WAG Sore arms after intense practice?! How worried should I be?

[meganliz77]

My DD has been struggling with her ROBH. She has recently overcome the mental stuff (no longer scared) and is again excited about nailing this skill!

Yesterday at open gym, she was on a mission to perfect her ROBH. She probably did 15 within the hour. By the end of gym her arms were jello-- couldn't hold her handstand on the beam. She complained last night that her wrists, elbows and upper arms were sore. Today, her upper arms and elbows seem to bother her. I softly massaged them a little tonight and they were pretty tender (but DD can be a bit dramatic sometimes)...

We are new to all of this. Not sure how concerned I should be?! I encouraged her to do some of her conditioning stretches but she resisted. Normally I can't get her stop doing handstands and today she hasn't done one. She doesn't have practice again until Tuesday and I'm wondering if rest will do the trick, or should she be doing something else (other than 15 ROBH in a row any advice would be great!!

 

[MILgymFAM]

How old is your DD? A younger girl might feel the weakness more but will probably bounce back. At conditioning today my DD did robh and aerial cartwheels (badly, lol) for almost an hour straight- run, skill, repeat. She left I tears because she was so tired, but history tells me that after an arm rub and some sleep she will be raring to go by tomorrow nights practice.

 

[meganliz77]

She is 6 and this was by far the most she's practiced this skill in one period of time. At practice they space out skills between floor, bars, beam and vault... I think she just pushed a little too hard. I told her she should let her coach know on Tues if it's still a problem then... She was just super sensitive when I touched the areas on both arms.. Had me concerned.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Poor DD! She is little yet. I bet she is just tired, and your advice to tell the coach if it still hurts Tuesday is excellent. Hope she bounces right back!

 

[iwannacoach]

More than normal work means more than normal fatigue and residual pain in muscles and joints. The fatigue and muscle pain aren't anything I'd worry about, but I can't say the same thing about her wrists and elbows. Her pain may be from too many impacts with the floor, and that's the sort of thing that can lead to long term issues ranging from nuisance pain to pain that's a symptom of something worse.

You say she did about 15 of them, and you might wonder how many is too many. There's no cut and dried answer as each child has their own level of strength, but you cud scale it against a normal work number. For instance, if she usually does 7 each session, she should probably go no further than 9 or 10. If she usually does 5, 6, or 7, then 15 would be too much and then some. She can gradually increase by adding to her number every few practices to allow her body to adapt, and get up to 15 over the course of a month or two.

She's too young to be the one talking to the coach about her pain, so email the coach and describe her problem the same as you have in your original post. Request a brief response so you know your concerns being considered.

 

[GYM0M]

Probably not too much to worry about. Muscle pain will get better within a few days. To speed the process, give a small dose of pain reliever (we use ibuprofen) and have her eat bananas. A warm long bath will relax the muscles and probably give her enough allowance to stretch immediately after. On days of intense conditioning, I give ibuprofen as soon as she walks out of the locker room and she eats a banana on the way home.

 

[Amusibus]

It's just a new sensation to her that's all, one that she will become all too familiar with. I always tell my daughter when she is sore, "It's ok, that is the feeling of your muscles getting stronger".

 

[Sasha]

"It's ok, that is the feeling of your muscles getting stronger".

That is exactly what I say to my kiddos, too! Or muscles 'growing', either way.

It can be hard for the little/new ones to distinguish real pain from muscle soreness. She'll start to, though. My DD (7) is also working ROBHS for L3 and does have to stop after maybe 8-12 of them for sore wrists and wobbly arms. They have just started really working them, as opposed to the occasional drill. So far, she is right back to things the next day after a tougher workout with no lingering complaints (knock on wood), but I do keep an eye on any reported pain or weakness that persists.

Her hours will soon be upping to 12, so I'll probably soon be investing in that children's ibuprofen others have mentioned a.k.a "Vitamin I!" as some of my adult athlete friends call it...

