Coaches When to condition??

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L

lizlowery

My gym is a rec gym. We work floor skills. I have some super talented kids and want to get the best out of them and give them the best. When is the best time to condition, at the beginning, during, or at the end of class? Right now running and stretching starts off our classes, with conditioning during the class. They have a certain number of strength and flexibilty drills to complete that day during class. I spot while this is going on-pulling them from their work out. Any suggestions on changes to get the best out of my athletes?
 
It really depends on how you structure it.

What my team kids do (both boys and girls) is include some conditioning (endo rolls, press handstands, limbers, etc) in their warm-up. My girls (more due to how our gym's schedules are structured than anything else) have a flex/conditioning rotation at some point during each practice. Sometimes it's at the beginning, sometimes at the end, sometimes in the middle. In addition, I try to set up some light conditioning as a station in our rotations.

My boys do a bit more conditioning and I'm a bit more rigid in how it's organized. Like the girls, the boys do endo rolls, presses, and limbers during their warm-ups, and have some manner of conditioning as a station in almost every rotation. But as for a dedicated flex/conditioning rotation, I always do that at the end. This allows me to give them higher intensity conditioning without worrying about tiring them out for subsequent rotations; I do my best to have them completely worn out by the end of their conditioning rotation, since they'll just be heading home afterwards anyway.

So it depends on the nature and the intensity of the conditioning. I tend to prefer conditioning at the end of a workout when possible, simply because they don't have to save their energy at that point, but this is more a matter of convenience than one of necessity.
 
With my rec kids i try to include some conditioning as I go along...On bars they do chin ups and leg lifts while they wait for their turn with me (as one of the stations on bars). Depending on the class, which level it is, I will typically do my major conditioning at the end of the class.
 
My boys do a bit more conditioning and I'm a bit more rigid in how it's organized.

I was just a little curious as to why the boys do more conditioning with more structure.

Is it partly because of the nature of boys and partly because of the difference between mens gymnastics (being more strength based) and womens gymnastics (having a larger degree of flexibility and artistry in the routines)?

Cheers,
 

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