Gymnastics and body image

Any parents out there have a hard time convincing thier gymnasts that they are beautiful. The toned and muscled body doesn't seem to be well received in high school. I remember as a teenager thinking I was ugly and fat and had hoped my own daughter would not go through that. She has a body that most grown women would die for (and they tell her so) but teenagers seem to all want to be whip thin with big boobs. Six packs are embarassing.

 

[gracefulone]

Not at my school or with the people I'm around. We're all toned. Almost everybody at my school, including girls, does some sport. We're all like that.

 

[JBS]

I'm 28 now, back when I was in high school all the guys wanted to date the gymnasts.

As a coach I have helped some of my gymnasts with their self esteem a bit. As a dad with a 16 month old daughter, I imagine I will have a much harder time with situations like that.

When you talk about being thin, that is something that really scares me. During warm ups I like to start conversations with my gymnasts about what they had to eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner. They love it and it helps me look out for problem situations. For example, I had one girl that didn't eat breakfast until after practice on Sat. morning. When she started eating before practice she was a whole new gymnast.

 

[gracefulone]

When I meet/talk to guys, they're always like, " you're a gymnast!?!?!?" They always get so excited and ask when they can come to my meets, sometimes even to watch pratice or go to an open gym . it's actually quite amusing.

 

[gymbabisMom]

Gymbabi is the only gymnast at her school. We live in a very small mountain community and most of these kids have never even watched gymnastics on tv.

 

[JBS]

Gymbabi is the only gymnast at her school. We live in a very small mountain community and most of these kids have never even watched gymnastics on tv.

You could always ask Gymbabi if she would like to invite a friend or two to the next meet. As Gracefulone said, people are always very interested about gymnastics. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, all my friends thought I was nothing to worry about.

This all changed when I went out for high school football. I picked up the most starting postitions on the team: wide receiver, safety, punter, punt returner, kick returner. I was blazing fast, could plow through somebody twice my size, and I was the only player on the team that could do back handsprings across the field after every touchdown. After football season, some of my friends even took up gymnastics just to learn how to 'flip'.

My whole town got a little gymnastics education that football season.

 

[Perfect10n_ineverything]

one of my gymnast just started high school she is all skin and mucel there is not a peice of fat on that girl, I swear she ahs a six pack and she is only 13 (she skipped a grade.) Sometimes it scares me becuase she pushes ehrself too far. She too much conditioning she eats nothing but protine adn when she eats cards she eats barely enoguh to get throguh her 18 hour a week work out. so yes i think that they worry about it alot.

 

[gymbabisMom]

We did take some of her friends to the high school meets. Also the newspaper articles that were written about her meets were in the top ten most read (on the website) for our little newspaper. So people are interested. It's mainly Gymbabi herself. She just doesn't like certain things about the way she looks I guess.

 

[ahs]

Unfortunately, most girls and women and are always going to find something they don't like about themselves. It is very hard for gymnasts because they are in leotards at every practice, making them more aware of every body part. It is very important for parents and coaches to be consistent with how they are addressing the girls feelings of body image. As gymnasts get older they will appreciate being toned and the work ethic gymnastics has created will stay with them throughout life and help them to stay in shape. High School students will always find something they don't like about themselves and want to be more like someone else.

Stay positive with your gymnasts and be open with their coaches on their feelings.

 

[gracefulone]

I like how you mentioned work ethic. My dad is trying to get our athletic eligiblity gpa raised( my idea) from 1.5 to a 2.0 The gymnastics team in my area has the highest team average, a 3.7. It makes a lot of sense because gymnastics really does teach you dixcipline, cooncentration and work ethic.