WAG Why do gymnasts train 365 days a week?

[katie]

I have two question concerning training.

1. I guess most gymnasts who are Level 6 or higher train at least 12 hours a week, almost everyday, 365 days a year.

Wouldn't breaks be beneficial? I know that all Elites train 6 days a week up to 6 hours a day and it is an exception when they get a day off. Why is that? Wouldn't a break for some days every few weeks be beneficial?

When I train for 2 months or so, then make break for a week (not due ti illness of course) I always get back stronger and sometimes I am suddenly able to do skills I have worked on.

2. Is it better in WAG to train more reps of easier strength exercises or less of harder ones?
Is it better to do 30 push-ups or 5 handstand push-ups? 50 V-Ups or 15 leg lifts?
Gymnasts often do hundreds of hollow rocks, V-Ups etc, but wouldn't it be better to focus on harder exercises? What counts when it comes to strength?

 

[cbifoja]

They don't train 365 days a year.

 

[Aero]

When I train for 2 months or so, then make break for a week (not due ti illness of course) I always get back stronger and sometimes I am suddenly able to do skills I have worked on.

I've read about this a few times. Muscle fatigue accumulates over time during long periods of exercise without substantial rest in between. Usually it isn't noticeable because it happens very gradually, but with constant heavy training it is important to take a "back off week" here and there. A week where you don't do anything but relax and give your body a chance to rest can refill the tanks, if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, many gyms do not allow this, and the gyms that do take the rare week off usually have the breaks very far apart. Continued training with no rest essentially lowers your maximum capacity for performance, and can lead to difficulty performing skills that are usually easy, and even to injuries, not to mention great frustration. I feel like having a "back off week" is very important, but many gyms frown upon the idea.

 

[wnl256]

1. I guess most gymnasts who are Level 6 or higher train at least 12 hours a week, almost everyday, 365 days a year.

I can only tell you that from our experience your assumption is way off base. At our gym level 6/7/8 trains 5 days a week during the summer (with a week-long break) and 4 days a week during the school year (with holiday breaks). That works out to about 208 days a year, not 365.

This is still a great deal of training (especially at 4 to 5 hours each day), but nowhere near 365 days a year.

The reason we are given by the coaches is that the kind of skills that gymnasts must perfect -- especially at levels 6 and up -- deteriorate quickly along with the strength required to execute the skills safely. Even a two week break has a negative impact on skills.

Elites are different. They're a special breed. But even they don't train 7 days a week.

 

[Aero]

I think what the OP is trying to ask is why do gymnasts train year round, not literally 365 days a year. In other words, I believe she wants to know why there is no off season, like most other sports have.

 

[katie]

I can only tell you that from our experience your assumption is way off base. At our gym level 6/7/8 trains 5 days a week during the summer (with a week-long break) and 4 days a week during the school year (with holiday breaks). That works out to about 208 days a year, not 365.

This is still a great deal of training (especially at 4 to 5 hours each day), but nowhere near 365 days a year.

The reason we are given by the coaches is that the kind of skills that gymnasts must perfect -- especially at levels 6 and up -- deteriorate quickly along with the strength required to execute the skills safely. Even a two week break has a negative impact on skills.

Elites are different. They're a special breed. But even they don't train 7 days a week.

it was a misunderstanding...I know they dont train 365 days a year, I meant why there are not any "bigger" breaks, like 5+ days, because if I am exhausted, I need that much time to recover.

Why does a 2 werk break has bad impacts on skills??? Thats what I wanted to know, because I dont understand!

 

[katie]

I think what the OP is trying to ask is why do gymnasts train year round, not literally 365 days a year. In other words, I believe she wants to know why there is no off season, like most other sports have.

Thanks for clarifying, Aero, that's exactly what I meant!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I know when my son injured his knee the doctor told him to not use crutches and to start walking on it (strapped up) as soon as he was able - his reason - muscle wasting starts as soon as 48 hours after non-use. Extend that analogy to a high level athlete, too long a break will lead to muscle loss and the ability to do these skills.

