Anyone have experience with good home equipment for gymnasts to practice at home.

[pdelgado]

Looking to start a small home gym for daughters to practice at home. I have no idea what things to consider except the obvious such as space constraints. I am inclined to get adjustable beam and bars so they have room to grow. Anyone have any helpful advice?

 

[gymnastbeth]

Leave the practice time at the gym! It'll save you money, and it's a lot safer!!! If you REALLY wanted to get them something, I would recommend a small panel mat, and a floor beam.

 

[pdelgado]

Good Point--I just can't get them to stop using any ledge they can find around the house for making up beam routines.

 

[bogwoppit]

I would stick with a low beam and a mat. A bar will be grown out of very quickly and they shouldn't be doing skills above L4 at home anyway as accidents can and do happen. A chin up bar is good for chin ups.

Make sure you have lots of space around your mats and beam as many kids get hurt banging limbs on furniture or doors that are too close.

To be completely honest these things are really only used when kids are very young and the money is often best spent on other things. Kids should be discouraged from doing skills at home that they are still learning in the gym to avoid learning things with bad technique and then having to relearn them correctly in the gym. When parents start coaching and spotting their kids they have already stepped over the line.

SO try to stick to the stuff they can do 100% alone and safely, and ALWAYS check with her coach ahead of time, they might even give you a home conditioning programme to work on and often they will give you advice on what not to do at home.

 

[cher062]

Seriously leave the gymnastics in the gym. Bad habits can easily be learned when done at home.

With that said a beam on the floor is one my DD has to practice the "dance" type moves on the beam. She also has a chin up bar, hand weights and a physioball and floor mat. But she also has a routine given by her gym coach to use all that stuff and only on days not in the gym. The "routine" only takes about 45 min. and its all conditioning and core strength stuff. Also all the gym equipment is used by others in the family to keep in shape.

No tumbling or big gym skills at home ever.

 

[pdelgado]

Great Advice--Thanks.

 

[emm'sgymmom]

I totally agree with the posts. I bought a mat and a low beam for home. They are not used that much - I would say handstand practice the most. Leave the gymnastics in the gym....good advice!!

 

[sara74]

We have a wedge mat, a flat mat and a floor beam - got all three for $150 from a family in town. The cat sleeps on the folded up wedge mat. The four year old stands the other mat up on its edge and hides behind it. The beam? It's in the basement. No one uses it. And I tripped over it last year and broke my little toe.

Put my vote on the side of - keep the gymnastics equipment in the gym!

 

[Megley]

If you are going to get anything, go for a mat, though I agree they get used more to make forts or obstacle courses than for much else. We also have a beam, which is very rarely used, though my dd does occasionally practice her beam dance on it. Avoid the bar. They will outgrow it quickly and the potential for someone to get hurt (including friends' kids visiting) is high.

 

[MaryA]

Yes, what they said...
We have a mat, a floor beam (a soft one that folds in half so it doesn't take up much room) and a pull-up bar. Oh, and a mini trampoline, but that was a gift and not a parent-endorsed purchase! I told my friend who got that for my girls that this year I'm buying her daughter a puppy in retaliation! (Actually, it's been O.K. but I was afraid that they would manage to hurt themselves on it.) I toyed with the idea of buying a jr. kip bar from another family at the gym, but eventually decided against it. They take up a lot of room and I think that, as a level 5, she has pretty much outgrown the need for one.

 

[Blackie6]

Our "home gym" consists of a low balance beam about 5 or 6 feet purchased when she was about 6 yrs old and a 2 inch thick 4 panel mat she got for her Birthday last yr. Loves her beam! If I knew then what I know now, I would have probably bought the full sized floor beam. However, as they move up in levels the time they spend in the gym is plenty time to practice and she doesn't break it out as much as she used to now that she has to juggle school and 16 hrs/week in gym.

 

[standsonherhands]

We have a huge mat that gets all kinds of use (but not usually for gymnastics). We went on-line to gym equipment supply retailers and looked in the clearance and demo section. We found a new but remanent piece of floor mat (gym carpet permanently bonded to 1 3/8 inch cross-linked foam - like what is inside a panel mat). Because they couldn't use it for gym flooring, it didn't cost much more than a big panel mat and it is 24 feet x 6 feet. Because it is the real deal, it feels right and prevents feet slipping out from under my gymmie when she practices. It came with a 4 inch wide strip of velcro (presumably to attach it to other floor pieces) but we use this down the center of the mat as a practice beam. This worked out great for us, but remember to consider the price of shipping because it came to our house on a semi. Although it is a great practice area, the kids usually drape it over the couch and make it into a mountain, fort, car track, etc. most of the time but it really is fun!

 

[gymnastbeth]

Although it is a great practice area, the kids usually drape it over the couch and make it into a mountain, fort, car track, etc. most of the time but it really is fun!

Haha! I'll admit, when I was younger, the majority of use that our panel mat got came from making forts. One of my favorite things to do with it was to stand it up and bend it into a circle. Then I would make my brothers throw pillows in it, and I would jump in, like a foam pit.

Not exactly gymnastics, but still fun, right?