Parents Ankle weights?

[Deleted member 14190]

oh no.... cant we just cut and paste the last thread... we use weights but not for running jumping punching. here we go again...

 

[Deleted member 14190]

to the op, the ankle weights are usually sold per pair, meaning a 2 pound pair is 1 pound each, a 5 pound pair would be 2.5 lbs each... 1 pound each is plenty imo

 

[kaloss]

Before I send my daughter in with any weights I'm going to talk to her coach.

 

[Bess]

I hate that our little ones wear weights too. Even more of a bummer that often times I think it's used as a punishment for time management issues

 

[kandkfunk]

To the OP, I would suggest searching ankle weights on Chalk Bucket. You will come across several threads discussing the issue. The consensus (although not 100% agreement) is that there really aren't a lot of legitimate uses for ankle weights in training gymnasts, especially the youngest girls. There are some coaches who use ankle weights for appropriate exercises, but those coaches seem to be far outnumbered by ones who don't use them productively.

Many parents and gymnasts here have had bad experiences, including one girl who had to have surgery (if my memory is correct). My DD recently retired due to ongoing back pain that is at least somewhat attributable to ankle weights (we think it was the primary cause of her initial pain).

 

[iwannacoach]

The temptation to copy and paste from the past was too great. I'll agree that ankle weights can be used to an advantage, but only in controlled movements under the direction of a capable and experienced coach. I still worry that we often consider ourselves knowledgeable until we mess something up. So maybe some coaches, just like me, haven't the answers they think.

From a past "ankle weight? thread........ gently edited upon refection....

http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/another-question-about-ankle-weights.39761/#post-234530

I gotta tell you that I spent a very uncomfortable month in a gym owned and run on the floor by a person who was, politely worded, challenged with respect to technique, use of progressions, technical knowledge, and anything else you want to chip in with. Worse still, this person had two solutions to help solve this problem.

The first one is the coach would blame the kids for not making progress even though the coach had little more than a clue how to teach the skills the kids were having trouble with. The worst of this is the coach either totally believed he/she knew how to coach, or was purposefully deflecting the shame he/she should have felt.... onto these kids. Please don't think for a moment that I have no patience or respect for coaches trying to learn how to teach skills, but I have nothing but disdain for coaches who spend energy being critical of their kids work habits, ability, and commitment, while (the coach) spending no energy to get him/herself up to the standards expected of the kids they coach.

The second tactic was to condition the livin' snot out of the kids in hopes that they'd somehow magically use their strength gains to convert his/her ignorance into skills. Hey, I love the idea of a strong, well conditioned and prepared gymnast. It's a pleasure to work with kids who are equal to a skill's demands for strength, but kinda frustrating in this case as just about half the optional group had low back pain that kept them from working in meaningful numbers...... like five reps and hit the ice bag.

The conditioning was done with the kids wearing ankle weight, as were their their warm-up drills and simple skills. If this coach had a pet goldfish..... it would have been outfitted with ankle weights.

My suspicion is that these kids with low back problems were heading in the direction of spondylolysis from their back muscles and lumbar system being subjected to the forces created by these weights..... especially those with rapid movements and turns..... like round offs, front handsprings, back handsprings, split leaps, switch leaps, cast handstands, and glide kips. The worst of it is these skills were done incorrectly, causing even more stress forces.

I'm a big fan of resistance and 'free weight' training, and credit my prior participation in weight lifting to my success as a gymnast. I think strength exercises done correctly with an awareness of range of motion can do more for a gymnast than anything else, other than a coach who knows what they're doing. Ankle weights just don't fit that model because the idea in weight training is to concentrate on how to move the weight, as if that was the skill, and I don't think that's a gymnast's focus when working with ankle weights.

I can't really think of any use for these weights, but I'll agree that some coaches can find a proper use for them, but doubt that even 10% of all coaches could devise, put into place, and monitor for safety and effectiveness a beneficial use of them.

 

[kaloss]

Pm-ed you iwannacoach

 

[AZgymMom]

My daughter is 10 and the use 1.5 pound weights on each leg during conditioning...

