conditioning

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

H

htaqua

The gym that my dd goes to does not seem to do much conditioning. They do maybe 30 minutes at the beginning of the workout, and about 15 minutes stretch at the end. The girls so not generally walk the floor on their hands or do handstand pressups.

I asked the coach why they don't condition more (it is an issue parents seem to talk about in the hallway), and specifically, why they don't do TOPS. He told me that he prefers that they strenghten on the apparatus so that they have full range of motion. He says he has a couple of gymnsasts that came from other gyms all hunched over.

I, however, worry about injury. I have heard that TOPS was started so that girls had lots of strength before learning harder skills. I have also noticed lots of injuries and braces. Most of the older girls (except the two that came to the gym "hunched over") have experienced some sort of injury. Even two of the three level fives are effected - one has achilles problems, and one has a stress fracture. My daughter (competed level 4 last season) has been complaining about her achilles, also, and I am really starting to worry.

Also, is it normal to have a coach stick two girls in the cornor to practice nothing but glide kips for 45 minutes, with maybe 5-10 minutes of instruction. I know absolutely nothing about gymnastics, so I have no idea if this is standard practice.
 
well if she likes the gym alot and does not wan't to swich gyms then just tell her to do abbs and legs and push-ups everyday with doing so she will get her kip faster if she is strong with the injurys just tell her not to try anything that she does not have and you can only hope that she does not get hurt.it is a good thing to practice glide kips for a while but 45 minutes is a bit much talk to her coach about that and ask why they do that for 45 minutes hoped i helped!?:)
 
What it really comes down to is your comfort level with the gym...

Each coach has a different philosophy - though in "theory" we are all just as well educated. Is there anything wrong with conditioning through motion (i.e., apparatus conditioning) - not really. As long as it is effective. What you are telling me is that it does not seem to be effective for your daughter.

If she is complaining about injury, have you sought out a doctor to find out what is causing the injury? Is the pain from growing? A muscle imbalance? Over-use? If it comes down to (unbiased) that it is something the gym is doing, you have every right to bring it up to the coach in a diplomatic way, in an effort to effect change for all those involved.

If you cannot make a change, or you are not satisfied, find another gym. You don't really think about it, but just as it is important to research your car, a computer, or any other consumer good, a gym is a service - if they are not meeting your expectations, find one that does. Alternatively, a gym is much like a school - you should have done your research there too (right?). Much like schools, they all have similar cirriculums, but not all are as well funded, have the same people in charge, or have the same talent pool to work with. Some are more selective, and some charge more to keep it homogenous.

All in all - as I said before - it comes down to you as a parent looking at the safety of your child. I agree with the previous post in that "if the child enjoys what they are doing" they should keep doing it. However, as adults, we should know when to step in and guide decisions. If your child loves gymnastics, and wishes to progress, and is not progressing in the current environment - make a change for the better. If she does not enjoy it, it's time for another sport.

Communication is key - figure out what is going on, and ask to have things explained a little and express your concerns. If the answer you get is unsatisfactory, you know what you can do. Be assertive! You are a paying customer, feel free to remind them of that by shopping around and doing your research of your options. That way, if you do decide to follow through and move to another gym, you will know which one fits your needs and gels with your idea of what a gym should be like.


Best wishes, and good luck!

Ryan
 
It's pretty common to setup a drill and have a gymnast work LOTS of them and keep an eye on them from afar.

Not doing a lot of the conditioning in TOPS is down. This type of conditioning isn't only done in TOPS. They are basics like casting and pressing to HS, rope climbing.

Compulsory kids frequently get banged up in gym. Sometimes it's overuse injuries or simply not being strong enough for what they are working on that brings on the injuries.

Sometimes, it's hard to budget time when there is literally so much that needs to be covered and only so much training time.

An interesting note is some gyms devote 50% of the training time to physical preparation. Yep, it's demanding.
 
Spending half your training time on physical preparation makes sense to me. There are just more things you can handle if you're strong and flexible. I noticed people who don't have solid basics or aren't physically ready are the ones getting hurt the most; not just in gymnastics but in ballet or anything physical.
 
