At home program for L3 5yo?

[IrenicMom]

If I could have chosen strength and flexibility, it would have been more accurate.

My brand new L3 is beyond excited to start "big girl team" in two weeks. She'll go 2x/week for 2 hrs/each, which is only a slight increase from the schedule she's kept (at *her* request) for the last year (2x/week, 1.5 hrs/each). She's a little disappointed that it's not more.

She's asked what she can do at home, and her coaches just say "work on strength and flexibility". Sounds great, but they haven't given her specifics.

What would you recommend as a starting schedule? I'm sure I could devise something, but thought I'd get input from more experienced folks!

Thanks for any insight.

 

[bogwoppit]

So if your coaches say "work on strength and flexibilty at home", you should ask them to show you exactly what they mean.

Personally I think that being active at home is the key to good health for any kid. Swimming, biking, playing in the park etc.

As L3 training 4 hours a week she should do fine without home coaching and just be having fun with the sports. YOu will find that if you try and coach at home that your DD might become resistant to gym and all the fun that it brings.

 

[gymdog]

I would ask them but I agree about the just trying different physical things which build coordination and endurance. One of the biggest things I see is that kids lack a "natural" run. At this age and size just running around can build strength because they cover a lot of ground with their smaller bodies. Swimming, again, great for bilateral coordination and muscular endurance.

I wouldn't create a regimen, just supervise her a bit and provide suggestions or prompts if she asks. I think it's great for them to get additional activity and exercise but I think when weather and circumstances allow it's best for it to be "playing" and physical activity that is fun and can include other kids and family members.

 

[IrenicMom]

Oh, there is plenty of running around - she has two brothers to keep up with!! Now that we're into summer, we'll be in the pool just about daily. She plays soccer, lacrosse and basketball with the boys regularly (just in the backyard - nothing organized). As a family, we go on walks, play at playgrounds and parks, ride bikes, etc. All three of my kiddos are going fairly non-stop from sun up to sun down during the summer, and barely manage to sit still long enough for school during the academic year.

I wish she were satisfied with the gym time, but she's begging me for more. She brought it up with her coaches (one of whom will also be a coach on L3). I don't want a "you must do this every day" type of thing, but rather, when she asks, ideas for what she can do. She already does push ups and sit ups of her own volition. She begs to do pull-ups and other bar strength things (leg lifts, flexed arm hang, etc). Mostly, she's a crazy little thing with energy and a love of all things gymnastics coming out her ears.

But then again, this is the same girl who explained to me that she **needed** to take ballet. Why? Because, and her exact words were "Because it will help me with my artistic elements."

This one? This one keeps me on my toes!

 

[bogwoppit]

I had one of those, keeping her busy was a challenge, but I managed somehow. She loved homemade obstacle courses and going on "treasure hunts" in the woods. She would spend hours in the pool too.

Gyms will give the hours that they feel is approapriate for the programme and the gymnast. SO after that the parents just need to keep them busy.

 

[BlairBob]

Get one of those doorframe pullup bars. You can find them at Walmart for about $14.

She can work pullups, L-hangs, leglifts and skin the cats.

Define a space she work a HS against the wall.

And if you really want to, make her a set of PVC parallettes.

Conditioning Tips Drills and Exercises. Find sport specific conditioning for gymnastics. Will help in all sports

Gymnastics Image Display

Strength&Conditioning guides including a section on stretching.

Parallette Training - Volume 1 Basic parallette training (mini Parallel Bars)

Calisthenics - Conditioning Without Equiptment Conditioning without any equipment.

Stretching and Flexibility Stretching

She sounds very young, so for now I won't prescribe any amount of how many repetitions and sets. Just let her do them when she feels like so it's "play".

If she asks how long to hold a stretch, suggest maybe 20-30s. "See how long before it starts to hurt."

Aside from all of this, the kids who are the most fit are sometimes the one's who are constantly active. Years ago, I had a very young girl around 6-7 who didn't talk much as she was from Central America and shy as a button. Her mom told me she was constantly active whenever she wasn't at the gym 1-2 days a week.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Its not always a good idea to have her work on her strength at home. At this age she won't be able to tell if her body shape is exactly correct. If she practices a lot at home she may be practicing the wrong body shape and this can create problems which can take years to correct. Stretching is a bit safer, she can do her splits and things, she is unlikely to pull a muscle at her age.

Knowing kids of this age, I really don't think you'll have much of an issue. She will decide what she wants to practice, there will be back walkovers in the dining room, pullovers on the tree branches outside and probably not long and she will try a back handspring on her bed.

If she wants more gym, I would recommend building up the hours with some dance training. Ballet classes and jazz classes about 2 days a week. Dance will give her floor and beam work a wonderful quality, and the effects on her posture will benefit everything. As she gets older she will probably end up training a lot of hours, so its good to get the dance training in earlier.

 

[Shelovesthebars]

IrenicMom- Dance is great for gymnastics. That would be my first choice as a supplement to gymnastics. My dd takes ballet, tap and acro. I also bought a pair of parallettes for my daughter when she was 4. She used to try to use our high bar chairs as parallettes so I quickly got on ebay and ordered a set. The where a little pricier than homemade ones but I figured it was either that or a trip to the ER! They are in her playroom and she uses them when she wants too. The chin up bar in the doorway is a good idea too. I will have to get one. We have a preschool bar at home but she has outgrown it not because of her weight but because of her power. I was also told to that a kid cannot ever do enough handstands! I am so excited to have another mommy on here with a 5 year old level 3! I hope we can help each other out.

 

[MdGymMom01]

I agree that dance is a great supplement to gymnastics! DD started taking ballet when she started gymnastics two years ago and it has greatly helped her floor and beam. Her ballet teachers have noticed her strength and flexibility (thanks to gymnastics) and have recommended her for pre-pointe and pointe this summer. So the dance and gymnastics definitely go hand in hand and complement each other beautifully.

 

[Pickle's Mom]

Once she starts on team, there will probably be skills she's not quite getting in the gym that she wants to work on at home. I think every girl on Pickle's team has practiced Stalder presses in the living room at some time.

At times when Pickle's boundless energy needs some focus (and it's raining and I'm cooking dinner) I'll suggest that she do the stretching warm up routine that they do at the gym. The girls take turns leading it during workouts (it's a big honor), so sometimes she forces her little brother to play the gymnast.

 

[Stretchsportguy]

I love BlairBob's answer. A plus on that.
I would add a ballet bar to BlairBob's list. Installed on a wall plus a big mirror to watch herself for perfect technique. She can condition and stretch watching everything she does in the mirror. A mirror is a huge advantage. When she gets her kick-overs and walkovers later she can watch her legs, feet, back, head position, etc., in the mirror while she's upside down to make sure she feels the difference between sloppy and perfect.

 

[wendy1972]

I dont recommend strength at home because of poor form, but we always like our preteam to practice stretching. I especially like our kids to do shoulder (cat)stretches and splits. I cannot stress enough how many children are lacking proper shoulder flexibility.