Parents Taking breaks after meets are done

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lotsofgym

Proud Parent
Hi,

Wondering if any parents of optionals can weigh in on benefits of a scheduled break every year after meet season is over in terms of injury prevention. I know the kids want to uptrain but many other sports with high hours do seem to suggest a break at some point in an otherwise year round sport.

Thanks
 
I guess my first question is what is your definition of "break"? A week, 2 weeks, a month? We always took a week to 10 days in the summer for vacation, and never trained/visited in other gyms when off so truly off from gym. Optional coaches get a little edgy when more than a week or 2 comes up in conversation as an option so good luck if that's what you are planning.
 
I think it is very, very important. My dd just completed her L9 season competing at Easterns and she is taking the week off. She got a massage and she went to the chiropractor. She has taken a bubble bath every night! She needs the mental break and has a few nagging things that can use the time to heal.
 
The entire competitive team at our gym takes the first two weeks of summer break off. This allows families to get away on vacation, there's no training at other gyms while you're away. The girls do get a conditioning sheet but I never make my dd do it. She's really active during holidays so I'm not fussed if she isn't doing sit ups every day of her vacation. They need the time off so badly and have certainly earned it by then.
 
My dd just finished up at westerns. She competed Friday and was told no gym until Wednesday and then they won't go again until Saturday. Break without too long out as uptraining starts in big time next week.

Whole gym closes two weeks a year, one at beginning of summer and one at end. We have scheduled vacations for this time.
 
Our gym closes down for a week at the end of the school year and for a week in early September. It's good, but by the end of each of those weeks, I am ready to kill both of them. My daughter has finally figured out that when she's out of gym, she needs to find another form of physical outlet, so I expect we'll be spending some quality time at Planet Fitness in late June this year.
 
Our gym closes down for a week at the end of the school year and for a week in early September. It's good, but by the end of each of those weeks, I am ready to kill both of them. My daughter has finally figured out that when she's out of gym, she needs to find another form of physical outlet, so I expect we'll be spending some quality time at Planet Fitness in late June this year.
Yes...my daughter is also unable to do "nothing", but she does need a break from the intensity and the pounding,
 
The coaches should be handling the cycling of intensity, as well as the amount of time spent pounding on any event.
"Should be" is the operative word there, but it doesn't always happen that way for a variety of reasons. I think our coaches do a pretty good job with that for the most part, but I take my responsibility in looking after my daughter and her well-being seriously and I feel that I know her best and have learned over the years what works for her. Being one of only a small handful of the team that competed through Nationals, her cycle/schedule is on a slightly different path right now than those that were done with their season after State or Regionals. She has some nagging injuries and is fairly exhausted. Pushing her right back into practice after Nationals isn't going to put her ahead of the game for next season. I think taking a few days of well-timed rest is warranted. She'll go back rested and refreshed and will carry on with training.
 
Our gym has no official down time. But nearly every kid takes a couple weeks vacation through out the year.

Coaches prefer we take as close to end of season as possible. And non camp weeks. We do condition though.

JMO, every one needs down time.
 
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Our current gym closes the last week of August. Our new gym (moving in 13 days!) closes for 10 days at the beginning of summer. Plus, we always take a vacation for a week or so.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. Sounds like the time to take off is pretty variable since meet seasons end at varying times for gymnasts by level. Like Seeker says I think the coaches do think about cycling but it might get lost if you're dealing with multiple level gymnasts ending at different times. Also my kid tends to not want to bring this up to the head coach. So I need to be her voice sometimes- hopefully this will improve as she gets older.

We do a week vacation over the summer but I was interested in hearing that you all do take breaks, but for a few days or a week maybe! That's just the nature of this sport I guess.

Anybody feel like they have a gymnast who is/was overuse injury prone that saw a change after they started implementing forced breaks?
 
Since around L7, we have strategically placed our vacations to give dd breaks throughout the year. For instance, We usually have to travel for regionals and we stay several days after the meet just relaxing and sightseeing or we plan a cruise for a nearby port. She goes to see her grandparents at least once during the summer. We usually plan a sept or oct trip for 3-4 days away from gym. The gym usually closes for Thanksgiving and Christmas although there are optional practices for at least a couple of days each week. No breaks for her from Jan - last meet of the season. I find that it has helped dd both physically and mentally. However, she doesn't skip practices otherwise. Very rarely will she leave early to attend a college meet, go to a movie with friends, etc. Like maybe 10x a year. Also, she doesn't like taking more than 5 days off from gym. Even with just a week off, she has trouble with timing on her big skills that often take a couple weeks to get back fully.
 
There are small breaks through out the year. Easter weekend we are off. Thanksgiving off for 5 days. We close for a few days at the beginning of summer, 4th of July week and again at end of summer. All of these things give gymnasts a rest from the day to day stress mentally and the physical stress from training so hard week after week.
 
Our gym is taking a 5 day break for Memorial day. Then the girls get a couple days off when the opposite part of the team is at camp. Our coaches also cycle the conditioning and drills, basics and upgrades.
We also take a vacation 1-2 weeks in the summer/early fall. (we did both weeks in a row last year and dd made us promise to never do that again)
 
We have scheduled gym breaks... Basically, gym team is scheduled for 42 weeks + 2-3 optional weeks.
Christmas break is 2 weeks.
Then Spring break is 1 week in late March.
Memorial Day
July (the first week is off. Weeks 2-3 are rec camp and team can come help or workout if they want... Camps are 2 hours, 5 days a week. The last week, we MAY do team camps.)
Labor Day
Halloween, if it falls on a gym day
Thanksgiving is 1 week.
 
i'm beginning to appreciate that my dd needs mental breaks. we get a spring vacation from school in april. the gym usually closes for those who are done with state meets. this year they were open with the option to go in for 3 days/3 hours each. dd went the first 2 days but balked at the last day. she was really looking forward to having a full week off.

on the one hand, she got her giants b/c the gym was basically empty. on the other hand, she needed a break. so, at the end of August they shut down for a week but the week before is gym camp. it's optional and an additional cost (Aug tuition is 1/2 price). she usually goes but we are going to CA and if i can go from a Tues-Tues or Wed-Wed it's cheaper. so we've decided she will not go to that camp which is more fun than anything.

in the past, when she's had to take a break b/c of minor injuries, she comes back stronger - especially on vault. it's so weird. so depending on how it goes this year, we may have her take that camp week off as well in the future. 1 day they aren't even in the gym. they go somewhere like to an amusement park and the last day is a 1/2 day in the gym and they go swimming somewhere. so i don't feel like she will be missing out on training, just the fun (and it is a fun week for them).
 

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