WAG How much time spent conditioning?

[RTT2]

What percentage of your child's practice is spent on conditioning versus working on skills?

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

My own practice is about 5%, the practice I give is maybe 1%.

Not enough of you ask me, but there isn't anymore time. Not my choice

 

[amiandjim]

I would say currently it’s almost 50/50. In a 3 hour practice, they have warm-up which is almost all conditioning (or skills like press handstand which is really conditioning, right?), then they do 2 rotations of bars and beam, one of which is mostly conditioning and one of which is more skill based. On floor and vault, it’s a mix of conditioning and skills between each station. Friday is heavy conditioning day and it’s almost all strength stuff and they will go outside to run on the ninja course in the back of the gym.

 

[ladybird]

^^^^Very similar except it’s a 4 hour practice for our girls with Saturday being the heaviest conditioning day. So yes, I would say 50/50.

 

[SMH]

They do dedicated conditioning the last 30 minutes of a 3 hr practice, but conditioning exercises also seems to be worked into most of their rotations along with skill work.

 

[Texasmomof3]

My dd has 5 hour practices. Of those, typically an hour is dedicated conditioning. Of course, workouts vary.

 

[coachmolly]

I coach lower level girls and the first 45 min. of practice is a mix of stretching and conditioning. This is supplemented by event specific conditioning- mostly on bars and vault- and 15 minutes of flexibility at the end of practice. So probably a little over an hour of a 3 hour practice, just not all at once. The intensity of the conditioning varies based on the time of the season, meet season conditioning is easier than summer/fall.

 

[John]

DD has four-hour practice. The first hour is conditioning and basics. Saturday is slightly different. They are spent with the first hour being some sort of jumping while doing skills and basics and the last half hour of practice is leg strength and conditioning, think none stop jumping and squat/lunge stations.

 

[Deedee]

It also depends on what season they are In. It will vary differently if they are in competition season or skill season.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

We build conditioning into all rotations as well as warmup for the lower levels. For the upper Optionals, they have the same AND also 1hr conditioning/practice. Lower Optionals have between 30min-1hr/practice.

 

[kiwi2406]

We spend about 40 minutes of a 2 hour practice conditioning, some during warm up and some at the end

 

[raenndrops]

We spend the first 30-45 minutes warming up, stretching, and conditioning. Then, they may or may not do some conditioning stations at the different events. We practice 2.5 hours a day ... but 10-15 minutes of that is a munchie break, so it is really 2:15-2:20 practice.
It works out to about 21-40% of practice being spent on conditioning (plus warming up and stretching).

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I would say more then 50 percent. Perhaps 60-70. Because even when they are doing events, there is no down time. When they are not specifically working the event there is conditioning stuff built in so there is no standing around.

 

[Musicmama]

During the summer it's probably around 50/50 - some days more, some days less. During the competition season it's closer to 1/4 of the time for conditioning. It used to be much less, but dd is working with the optionals coaches now (since L5) and they're more focused on conditioning than the compulsory coaches were.

 

[Aero]

Our JO levels start at Level 4, and each practice is four hours. The first hour of every practice is conditioning, consisting largely of strength training, but also active dynamic and active static flexibilty work, plyometrics, and prehab/injury prevention exercises.

The last half hour of every practice is focused on flexibility training, with PNF stretching every Monday and Friday, and passive static flexibility on the other practice days.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Our JO levels start at Level 4, and each practice is four hours. The first hour of every practice is conditioning, consisting largely of strength training, but also active dynamic and active static flexibilty work, plyometrics, and prehab/injury prevention exercises.

The last half hour of every practice is focused on flexibility training, with PNF stretching every Monday and Friday, and passive static flexibility on the other practice days.

What is PNF stretching?

 

[Aero]

What is PNF stretching?

PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) is a form of stretching that takes advantage of the nervous system’s response to the stretch reflex. It involves contracting the muscles very intensey against resistance, followed by completely relaxing those same muscles into a deeper passive stretch. After contracting so hard, muscles are more “stretchable” once they relax. Deep breathing is used throughout, and each set should end up in a slightly deeper stretch.

Specifically, this is what we do:

1. First set, eight seconds of isometric contraction
2. Twenty seconds of holding passively
3. Second set, eight seconds of isometric contraction
4. Twenty seconds of holding passively
5. Third set, eight seconds of isometric contraction
6. Twenty seconds of holding passively
7. Fourth set, eight seconds of isometric contraction
8. Thirty seconds of holding passively

We do this for all three splits, and sometimes for the lats for attaining better bridges. We only do this twice a week though since it’s really intense and can cause soreness the next day. However, this type of stretching is very effective and we’ve seen huge gains in flexibility rather quickly.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) is a form of stretching that takes advantage of the nervous system’s response to the stretch reflex. It involves contracting the muscles very intensey against resistance, followed by completely relaxing those same muscles into a deeper passive stretch. After contracting so hard, muscles are more “stretchable” once they relax. Deep breathing is used throughout, and each set should end up in a slightly deeper stretch.

Specifically, this is what we do:

1. First set, eight seconds of isometric contraction
2. Twenty seconds of holding passively
3. Second set, eight seconds of isometric contraction
4. Twenty seconds of holding passively
5. Third set, eight seconds of isometric contraction
6. Twenty seconds of holding passively
7. Fourth set, eight seconds of isometric contraction
8. Thirty seconds of holding passively

We do this for all three splits, and sometimes for the lats for attaining better bridges. We only do this twice a week though since it’s really intense and can cause soreness the next day. However, this type of stretching is very effective and we’ve seen huge gains in flexibility rather quickly.

Does this mean that they sit in the split (or oversplit) and someone (a coach or partner) pushes them down when they are trying to resist?

 

[LindyHopper]

If you include warm ups, flexibility, and conditioning on each event, Short Stack says 40-60% of their 5 hour practice is spent conditioning. This is levels 7-10.

 

[coachmolly]

Does this mean that they sit in the split (or oversplit) and someone (a coach or partner) pushes them down when they are trying to resist?

I can't answer for Aero, but from what I've read the gymnast would get in a split and "resist" the split by pushing their legs against the floor (sort of like they are trying to stand up out of the split) and then relax into the split.