 

[meganliz77]

The wrists no longer are sore and she has identified the soreness in the back of her upper arms. Wrists were sore the day of but don't seem to be an issue now. She woke up this morning also complaining they were sore. And I started thinking 15 may have even been an underestimate-- she was also practicing standing BHS on the incline mats....

Thanks for all the feedback and advice. My biggest fear is her getting hurt... And even more afraid I will miss something that I should be paying attention to! And I know it is always a risk in this sport, but as a momma I don't think that fear will ever go away!! Sure many, if not all can relate!

 

[meganliz77]

Also I think we learned am important lesson about open gym time!! That although it's completely admirable to be so focused and determined to master a skill you work your tail off, you have to be careful not to over do it! Open gym at our gym has some coaches on site and higher level teen girls helping but it is an independent practice and parents watch from above. I will need to make sure she's not doing too much of one thing.

 

[GYM0M]

Forgive me for being the weirdo biology nerd, but bananas, bananas, bananas! If she won't eat them fresh, buy baby food!!! Muscle soreness is a result of our muscle cells running out of oxygen for aerobic respiration (the process of making energy). As a result, these cells are forced to do a less efficient process called fermentation. The end product of sd process is lactic acid which causes muscle soreness. Potassium speeds up the body's processing and removal of lactic acid! Don't feed dried banana chips as this will dehydrate her body more. Give lots of water to help with the flush!

 

[meganliz77]

I will be stopping at the store tonight thanks!!

 

[GYM0M]

DD used to hate them! But we pretty much force fed them to her all summer (she was taking 25+ hours of gym). After a while she knew it was coming and began to notice a difference in her muscles. Now it's just a sour face, but she occasionally asks for them. Lol !

 

[BlairBob]

It's probably nothing unless ROM is restricted or your child is peeing dark. Very unlikely and unheard of in gymnastics.

Rest, food, recovery therapies and ROM movement.

 

[GikiGirl]

She's probably landing the bhs with bent arms. That makes the back of the arms tired REAL fast. Once she learns to land on straight arms it won't be so bad. Or, her arms will get stronger and get used to the bent arm landing.

 

[meganliz77]

She's probably landing the bhs with bent arms. That makes the back of the arms tired REAL fast. Once she learns to land on straight arms it won't be so bad. Or, her arms will get stronger and get used to the bent arm landing.

I think that has a lot to do with it... Her first set of them were looking great but after fatigue started to set in they got a little bendy in the arms-- and she's still learning good form...

Happy to say she's back to business and as good as new!! Lots of bananas and water did the trick! She can be a bit on the dramatic side, so sometimes it's hard to tell how 'bad' something really is and I didn't want to take a chance...

 

[Madcowgirl]

Assuming it is only muscle soreness, I would suggest she do something simple, such as cartwheels to break down the lactic acid(the chemical that make muscles sore) And she should be felling no pain within a day or two.

 

[BlairBob]

Yet again people still believe in the lactic acid theory. Lactic acid gets recycled during the krebs cycle. Try again.

She just needs active rest, protein and carbs. CARBS.

BANANAS ARE HECKA CARBS.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

It's just a new sensation to her that's all, one that she will become all too familiar with. I always tell my daughter when she is sore, "It's ok, that is the feeling of your muscles getting stronger".

well, yes. maybe you could a opine a bit further and explain the role of lactic acid after over use.

i believe that is the case. when a gymnast becomes like you have described it is very important to drink lots of fluid for about 72 hours. this helps the body flush the LA out of the system. this is very common is higher level gyms that do lots of bars where 'volume training' is the essence of physical endurance and duration in order to see some of the routines that you do from great bar workers.

 

[BlairBob]

http://www.livestrong.com/article/376532-muscle-fatigue-soreness-from-lactic-acid/#page=1

Hydrogen ion damage and damage due to the eccentric action of exercises are the prime culprits.

This is old news btw.

http://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/science-of-lactic-acid/