 

[kecks]

but in nearly every other high level sport there are breaks in between cycles. in elite track we do 2-3 weeks completly off in between summer and indoor season - athletes do move 3 times a week for an hour or so then but they only do what they enjoy doing, often totally differnt sports, hiking, swimming, horse riding, biking, ball games, whatever. no plan, only fun and being active. in olympic weightlifting it's the same - at least one week completly off in between cycles (cycles last for 8 to 20 weeks, depending on the athlete's competitions he/she is being peaked for). same as in track athletes stay active but do no programmed training sessions at all and often are not allowed to touch the bar. guys tend to do more bodybuilding like exercises in these times, the females mostly do some gymnastics (like improving handstand, learning basic tumbling) and track and some endurance work, but only like 3 hours a week or so (down from 15-25 hours of training during the cycles). without these rest periods injuries go up like crazy during the harder parts of the training cycle. moreover athletes seem to 'burn' to get back to their sport after these weeks off! motivation usually goes through the roof, which is very important. why is it different in wag? is it the same for male gymnasts? just because the year round training is the traditional way that worked in the past? or is there some other explanation? very interesting topic!

 

[katie]

W

but in nearly every other high level sport there are breaks in between cycles. in elite track we do 2-3 weeks completly off in between summer and indoor season - athletes do move 3 times a week for an hour or so then but they only do what they enjoy doing, often totally differnt sports, hiking, swimming, horse riding, biking, ball games, whatever. no plan, only fun and being active. in olympic weightlifting it's the same - at least one week completly off in between cycles (cycles last for 8 to 20 weeks, depending on the athlete's competitions he/she is being peaked for). same as in track athletes stay active but do no programmed training sessions at all and often are not allowed to touch the bar. guys tend to do more bodybuilding like exercises in these times, the females mostly do some gymnastics (like improving handstand, learning basic tumbling) and track and some endurance work, but only like 3 hours a week or so (down from 15-25 hours of training during the cycles). without these rest periods injuries go up like crazy during the harder parts of the training cycle. moreover athletes seem to 'burn' to get back to their sport after these weeks off! motivation usually goes through the roof, which is very important. why is it different in wag? is it the same for male gymnasts? just because the year round training is the traditional way that worked in the past? or is there some other explanation? very interesting topic!

Wuhuu, I love that someone also thinks this is interesting, because I am always scared to bore people with my stupid questions!

Tjats exactly what I thought! Even in normal weight training a "deload week" every 2 months or so is recommended to prevent injuries and give the body time to totally restore...

 

[maryRS]

This is actually a very good question. I'm no expert, but I think time here and there is a good thing for the reasons mentioned above. I don't mean time off doing nothing, but time off doing gymnastics and just doing something else, like swimming or running or playing another sport. Cross training is beneficial in just about every sport

 

[wallinbl]

Your training should have periodization. Many gyms do this, but I assume from the comments that yours does not.

 

[Muddlethru]

Gymnastics is such a hard sport and so much (more than any other sport) is required to do it proficiently. It requires so much attention to detail, strength training, skills progressions/training, mental preparation, muscle memory, etc., on 4 different apparatuses, time off can be detrimental to its progress. I however believe that whenever we push our body/muscles, it creates tiny tears in our muscles. And we have to allow these to heal. It is not recommended to lift weight two days in a row. It is suggested to wait 48 hours before pushing/working your body hard again. It is during the rest period between hard work outs that the body gets stronger. So your observation upon returning to gym after a vacation is valid. So, I think the key is really a good coach that has a full understanding of what is good for the body.

Gymnasts have to train year round because of the complexity of the sport and yet the body needs to recuperate from its beating. So, since breaks are really not an option in gymnastics, coaches will (or should) alternate using/training different muscle groups each day to allow healing. I don't think most gyms will do heavy tumbling everyday. They also seem to vary the intensity of work out everyday. This allows the gymnasts "breaks".

