Parents Tough day

[Mommy25qtpies]

It's day three of team training and my little gymmie is feeling the burn. Did not want to go today because her muscles hurt, her hands hurt, everything hurts. It's her last day till Monday so trying to motivate her to get through today. What do you all do to motivate you gymmie?

Jennifer

 

[htimcj]

My DD gets sore too and she has found that actually going to gym and moving helps the most.

 

[BachFlyer]

Ice cream. Still works after 6 years

 

[GYM0M]

Massages for sore muscles and mani/pedi for sore hands & feet (at home)! After really tough days, a long warm bath, a massage with Epsom salt lotion, lots of hugs, a lil ibuprofen, w/ lots of rest and she feels like a million bucks the next day!!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

you chose this sport. now shaddup and get in the car! lol

 

[Committed]

Generally, it's difficult keeping DD away from the gym.

However, I agree with massages - we do the foam roller on DD. She loves it. Not to mention the promise of a big glass of chocolate milk (for recovery) when she gets done with practice!

 

[MeetDirector]

I second the foam roller and lots of ice. Also, some form of liniment (sore no more) works well too.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Bath with Epsom salt. Arnica gel on sore spots. Rest, rinse and repeat, lol!

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Oh, and if you haven't already.... Praise her for being sore. When she whines, act like she just used the potty for the first time. " oh you're sore? That's so awesome, that means you worked really hard, good job! "

 

[mobeans]

My daughter also has been enjoying the Epsom salt soaks

 

[Mommy25qtpies]

Well she survived the day and had fun. When I picked her up I brought her BFF with me and took them both for ice cream so she was excited about that. Will save all the suggestions. Thank you!

 

[htimcj]

I also tell DD that sore muscles mean MORE muscles!

 

[Amusibus]

I tell mine that too. I tell her soreness is the feeling of getting stronger. I asked her a few times if she was sore, and the way they work them she's got to be sore at times. Interestingly she has never once volunteered that information, which is fine with me, less whining. Sometimes the Aspergers works in our favor!

 

[Becauseisaid]

you chose this sport. now shaddup and get in the car! lol

Bwahahaa! I tell my daughter ”Do you want to quit? Cause if you're not at gym, you'll have more time to clean your room! Win!"

 

[wheezy]

We had a cup of Jesus on day 6 of team camp. Reality stinks sometimes.

 

[l.c.o]

you chose this sport. now shaddup and get in the car! lol

^So funny. Pretty much this is what I tell my DD. That, and: What? You don't wanna go? Awesome. Just imagine what I can do with saving all these team fees! She gets in the car.

To the OP, when she's sore she rests, uses ice, ibuprofen, hot baths, shoulder rubs. And I do suggest she mention it to coach and try to take it easy if it's bad enough. We try to save misses for school activities or illness.

I do reward rough days with ice cream though. In fact, I usually store a few $ in her gym bag for emergencies.

When she was new to team it was much more difficult, though. I remember a few teary drives in... Anticipating more pain. I'd remind her that she committed to the group and that we honor our commitments, then bought ice cream after. I think I let her miss once or twice. Thankfully, these days she rarely wants to miss. She's getting used to the aches. Now whether that's a good thing or a bad thing???? Debatable!

 

[kaloss]

I bring a bag of ice pops on Saturdays when they do their longer conditioning and it's really hot out. It's kind of funny to see the "big girls" running over to get a Popsicle too!

 

[Azgymmiemom]

Remind her, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it!! Trust me, soon she will be so proud of her muscles!! All the suggestions really help, too. Soaking, heat, ice, ibuprofen, massage and especially ice cream!!! That one is a miracle cure!!!

 

[BachFlyer]

Glad the ice cream helped!!

l.c.o.'s post made me remember that the beginning of summer is always harder on my DD. We go through a few days of it every single year. As soon as school gets out, practice gets harder due to all of the extra summer conditioning. And even though she is a L10 and not new to team, it feels tough for a few weeks. In fact, she came out crying the 2nd day of summer practice which is very unusual for her, because of some specific back or butt work they were doing. So maybe remind your daughter that is what makes them gymnasts, the "coming back for more" mentality, when most sane people would spend one day and run screaming. Maybe you can leave out the insane part, but I am constantly telling my girl how she is an incredible superwoman and totally blows my mind with her dedication and persistence, because I really do think it takes an unusual person to do this sport. And it makes her feel good, and more motivated, because she knows it's true.

One last thing - the beginning of summer always comes with a few days of complaints about practice, simply because she sees everyone else having free time and doing summer fun things. And it makes the transition to summer practices tricky. May not be the case for your dd yet, but keep it in mind as she goes on that it might not always be about the gymnastics, but more about the missing out on other stuff!