 

[gymdog]

I'm kind of a worried/paranoid person, and I already have concerns about doing just about anything (plus side, the kids have no injuries cause I'm too terrified to do things half the time). I really don't understand people. Like are they just clueless and lack that cringe reflex when seeing a six year old do just about anything with ankle weights, or do they just not care beyond the short term.

It's like when I see the emphasis on kids hopping in a squat for leg conditioning. I've seen coaches have COMPULSORY kids do that on the vault runway. I'm sure it's a super effective workout but I'd be supremely terrified to test my luck with something that goes against pretty much any common sense and medical advice. There are other, safer things to do. If you're gonna do it, at least do it on track or rod floor with kids whose growth plates are solidified.

 

[BlairBob]

Your coach needs to read more sports science. Good luck with trying to tell them that. And I seriously doubt they will go read Bompa, Sands, Mel Siff, Verkhovshansky, etc.

There is something to be said about jogging maybe to raise body temperature and blood flow throughout the body for recovery. There is something to be said about an aerobic base supporting the anaerobic system. But given the time necessary, I wouldn't bother with it.

More simulated routines and circuits and series.

Ankle weights are good for leg lifts. You can also have them do weighted dips or pullups but you have to be very careful with these, especially in children.

If they are slow, work in plyometrics and scale appropriately. If they are weak...get them stronger, derr. Weak in the legs? More squats, more lunges. The Upper body can pretty much be developed without the use of external resistance though weights can be good assistance tools.

 

[Moxiegrl83]

All I could think of is the CB outrage when we had 2 coaches come for an interview last year. They only stayed a week, but they had our L2's, my 40lb 6 yr old at the time, doing their full floor routines in ankle weights. Up to this point, those kids had never worn them for anything. I'll never forget my DD in a bridge, trying to kick over, with weighted feet. She'd go up, then back down, up a bit, right back down. Luckily HC put a stop to it, and they were not hired obviously. Our gym does use ankle weights for some conditioning, but it's very rare.

 

[mommyof1]

It's like when I see the emphasis on kids hopping in a squat for leg conditioning. I've seen coaches have COMPULSORY kids do that on the vault runway. I'm sure it's a super effective workout but I'd be supremely terrified to test my luck with something that goes against pretty much any common sense and medical advice. There are other, safer things to do. If you're gonna do it, at least do it on track or rod floor with kids whose growth plates are solidified.

Hopping in a squat--do you mean "frog jumps"?

 

[kaloss]

Apparently I'm not the only parent that is hesitant about the weights. One girl brought them at the last practice and they all passed them around. I asked DD what they used them for and she said leg lifts. I'm okay with that for now. I'm still watching closely.

 

[gymdog]

Hopping in a squat--do you mean "frog jumps"?

No, like they stay in the squat instead of springing up. I think limited frog jumps are all right when they're ready to control the descent, don't really like to see it with ankle weights on the runway.

 

[BlairBob]

Or you could just do a proven exercise, like weighted squats. I did these in my youth with a teammate standing on my thighs in a horse stance while they they were effectively against my back and I held their arms so they wouldn't fall off.

Oleg told me in the Ukraine they would just have teammates piggy back.

They are fine for Hanging Leg lifts though I don't see much use for them until they can do a full leg lift instead of doing a partial one with extra resistance.

 

[JBS]

Here are the threads tagged with "ankle weights"...

Link Removed

 

[emorymom]

If this is a cut and dried issue why can't USAG just put out a bulletin that says "Member coaches are allowed to use ankle weights for (column of uses). Member coaches are advised that the following uses are against USAG recommendations (column of bad uses).
Can you imagine a parent going into a coach and saying, "I read on the internet that you're doing a bad thing?" Yeah, that's a great way to get along with your child's coach.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

it is cut and dry. USA Gymnastics can not be all things to all people. and placing weights on the feet/ankles are in the old safety manuals. it was a bad idea then because of the additional forces that it placed on the back. and it's still a bad idea today. some people don't read...and others will not practice what they have read. they don't think it's important.