to hold L for 10 seconds, hold with legs up for 10 seconds and then hold upside down for 10 seconds. this is just one example of their requirements... My dd is probably a little strong naturally ( i believe some are born this way) + for whatever reason on top of her gym time she trains herself at home - without even realizing it... she has made a game of how many handstands she can do in a push up position and many other things that I laugh at because she just does not realize she is working , she even taught herself her press to handstand, straight arms from a straddle L. I think this takes some strength and control right?

I am sure your girls are all very talented, but too much time can sometimes hurt as much as not enough time I would think... and being a new program
perhaps you don't know the long term effects of your situation either... as a parent you always pray you make the right decisions for your little ones. I am learning and I really got a chance to vent here yesterday which was wonderful - this is a really great board I do worry sometimes becaiuse I know so little about the sport, but I am learning as we go and as long as my little one is happy, then we are good

I did speak to the coaches yesterday and said no to the privates and they were very understanding... Right now she is excited to get to the gym and I want it to stay that way.

Thanks to all who responded... every child IS a case by case.... but opinions - all of them - do matter and it all just helps make better informed decisions.

[Megley]

Littlegymchampsmom, it sounds like your daughter is doing great, is in a good program and is extremely talented. If she can do a straight arm straddle press from L that is fantastic. My daughter is only a month younger and is close to her straddle press but has to bend her arms to get up and she doesn't make it every time. I've been told by her coaches that even this is very good for a 5yo so your daughter sounds truly amazing. Obviously your daughter has a ton of natural strength and is working on improving that strength (my dd does this strength stuff at home too - bizarrely, she LOVES it). From your original post, I think there is nothing wrong with working back walkovers on beam. Our preteam does this too for those kids flexible enough to try them and if they are well spotted, I can't see anything dangerous in this. They are also, of course, working on handstands and cartwheels. It sounded like possibly they were having your daughter do giants? That is the only skill that I can see might be too advanced for this stage since I don't that even comes into play until Level 7. Since your daughter is training for Level 5, I would imagine that they are working on Level 5 and Level 6 skills (which would include the back walkover). Anyway, it sounds like you are in a good program and have a super talented gymnast. I look forward to hearing more about how she does once she actually starts competing.

[littlegymchampsmom]

Hey Megley

It is so nice to hear from you... it sounds like our girls are on the right track. My dd originally started her straddle press with bent arms but just time and repetition has worked it out and she can now hold for 5 or 6 sec and then control herself back down - well most of the time.... still always in progress. I think it is funny how they obsess about something and then work on it until they get it.... maybe we will have a couple of TOPS girls!! I am so excited that your dd is so close to perfecting as well. I have been wondering/trying to find other 5 year olds that can do that. It is an exceptional ability IMO... because not everyone can do it. When they love to work hard bottom line is that you know they love it... and that is the biggest joy of all. Please KIT about your daughter as she will began to compete this year right? best to you

[Megley]

Actually she won't compete until January of next year because our competitive season runs from January through May. They will move her to 12 hours a week with the new Level 4s once the state meet is over (occurs mid-May). Right now she is only going 6 hours a week. You are right about the obsession - the straddle press is Lily's new obsession. For awhile it was handstands - now it's this. She practices it every single day so hopefully it will improve soon. She isn't very good at straddling down yet but I'm sure that will come with time. I have heard of TOPS but am not entirely sure what it entails. I understand they have to be 7 to be tested so I guess they have some time to work on getting stronger and more flexible!

I agree JBS, bvut we are extremely careful in what our gymnasts train, you must take into account they get 3 hour breaks every day, and much time is also spent on gentle stretching. None of our gymnasts have had any injuries what so ever so far.

and ok littlegymchampion, your daughter is doing reasonable at one straddle press, it doesnt require much strength, my girls at 6 can do 25 on the beam with no stops

I disagree with the theory that great conditioning can come from little hours, if muscles aren't continuously trained they can tighten back up again

[rbw]

LasswadeCoach wrote: "I coach in the UK, and my 6&7 year olds attend my national gymnastics school, and train 40 hours a week."

Since no child can reasonably be expected to make a meaningful career choice at that age, I'd be interested in what the parents of those little girls expect their daughters to do in the future.

I had the occasion to think about this in the context of my own life with my daughter, a fourth-grader who is competing at Level 7 in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic scheme. She recently returned from an injury that had kept her sidelined since the summer to announce, "I was really worried, but I'm getting strong again; I think I can still go to the Olympics!" I know that I could have simply smiled, but for some reason I looked across the breakfast table and leveled with her: "Sweetie, we're very glad that you're so happy and that you're healthy and strong, but you should know that there are lots of little girls in Texas who have been training 20 or 30 hours a week since they were tiny. Some of the girls who want to go to the Olympics don't really go to school like you." She thought for a moment before she said, "While, I'll just be the best I can be at gymnastics, but I think that school is more important." A few months later she sat at that same table and gave me the look that says that she wants to tell me something important. "I'm not sure that I want to do gymnastics in college," she said. "I want to be a doctor like you and Mama, and I think I'll have to spend too much time studying to work out."

Just like those parents who take pride in what their 6 year-olds can accomplish with 40 hours of training a week, I'm glad that my daughter is making progress on the path that I helped her to choose at a young age. I can see where that path might take her, and it's unlikely that injury will keep her from achieving her goal. However, I really don't understand what the parents of your young students can expect for their kids. What do they tell you--and what do you tell them?

[JBS]

Just something to read:

http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/public...e-gymnast.html

Be careful...know your children...watch for injuries. It is possible to train many hours and be fine...it is also possible to train few hours and be fine. Both ways can injure you, too. Who's right and who's wrong...don't know???

Less Stress...More Reps. (I think that's Tumbl Trak's motto)