Working out outside of gym

[gymnasticsbabie]

okayyy so im a level 10 and i train about 30 hours a week but i want to exercise outside of the gym. first of all, is that crazy to do that? second of all, does anyone else do that? third of all, what type of exercises should i do (cardio.. strenght traning), fourth how much is too much. when do i stop myself, does it matter that i get sore sometimes?? i want to lose a little bit of weight also. what are some good toning exerices. i need help!! i just want to know if anyone else is like me at all. does anyone else like to work out outside of the gym?? coaches do you recommend i do this?
please reply your ideas!
danielle

[Aussie_coach]

Hi, first of all no you are not crazy. To be a level 10 gymnast and to work out 30 hours a week you need to be the type of person who loves to exersize and train. I can understand that you want to do something outside of gym because you spend so much time in the gym. It is very hard when you train that many hours but it is nice to have another outlet that isn't gym.

And yes other people do do that but not many. When you train that much it is very, very hard to find time to do other activities and still have time for school work, rest and relaxation, social time and so on. But it wouldn't be impossible to find say an hour a week to do something different.

I wouldn't worry about the cardio or strength training, your gymnastics will be looking after you in those area's. I would look for something you enjoy doing like swimming, ice skating, a dance class, a martial arts class or some other type of physical activity that you can enjoy that isn't gymnastics. Most of these actitities you can find a class to do once a week for an hour or so which is probabaly all you could fit in.

How much is too much? That will vary greatly from person to person. You sound similar to me in that you can do a lot more than the average person before it becomes too much. It doesn't matter if you are sore sometimes it matters that you have time to do the things you need to do.

Ask yourself

Do I have enough time to complete my school work to the best of my ability?

Do I feel tired a lot of the time or do I find I have enough time for sleep and relaxation?

Do I get sick of being around other people and need more time to myself?

Do I get tired of having too much structure and need more time to just goof off and do my own thing?

Am I happy with the amount of time I have for recreational activities?

If you answer those questions you will get a good idea of whether or not you are doing too much.

As for losing weight, if you are training 30 hours a week and overweight then exersize will not be the key for you it will be diet. As a gymnast you need a good healthy diet to fuel your body to get through all those training sessions. To lose weight avoid junk food, fast food and try to reduce the amount of sugary things you eat. Sugary things tend to burn up a lot faster and then you get hungry again a lot sooner. But if you are not overweight do not diet. You need to be healthy and fit to survive gymnastics. If you become underweight you will not be able to perform to your best as a gymnast and you will find if you loose weight you will lose a lot of your skills and your gymnastics will go backwards not forwards.

[gracefulone]

Another acticity I don't know if you have available is Zumba dance. It's the most fun workout ever! Some health clubs/YMCA's have classes, but there are also dvd's.

[gymnasticsbabie]

thank you!!!! i'm glad to know im not the only one in the world who thinks of working out. all of your advice is wonderful and i'm going to try to find something else besides gymnastics to do. I'm thinking some sort of dance class...

as for my weight. I'm not sure if im overweight or not. i'm about 120 and 5'1. i have a muscular build like alicia sacramone. but im a little bigger. i'm not sure if im judging myself to much or if i actually am a little overweight.

anyways. thanks again!!!

[gymgymgymnast08]

Gymnasticsbabie- thats not overweight at all. Gymnasts do tend to weigh more then non-gymnasts because they are soo muscular. I'm 5'1 and like 114 ish. If you are a level 10 gymnast you must have A LOT of muscle. Trust me you aren't over weight even if thats not muscle.

As for working out outside of gymnastics.... I'm a level 8 and I train about 11.5 to 13.5 hours a week depending on if I go to open gym and such.... I do run sometimes out of gymnastics. I really should be doing more ab conditioning but I don't do too much of that out of gym. If you are practicing 30 hours a week and working out outside of that make sure you are eating a lot because with all that exercise and if you don't eat a lot your gonna get too skinny........ So basically just eat a little more then you usually do if you are going to work out. Hope this helps! And are you the gymnasticsbabie on youtube? If you are your videos are amazing and the ones of you are good! You are an awesome gymnast!!

[gymnasticsbabie]

thanks thats great advice! so how much do you run outside of the gym?? and yea im gymnasticsbabie from youtube. haha thanks!!!

[gymgymgymnast08]

Well I usually run about 3 or 4 days a week more like 3 but I do 2 miles each time!

[gymnasticsbabie]

thats awesome! do you run in the morning or at night, because i can't decide when is best. i don't get home till like 9 from gym tho. what do you think?

[gracefulone]

I run in the mornings, but it's MIGHTY cold here. Can you say underarmor? But really, I'm an early bird so waking up early doesn't bug me. I'm going to be training for the Chicago Marathon, just so I can say I've done it.('It' meaning finishing all 26.2 miles)

[gymnasticsbabie]

thats so awesome!!! i can't even dream of running that far. i have really bad endurance. so the longest i've ever run was 3 miles. and then i didn't run for like a month after haha. i think im going to get up early to run tho