Parents Team + Running (or other sports)

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3LittleGymmies

Proud Parent
Does your team gymnast do any other sports? My daughter has been asking to do a local recreational running club with her brother. It is a short-term thing, three months. It will end two weeks before the summer schedule at the gym begins. It is very flexible, they have practices four times a week but you can just attend when you can and as much as you want. She would only be available two of the days anyway due to gymnastics practice. It is one and a half hours long, but I am sure that they are not running the whole time. I am pretty sure that it is mostly just for fun, not a high pressure environment. And it is extremely affordable. It is intended to build them up to do a few 5K races. Her old gym (we moved states) had the girls do a lot of running. The parents actually did the math one day and it turned out to be a little under 3 miles before they even warmed up and practiced. Her new gym does not have them run at all. They are actually out of breath after their floor routines at meets often. Now that the floor routines will be getting even more detailed and the bar routines (she already has to "fight" for bar skills) will require more endurance. I am wondering if running would not be a bad idea after all. She also struggles with her FHS vault, and perhaps learning to run with more power (like in a race) would help that. I just do not want to put her body through "more" if it is a bad idea. She practices 15 hours per week and she is almost 9 1/2. Any thoughts?
 
Let her do it! Running is a life long sport and if she enjoys it she may continue running in the long term. I also love the idea of her doing a sport with her brother, anything to encourage sibling relationships is important.
 
I also say let her do it. DD's PE teacher has arranged for the elementary school kids to run part of the local marathon every spring. Each March, they practice during PE and one day after school. DD just participated (her 2nd year in the marathon run) and she managed to do 3.2 miles. Certainly did not harm her at gym at all and she is 10, training level 7.
 
I say go for it! It can really help with endurance, as long as it's not overdone, and this sounds quite relaxed. My daughter's gym has them run several times a week in the summer, for an hour straight, at the end of practice and she LOVES it. She's also able to go a lot farther without stopping now that she's built up the endurance.
 
The sport my daughter does on the side at a rec level, more in the summer when there is extra time, is swimming. It is great cross training, and good cardio. Plus it is social and fun with a bit of competitiveness - but not stressful! I'd bet running is much the same with positive benefits in many ways.
 
DD runs a mile a day in gym, 5k fundraisers, and in conditioning. She also dances, swims, and cheers. It sounds really low key and like a fun time- I would say let her go for it!
 
Definitely do it! Especially if it's short term commitment and no pressure. It sounds similar to the girls on the run program in terms of running distance.
 
My DD did our local track club when it was going and it was a great experience and their idea of a warm up and workout was nothing compared to what they did in gym. She really enjoyed it. We are sad that the coach just couldn't keep it going. She also likes to run in 5ks and 10ks through the summer. Hasn't hurt her gym at all.
 
My DD did a running club last year and enjoyed it. They ended the "season" with a 5k. She has her medal from that hanging right alongside her gym medals in her room. She also does dance, and we hope to keep her in that as long as time allows.
 
5ks complete with the T shirt are a great way for gymnasts to show off their physical abilities and still get out and do a community event. I would encourage them for all gymies who like to run. Personally I usually do the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in honor of a friend (Cancer free for 15 years) and I have the shirts from at least 5.
 
I say absolutely let her be involved!

The gym that we like for Open Gym sponsors a 5K race every year (I think it started in 2012 or 2013, lol, but it is going to be an annual thing). Several of their gymnasts run the race... and come in at the top of their age groups.

OG ran ONE 5k a few years ago... of course, she was supposed to have been training for it with my brother, but never ran more than a mile in training and only managed to go out with him 4 times in a month... but we had already paid for it and it was for a worthy cause. I can say that she didn't finish last :) She ran at first, but forgot what we said about pacing herself. She told my brother to go on ahead and walked with some mother with a stroller for a while. Then she stopped and cried a little... the car that follows the racers asked if she wanted a ride back, but she said no. Finished in 50 minutes! Her age group was up to 17 years old... not really fair for a 10 year old to compete with Varsity XC girls, so they "added" an age group - 12 and under (she was the only 9 year old) and she got a 1st place medal :)
Did I mention that she has always hated running and has sports-induced asthma?!?!?
Alls well that ends well.
 
