WAG Is this true??

[gothgymmom]

Hey all, Have a question I thought the coaches or some parents could answer for me. I was informed not to let DD get a bath or go swimming the night before a meet, as it loosens up her muscles or something. Is this true? I havent done that since I heard about it but was just wondering the truth behind it.

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

That's one thing my dds coach is very strict on whenever we do hotel stays for competition, he's says they are allowed to swim but my hot baths and no hot tub, because it relaxes the muscles too much and he doesn't want it to effect there performance the next day

 

[Tbrov]

Agree - we are told not to swim or hot tub before a meet. Never thought about baths, though... Assume it's the same.

 

[Empowered]

Absolutely forbidden to swim before meets. Period, end of story. Have never been at a gym that didn't abide by this rule. No one ever told us why, we just live in fear of the pool.

 

[Gymmamabear]

Probably b/c those mid-range hotel pools are infested with strep throat and other kiddie sickness! I swear my kids swim in them one day and are sick by the next! ;-) No idea if this is the real reason....just MY reason for avoiding not-so-nice-indoor pools!

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

It also softens the hands or something we were told. Makes them prone to ripping or messes with their bars?

 

[GymRays]

I may be naive. This seems silly to me. I have never heard such a thing for any sport I have ever coached or participated in. Muscles being relaxed is not bad. I would be worried more about getting proper sleep and eating right for competition. If anything, having a good time with team mates and relaxing will help calm any pre-competition nerves and anxiety. I would limit hot tub use, being in one too long is not good for you anyways. Kids are active when they swim, even casually. I don't believe it would affect them so dramatically that it would ruin their athletic ability. They stretch and warm up before competing too. I have no proof either way with this discussion, just my opinion and limited knowledge of sports medicine. I would love to know the technical reason WHY , if in fact this is true.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I've never heard of such a rule. It strikes me as rather absurd.

First of all, any effect of the warmth on the muscles will likely be long gone within an hour or two, and second, we WANT the muscles to be warm for competition. That's why we have warm-ups.

I could perhaps see "no swimming or long hot baths immediately before the meet" (as in, less than an hour before), because it might soften up the hands too much. But even that seems like a bit of a stretch to me.

 

[munchkin3]

Break out the bubble warp, elbow/knee pads, helmets and bug spray,.......
Forget it, just don't let them go outside, or play, or swim.......
Seriously?

 

[GlobalNomad]

I have never, ever heard of this.

 

[bogwoppit]

Daft rule. My kids all have baths every night, still do now as grown ups. Cannot possibly imagine how it could be detrimental at a meet.

 

[curlymop]

Our coaches have never said anything about this. I wouldn't let my kids swim at a hotel the day of a meet only because they tend to come out bleary-eyed and exhausted. I would think the day before it would help to tire them out enough to sleep well.

 

[kandkfunk]

This topic has been discussed a few times on CB. You will see a lot of parents say that their kid's coach forbids swimming (this was us - every coach forbid swimming the day before or day of a meet). There are always different reasons given like making the hands soft or wearing the kids out because swimming takes a lot out of the kids and they don't realize how much energy they are expending (this was always the reason we were given). Relaxing the muscles is a new one for me.

Although a lot of parents will say that the coach forbids swimming, most of the coaches on here will be perplexed (like Taucer and WS above). I don't think there is any one true answer.

 

[BachFlyer]

We have a swim ban too. i was told the chlorine has something to do with zapping the energy (which in my experience is somewhat true - i never get as tired from lake swimming as pool swimming). But the main reason is that the muscles get too loose and makes it hard for them to stay tight during comp. All i know for sure is that i am just waiting for a good opportunity to test the theory!!

 

[GymRays]

Tight muscles for competition is not what you want. Then you risk muscle cramps and injury. I have never heard of too loose muscles, they won't atrophy in a pool. Anyone a PT? I may call my PT friend. Also the time frame is in question to...if you swim the night before, get a solid night sleep and eat a healthy dinner and breakfast then any energy "zapped by chlorine" would be recovered overnight. Now hot tub or pool for a long time immediately before competition I would advise against. Very interesting thoughts.

 

[GymRays]

OK....coming from Dr. Tim.....my PT friend. Swimming before competition wouldn't have harmful affect to performance. The pool water is not warm enough to have any lasting affects. He said any affects of swimming would be gone in an hour to an hour and a half. ( I doubt any gymnast is swimming within or even close to this time frame before a meet.) Only concern would be use of the hot tub close to competition because of the effect of the temp on muscles.

 

[ShesAMonkey]

We have this rule at our gym too. Although I always thought that it had to do with water in the ears, which could then potentially throw them off balance.

 

[gymdog]

I've heard this for years, but I don't really believe in the given justification. It's kind of an old wives tale. That said with the way I've seen the kids play in the hotel pools, getting injured falling on concrete before the meet is much more likely to be an issue. Might be best to save it for after the meet for those reasons.

 

[2G1B]

I have read about this stuff on here; but have never heard it from any of our coaches. IMO, my kids are not even at optionals yet. If we go on a travel meet, for us, the main goal is fun. They will be allowed to swim. (We don't do baths in hotels because I just think "yuck". ) I might take it all this serious when my kids are like level 8+.

 

[profmom]

Last year, before their first big meet, most of the L5 team stayed at a hotel together with an indoor pool. Just about the entire team spent nearly two hours going nuts in the pool area. They all slept like rocks and went on to win the meet the next day, with two guys winning AA in their age group.