As far as doing more reps with less weight or more weight and less reps, I don't know which one is best for gymnastics. They do seem to go with more numbers. My daughter's team just did 30 handstand push ups on parallettes. She could literally not bend her arms for a few days and her triceps were sensitive to the touch. I think this is excessive and often times worry about my daughter's gym. Little experience and seems to just experiment on things. I wish I knew when enough is enough.

 

[gymgal]

Once you learn the basics of most sports, you just need to practice, perfect. Yes, you are learning new strategies but the skill set is the same. You can walk away for several weeks/months and come back with just a couple weeks practice to get back into it (as long as everyone else is also taking a break - see below). Gymnastics is unique in that it is always progressing - you are always learning new, more difficult skills. In addition, the higher you go, the more potential for fear issues. Go away from the gym for a few weeks, those fears will creep back in. Not only because your body has "forgotten" the feeling but also because you know you are not in the same shape as you were.

As for high reps of simple vs low reps of harder, I would think muscle memory is in play here so the higher reps are more important, at least in the early drills. You are trying to get the body to remember positions and to strengthen very specific muscle groups - which is also why doing other sports doesn't always help and sometimes can hurt a gymnast's conditioning. Again, most other sports support each other - running on any field will help with a number of sports. Throwing any ball will help with all sports. But this is not necessarily true in gymnastics, in which the gymnast needs to develop just the right combination of flexibility, strength, power, and coordination.

Just want to add that there are many sports in which there are year-round travel leagues that take very few breaks throughout the year. Most think only about the rec leagues like little league, upward bound, ymca, etc. but if a child walks away from a travel team for several weeks/months, he will definitely have trouble keeping up with his teammates if he returns. In the upper levels of swimming, you are doing 2 practices a day, 6 days a week year round with no scheduled breaks. Baseball and Soccer are similar in terms of year-round, though they tend to take more frequent breaks in practice - 2-3 weeks at a time. My son is just getting into golf. While there are not 'official' daily practices, they are expected to do at least 9 holes 5-6 days a week and golfing on vacations is expected because if provides opportunities for them to golf on new courses.

As for rest periods, several years ago, dd's gym switched to weekday practices only. A lot of parents complained about this because it meant more late nights on school days but it really does make more sense for recoup time because the gymnast then has 2 days in a row to rest. And on the several weeks in the year where we have a Monday holiday, it's 3 days.

 

[BlairBob]

Other sports do not require as much skill or as big a skillset.

Deload weeks are advisable but many gyms don't implement them besides a schedule for off, pre, and competitive season.

 

[MissLisa]

Since completing my degree, I have always wondered about this 'year around' training that gymnasts do. Recovery is such an important component of building strength and endurance as it is these times that the body repairs, adapts and therefore gains occur. A gym that is not factoring down weeks is setting up for injured and burnt out gymnasts. I would assume that most gyms would have this scheduled into the yearly calendar. Stopping all training completely is not going to be beneficial as already discussed above but having a really thought out schedule with low weeks would be. This is called periodisation and occurs in almost every elite level training. The year is broken up into smaller sections based on completions/ on or off seasons etc, then these sections are broken down again and then within that again. This is called cycles. Macrocycles, microcycles and nanocycles. In football, the week before a major comp will normally be a rest week so that the body is in prime shape for comp (once again they don't stop all exercise but take it back a step).

It is all really interesting and something I'd be intrigued to know how many gymnastics centers follow a schedule like the above. It's obviously a bit different to football etc due to the nature of skills etc but still interesting nevertheless.

 

[BlairBob]

Geddert does this to some degree with his Elites from what he wrote.

My guess is that most gyms generally split their training into post/off season, pre-season, and competitive season but don't really spell out their training all that much. You can split this up into microcycles that each have their own focus.

Ideally in the off season, you go back to basics, work on the next skills, and do a lot of strength and flexibility.

Pre-season, you start focusing more on routine parts then 1/2 routines and full routines. Less time for the skill uptraining unless they complete their routines because they are not playing catch up. Still work strength and flexibility.

Season is basically a minimal level of strength and flexibility but if you don't do enough they may lose some of their strength by end of the season. So it's just enough while still spending as much time as possible on routines and god forbid, skills if they are still missing them.