I wish that any of my kids liked running just to run! I'd have 'em in this program in a heartbeat. Oh well, they'll be sorry when they are over 40 and they have to start learning how to run for the first time. ;)
 
Definitely, if it is not too overwhelming (i.e. still time for homework). Good running shoes are a must and keep an eye out for any new aches or pains.

My DD does swim team in the summer and it was SO GOOD for her endurance!
 
My DD runs with a program and does 5K training in addition to gymnastics. Warning- if she is prone to being tight/stiff and needs a lot of work to be flexible the transition from running practice to gym practice is a tough one. DD is so tight on the days she runs- despite good warm ups and cool downs.
 
P&F has just done her first jog with her older brother - he was so desperate for someone to run with. They did about 2 1/2 miles which round here is all uphill (lol) and she coped fine, however she was tired at practice so I will confine running to non-gym days from now on
 
My DD runs with a program and does 5K training in addition to gymnastics. Warning- if she is prone to being tight/stiff and needs a lot of work to be flexible the transition from running practice to gym practice is a tough one. DD is so tight on the days she runs- despite good warm ups and cool downs.

:) Be a little cautious with running. I don't see in this instance it can do any harm for a bit of fun, and may possibly benefit as a short term thing as others have said. But- running is a lot of pounding on the joints, and requires them to be very tight to support the long-term pounding over distances. If your gymnast isn't flexible, it will make the tightness worse. If she is, the impact on the joint combined with much looser than average ligaments supporting the joint could lead to injury.

Make sure the running coach knows she is a gymnast :), and try to keep to soft or sprung surfaces.

Swimming is a much better cross-training activity for gymnasts - requires flexibility, and endurance, but no heavy joint impact.
 
I agree that swimming is great. She is an awesome swimmer and used to do swim team. Our son is a great swimmer, too. We just can't afford swim team times two right now (or do the commitment) and this running program is super affordable ($60 for the three month program... sounds free compared to gymnastics!) and so flexible that it could work really well with our busy lives (6 kids!) because we can just go when we can. Thanks for all of the great input! :)
 
Well, we decided to allow her to do it. Tonight was their first practice. They were doing a timed 3.1 miles to prepare for an upcoming 5k. She beat the club's previous record by two minutes! What is it with these gymnasts being so good at EVERYTHING? ;) She really enjoyed it and said that it was "easy". The coaches were quit impressed and called her a fire cracker. Her brother, on the other hand, may not be able to move tomorrow :). It seems like they are going to mix it up a lot between track, grass, trails, etc. So I suppose that is good. No roads/sidewalks. I am pretty clueless about running! I am going to try to find a specialty store to get her some really good shoes, because I certainly don't want her to get any injuries. Otherwise, I am hoping that it only has positive benefits for gymnastics.
 
Does your team gymnast do any other sports? My daughter has been asking to do a local recreational running club with her brother. It is a short-term thing, three months. It will end two weeks before the summer schedule at the gym begins. It is very flexible, they have practices four times a week but you can just attend when you can and as much as you want. She would only be available two of the days anyway due to gymnastics practice. It is one and a half hours long, but I am sure that they are not running the whole time. I am pretty sure that it is mostly just for fun, not a high pressure environment. And it is extremely affordable. It is intended to build them up to do a few 5K races. Her old gym (we moved states) had the girls do a lot of running. The parents actually did the math one day and it turned out to be a little under 3 miles before they even warmed up and practiced. Her new gym does not have them run at all. They are actually out of breath after their floor routines at meets often. Now that the floor routines will be getting even more detailed and the bar routines (she already has to "fight" for bar skills) will require more endurance. I am wondering if running would not be a bad idea after all. She also struggles with her FHS vault, and perhaps learning to run with more power (like in a race) would help that. I just do not want to put her body through "more" if it is a bad idea. She practices 15 hours per week and she is almost 9 1/2. Any thoughts?

no.
 

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