Parents Body Type

[Jaks]

What body type is your gymnast?

my dd is short for her age and slender. She has a short body and long arms and legs. It's a hard finding leotards that fit, those that seem ok on her body hand around her shoulders, she can fit into a 22" leotard but that tends to cut in the shoulder area, whereas a 24-26" leotard is to baggy in the shoulder area.

I had to get my dd a long sleeved and long legged unitard and the smallest they do was a 00 and that fits ok on the legs, in too short on the arms and baggy around the neck and shoulders.

 

[Bajanswife]

My DD is short, stocky and very muscular (I get comments from people in public all the time about her muscles). She has fast twitch muscles, so she's a sprinter rather than a distance athlete.

 

[Jaks]

She has fast twitch muscles.

What are fast twitch muscles? How do I know I'd my dd has them? She hardly ever sits still, is always speeding around or jumping around or upside down.

 

[Amusibus]

My daughter is long, skinny, very flexible with strong shoulders. Her coach told me she has the "perfect gymnastics body" whatever that means. She tends to be hypotonic though (floppy muscle tone even though she is strong- she has a lot of trouble "staying tight"). Anyone know if she will grow out of that? She 6 almost 7. Does floppiness have anything to do with what muscle type they are, ie fast or slow twitch?

 

[Kiwi]

My DD is curvy but also muscular. She has narrow shoulders and curvy hips and bottom (not the typical gymnast shape of wide shoulders and small hips) and long legs. Most leotards seem to fit her well, apart from those that are cut very wide in the shoulders. While she can't grow wider shoulders skeletally, her shoulders do look wider than they used to because of muscle development, particularly deltoids and lats.

 

[onebusymama]

My DD is very lean (muscular) but on the thin side w/ long limbs. She has & always had the cutest muscular booty I was a short &.somewhat stocky kid so I love her balletic body w/ her gymmie booty

 

[GymBeeMom]

My DD is average height for her age, but very lean and highly defined muscles. She is evenly proportioned with an even balance of strength and flexibility. She is not the shortest, nor the tallest. She was a short and stocky little girl but has leaned out and looks longer now that she is 8. Who knows what she will look like when she hits puberty...

 

[Bajanswife]

What are fast twitch muscles? How do I know I'd my dd has them? She hardly ever sits still, is always speeding around or jumping around or upside down.

In short, fast twitch muscles metabolize fuel differently (anaerobic rather than aerobic), which allows them to contract in rapid bursts of speed. But, they tire quickly. Basically, if you have mostly fast twitch muscles you are good at sprinting and other fast movements, but you don't have as much stamina as people would expect. DD looks so athletic and is so muscular, people expect her to be very, very fit, which includes being able to run around forever. But when she does run around she runs fast and tires quickly. She's great at the sprint races on sports day, but has trouble keeping up in cross country.

Conversely, slow twitch muscle people tend to have more stamina but maybe aren't as fast "out of the gate".

 

[momofthreegirls]

My oldest DD is short for her age, and small, but muscular. She is powerful, but struggles some with flexibility.

My middle DD is average height, but very slim, with long, thin limbs. She is built more like a ballerina, but is starting to put on muscle and get more of a gymnast's build.

My youngest is tiny. She is nearly 5, but is the size of most 2.5 year olds. She still has a bit of a "baby" body, but she is finally starting to lengthen out a little bit. The only thing I'm fairly sure of: she'll be very short. She is a head shorter than most of her classmates.

 

[nameless]

my dd is lean and very muscular with a small waist and tiny little bottom.. she looks just like you shrunk a L10.. her muscular definition is a bit ridiculous looking on her frame, but we love it.. she's so proud of her abs, pecs, and biceps.. my fave are her thighs when she runs down the vault runway..

GO says she's a fast twich and that's why she has more problems on beam and in ballet than on floor vault and bars..

 

[kwnative]

My DD is short compared to other kids her age, but she has long limbs and an average torso, so when you look at her all by herself, she looks like she's tall. It isn't until you put her up next to other kids her age that you see how tiny she is. She is very thin and VERY flexible. We have never had trouble with leos not fitting. Even with the team competition leo, they warned us that it would be very tight, and would take some work getting it on them, but she pulled it right on with no problem, but it wasn't loose fitting at all. That has to be frustrating to not be able to find the right size!