This is from the USAG web site on Tops

Artistic and rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline and tumbling have age-group, developmental programs to identify young, talented gymnasts. The program for women is called the Talent Opportunity Program (TOPs), while the programs for men’s and rhythmic gymnastics are called Future Stars. Trampoline and tumbling’s developmental program is called JumpStart. The women’s, men’s and trampoline and tumbling programs have local, state and national testing, while rhythmic has national testing.


For women’s gymnastics, the Talent Opportunity Program (TOPs) is a nationwide, annual program to identify young gymnasts who have the ability to excel in the sport. More than 3,100 gymnasts participate in state and regional testing, with more than 300 qualifying for national testing based on state and regional scores. State and regional testing is conducted for gymnasts 7-11 years of age, with the 9-11 year olds eligible to advance to national testing. The best 7-and 8-year-olds qualify based on their test scores from state and regional testing, while the 9-11 year olds are named to the team based on national test scores. The TOPs National Team has about 70 gymnasts, approximately 20 gymnasts in each age group.
 
The gym that my dd goes to does not seem to do much conditioning. They do maybe 30 minutes at the beginning of the workout, and about 15 minutes stretch at the end. The girls so not generally walk the floor on their hands or do handstand pressups.

I asked the coach why they don't condition more (it is an issue parents seem to talk about in the hallway), and specifically, why they don't do TOPS. He told me that he prefers that they strenghten on the apparatus so that they have full range of motion. He says he has a couple of gymnsasts that came from other gyms all hunched over.

I, however, worry about injury. I have heard that TOPS was started so that girls had lots of strength before learning harder skills. I have also noticed lots of injuries and braces. Most of the older girls (except the two that came to the gym "hunched over") have experienced some sort of injury. Even two of the three level fives are effected - one has achilles problems, and one has a stress fracture. My daughter (competed level 4 last season) has been complaining about her achilles, also, and I am really starting to worry.

Also, is it normal to have a coach stick two girls in the cornor to practice nothing but glide kips for 45 minutes, with maybe 5-10 minutes of instruction. I know absolutely nothing about gymnastics, so I have no idea if this is standard practice.

I have found every gym has their own way of conditioning and training that they found has worked for them.

Over all though if your going to do gymnastics your going to get injured at some point. I forget where I read this but It is said there are more injuries in Gymnastics than Ice Hockey.

Usually sprains, strains, overuse and growth plate issues are the more common ones. These kids spend hours and hours practicing this sport pounding on their joints and bones. I would even go so far as to say more than any other kids out there doing any other sport. So many people see this as a graceful sport and it does look so easy when the girls do it but it takes lots of hard work, soooo many butt landings , and lots of bruises to look that easy.

I usually will go with the though if my daughter is complaining of pain then a trip to the doctor is coming. Last year my DD had complained of her ankle hurting we went to the doctors, x-rays etc and she had an over use issue with her left ankle. It also seems that her left tendons were tighter than her right so it was causing her to land on the left in a way that wasn't exactly right. After 6 mos of Physical therapy the pain is gone and she is back to "normal" (what ever that is LOL) the DR and PT both wanted her to wear an ankle brace on that ankle when she was doing Floor tumbling or floor routines for the entire season after that. She has recently gone back for a check up and the word is that for the summer as she learns her new routine and new L7 skills they want her to wear the brace even though it doesn't hurt. They suggested several exercises for her to keep doing if she is going to do gymnastics and to share with the gym. We did and the gym now has those exercises as part of their normal warmup.
 
I think 30 min conditioning/15 min flexibility sounds reasonable for a compulsory gymnast. That's what we do at my gym, and the 30 min conditioning is fairly condensed (very little rest time). The optionals do around 45 min strength (I think) and 30 min weight training.

It's not necessarily the amount of time spent on strength as it is the quality of the training. 30 min of boring, easy exercises with lots of breaks wouldn't do the same as an intense workout with no breaks. Is your DD getting stronger? That's what matters. I like the coach's idea of integrating strength into every event - it shows that strength IS applicable to everything in gymnastics.

Injuries may not show a lack of strength. We had many injuries on my team - my friend has carpal tunnel, weak knees, a sprained wrist/elbow, and a back strain. Her body is simply not up to the training we do, although she is getting stronger. She has weak joints, and normal (non PT) strength training can't fix that.
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back