MAG Growth during break

[Cheryl]

So my son is 14, turning 15 soon. Has not been to practice since mid March due to quarantine. He’s currently a Level 9. Since Jan, he’s probably grown 6 inches, so a major growth spurt. My question is, will this time off make it easier or harder to adapt, once training resumes? He will be starting again with a different body, as well as lost conditioning and skills, and I want to return to normalcy, and don’t want him to give up or be discouraged even though best case, competition resumes in Dec. I know this is unknown territory, but is there a good way to deal with growth spurts that we can adapt at home?

 

[skschlag]

As long as he keeps up with his strength, flexibility, and any rehab, he should be as good as anyone else. Growth stinks for a male gymnast, but they can learn. I will say, keeping that flex is key though (strength too, but most boys are ok with that )

 

[Aussie_coach]

Yes, it’s going to be hard if he has a growth spurt, but if he is prepared to put in the work, he can ensure that it does not stop him from developing as a gymnast.

Has your gym sent home training programs for him to do? Lots of strength, conditioning, flexibility, handstands, shaping drills at home are needed.

 

[Cheryl]

Yes, he has at home conditioning that he keeps up with. I guess at this age, they all shoot up, I am more worried about skills that can’t be practiced at home and that when he gets back, his body has changed and that known skills are gone. But I guess we’re all in this boat

 

[Faith]

Mines a girl but in the same boat. 15, just hitting her growth spurt.

I was wondering the same thing. She was starting to get little niggles in her knees etc and was modifying her training anyway. Is the enforced break going to actually not be a bad thing, she can grow, rest, and adapt to her new body without the training impact and therefore shorten the whole cycle?

obviously getting back to training will be a challenge as strength:weight ratio will have reduced no matter how much s&c she does. Plus the changes in centre of gravity everything will feel weird for a while.

i suppose the danger is taking it too fast when they go back and going full on, increasing injury risk. they’re going to need to go back to basics for a while and build up slowly.

when i was her age i used to train in school halls so always had 6 weeks off for summer shutdown. it never really affected me- in fact i used to get back better after a rest mentally and physically. It was hard the first few weeks, but soon got back into the swing.

 

[Aussie_coach]

The break could be very good for the niggles in her knees.

We really are going to have to slowly build all the kids back up in training, and skills. I imagine this will be very difficult for a lot of kids. They are used to being able to do XXX and many may be frustrated to the point of leaving the sport if they have to fight to do those skills again.

 

[jamieintexas]

My son kept injuring himself trying to train during a massive growth spurt. Maybe this will workout better as long as he stays strong.

 

[Madden3]

My son had a crazy growth spurt at age 11-12. He grew rapidly in every direction, and went from kid-size to man -size in about 6 months. So I know it can be really hard.

One way to look at it is this is a great time for a growth spurt. No one is really training now like they once did, unless maybe they have a fully equipped home gym. So we can assume most everyone will be struggling a bit once they are back to the gym. That will probably be easier to take psychologically than seeing other kids at your age/level blowing past you because they have not experienced what you have. Coaches will also have to adjust expectations to the reality. So there may be less pressure than typically there might be.

I imagine the difference will be for the kids who can motivate themselves to keep up flexibility and strength with not only no access to the gym, but with limited or no access to any training equipment at all. That can be very hard to do and I think most kids will understandably lag in that to some degree, so it is possible many kids are going to struggle a bit coming back not only from the time away from doing skills but from loss of muscle and too much weight gain.

Since my son cannot do any training due to recent shoulder surgery, one way he is taking advantage of the shutdown is he puts on music and takes 1-2 loooong walks every day. (He is not allowed to run.) Not only is this exercise keeping his weight at optimum level, but it is improving his aerobic fitness, which lags for gymnasts in general.

My son's coach has the viewpoint that breaks from intensive training can be really good for athletes. He told me he has seen it happen multiple times that boys come back from long breaks due to various reasons including injury, and take off quickly, improvement wise. Of course, other kids really suffer from a long break.