 

[KimmeeA13]

My daughter is 8 (9 in May) and is 53 pounds of muscle! She's narrow and slender, but her arms and legs look long to me. I expected her to be shorter than average (she's Chinese) but she's pretty close to average for her age - about 50 inches tall.

 

[raenndrops]

Jaks, you should go to gymdigs leotards.They are great and reasonably priced.
Gymnastic Leotards by Gym Digs - Design Your Own
They allow you to pick the fabrics and colors, etc... PLUS, you can enter your daughter's measurements (they ask for certain ones - bust, waist, hips, girth) and they will custom make one for her. They have a notes section where you can let them know about anything that might affect their design - like if you choose long sleeve, her sleeve length since you say she has long arms.

I am nowhere near a gymnast shape at 5'3" and well over 300 lbs, but I wanted to test them and see if they could do it. I entered my measurements and crossed my fingers. In the notes section, I said that I understand if they can't make it for me (extremely unusual combination of numbers)... I got the biketard (my choice- no way I would be in a regular leotard) and it fit. The only problem I had was that the arm holes were too big because ALL of my weight is in the front and below the chest but above the hips. They offered to make a new one, but my sister had not been happy that I ordered one in the first place, so I just got my money back. If I ever order one again, I will give them extra measurements in the notes section and I know it will be perfect.

 

[2G1B]

My oldest DD is about average, maybe a little short for her age. She is very thin with really long legs. She has always had muscle definition - even as a toddler she had a slight 6 pack.

Her twin brother is short for his age. I'd say probably one of the 5 shortest boys in his grade (and there are about 130 kids in their grade at our school). he is thin (8.5 years old and only 48 lbs). Since starting gymnastics he has started to have more muscle definition; but he wasn't like that as a toddler like his sister was.

My youngest DD is tall for her age and thin; but not as thin as the twins. She has long legs. She is probably the most naturally flexible of my 3; but she doesn't work at it at.all. My oldest DD does work on stretching at home, so she is more flexible; but she has to WORK for it. My youngest is honestly most likely to tall to be in gymnastics for long term. her hight runs 90% to off the charts... But for now, she loves it. So I haven't told her that she is too tall. ;-)

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

In short, fast twitch muscles metabolize fuel differently (anaerobic rather than aerobic), which allows them to contract in rapid bursts of speed. But, they tire quickly. Basically, if you have mostly fast twitch muscles you are good at sprinting and other fast movements, but you don't have as much stamina as people would expect. DD looks so athletic and is so muscular, people expect her to be very, very fit, which includes being able to run around forever. But when she does run around she runs fast and tires quickly. She's great at the sprint races on sports day, but has trouble keeping up in cross country.

Conversely, slow twitch muscle people tend to have more stamina but maybe aren't as fast "out of the gate".

So what does it mean if a child wins both the sprint and cross country, lol? And to answer the thread question, my dd is short for her age (but in a growth spurt) slender, very muscular, and not so flexible. She can do giants and all sorts of tumbling moves, but struggles still on a front walkover because of the flexibility thing.

 

[gymmomtoo]

My DD is very lean (muscular) but on the thin side w/ long limbs. She has & always had the cutest muscular booty I was a short &.somewhat stocky kid so I love her balletic body w/ her gymmie booty

This is my daughter (and me too LOL!)

 

[Deleted member D3987]

So what does it mean if a child wins both the sprint and cross country, lol? And to answer the thread question, my dd is short for her age (but in a growth spurt) slender, very muscular, and not so flexible. She can do giants and all sorts of tumbling moves, but struggles still on a front walkover because of the flexibility thing.

all things being equal...the above in bold will never happen. that is a physiological oxymoron.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

all things being equal...the above in bold will never happen. that is a physiological oxymoron.

Well she does, every year so far. Maybe her school just has a lot of very unathletic people? She also wins long jump, but generally doesn't place in the ball throw.

 

[Kiwi]

There is a girl in DD's gym group who always does well (places) in both sprints and cross-country at school. My DD is okay at both but usually doesn't win or place at either. She did place at high jump even though she is short.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

After a bit of discussion, we've decided to lock this thread. No posters here have explicitly broken any rules, but we don't like gymnasts to talk about their weight/body type, and this is basically the same thing by proxy. Also, I'm worried this thread could attract the wrong sorts of lurkers.