Parents Bars for home...

[Teammom]

I've read on this site that some people are totally against gym equipment at home. But, I'd like to buy my daughter a kip bar for her to practice on at home (with me spotting!). She's 5 years old. Any suggestions?

 

[Really]

Yeah, people here worry about the safety of at-home equipment, but DD plays every chance she gets on outdoor horizontal bars, including the ones they have on her playground at school. For her birthday, our neighbor (who is a handyman) built her one of these outdoor chin-up bars and we plan to just raise the bar when she gets taller. For inside she just has a chin-up bar that hangs on the door frame, her team coaches recommended in L2 that we get one of those so they could work on building upper body strength at home. So no pull-overs for her inside the house! Sorry I have no recommendations for a bar set to purchase. I just did not want to give up that much indoor space in my home, but I think the right kid could get a lot of use out of bars, rings, ropes, and other active equipment if their outdoor options are limited. Good luck!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I've read on this site that some people are totally against gym equipment at home. But, I'd like to buy my daughter a kip bar for her to practice on at home (with me spotting!). She's 5 years old. Any suggestions?

Yes, don't do it........

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Yes, don't do it........

Yes what coach p said.

She is 5. Playing on the playground is a good idea. And gym in gym.

 

[Texasmomof3]

We have a door frame chin up bar at home. That's it.

Leave gymnastics and spotting skills in the gym.

 

[mommeeluv]

I say go for it if you think she will use it

 

[Teammom]

@Really I'd love one of those pull up bars! Too bad my husband isn't handy at all. Maybe I'll see if a handyman could make one.

I did competitive gymnastics growing up. My neighbor had a bar & a balance beam. We played every afternoon on it!! Amazing we never got hurt because we had no adult supervision!!

We have a pull up bar at home. She does pull-ups and leg lifts most nights.

 

[NutterButter]

I suggest you let your DD's coach know that you'd like to get her a bar and spot her on kips. See if they have any suggestions.

 

[profmom]

What's the hurry? She's five. If she picks up bad habits at home, you could delay her acquisition of a good kip by months or even years.

 

[seoulmama]

What's the hurry? She's five. If she picks up bad habits at home, you could delay her acquisition of a good kip by months or even years.

This! I am sure you can safely spot her since she is only 5, but the thing people don't take into account is the bad form/habits that are easy to develop on home equipment. Just google videos of kids doing gymnastics on trampolines to see the bad (and most often, scary) form.

 

[mom2557]

My kids love having a bar but we found it quickly became more of a toy than something with which to practice on. Its just too different and they quickly outgrow it. They use it for mock olympics and as part of obstacle courses. The most important thing for us is the mat. We have an 8" that came with the bar and I don't think we would have the bar without it.

 

[SuperMama]

her team coaches recommended in L2 that we get one of those so they could work on building upper body strength at home

I'm curious, what do the coaches recommend for home at this level and how often?

I've over heard a few mom's at my DD's gym talking about their at home bars and I almost feel like my DD is at a disadvantage on bars because we don't have at home gym equipment and she doesn't get very much time in the gym at this stage. It seems strange to me that these have become almost the norm but I would like to get the pull up bar for at home conditioning for he whole family.

 

[Really]

I think it's different at every gym. DD is level 4 now. They no longer get "conditioning homework," but they did at L2. They got something that changed weekly. A certain number of pull-up, leg lifts, etc to do on each day that they didn't have practice. I wish I knew what they all were called and looked like, but the coaches explained it to the kids and DD was very good about doing all that stuff independently. I never worried about making her do it; she either did it on her own or it didn't happen.

She also uses the chin-up bars more when the gym is on vacation, to burn off her excess energy. She usually uses the outdoor chin-up bar because that one is already set up for her, but she'll ask me to hang up the indoor one when it's raining. Full disclosure: she doesn't just do chin ups and pull ups on the outdoor bar. She uses it like most kids would use monkey bars: to spin on, do "roly-polys" and other unnamed fun playground tricks, but she also does hip circles, stride circles, kips and tap swings. I do not worry about her form and technique during these types of play. For me, the bar is an open-ended outdoor toy for my kids to creatively release some of their natural energy. Sometimes she uses it to do gymnastics, if that's what's fun for her at that moment. Sometimes she just sits on top of it and chats with her brother. Sometime we hang an extra swing from it. I am fine with however she wants to use it as long as she stays safe. Her brother, not a gymnast, uses it like a monkey bar. I think anybody purchasing an indoor kip bar should be prepared for their kids to use the pricier gymnastics bar set in this manner. I just didn't want to dedicate the space inside my house and have to worry about getting rid of/selling the bar set when it became outgrown. The outdoor chin-up bar seemed like a good solution that DH and I could even theoretically use ourselves. If we ever did chin ups.

I'm curious, what do the coaches recommend for home at this level and how often?

I've over heard a few mom's at my DD's gym talking about their at home bars and I almost feel like my DD is at a disadvantage on bars because we don't have at home gym equipment and she doesn't get very much time in the gym at this stage. It seems strange to me that these have become almost the norm but I would like to get the pull up bar for at home conditioning for he whole family.

 

[Sasha]

Do you have plenty of space and money to burn on not only the bar set, but proper safety matting (yes kids land on their heads - carpet may not be enough)? Will you not only insist on safe usage rules, but monitor closely and reinforce infractions with real consequences? What about when friends come over? Are you prepared to set firm limits and supervise those children too? If you plan on spotting basic skills, are you trained, or are you a smart, athletically inclined person who will carefully learn the techniques from a coach or multiple videos?

Do you realize that after Level 3 and Kip there is really nothing left on a home bar that can be done safely? (No high casting, no giants, etc)? So the lifespan of this investment is very short?

If enthusiastic YESs to all the above, then go for it.

It will be a monkey bar, a laundry hanger, and taking up space in your garage soon enough, but if a few weeks to months of fun is worth it for you, then have at!

Confession: My DD's school playground had a chin-up bar about the height of a low bar. Sometimes I would spot her on kips after carefully watching coaches and absorbing instructional videos. She also did those drills on her own where you hook one knee over the bar, then do a basket swing under, and try to swing back up with straight arms while one knee is hooked over the bar. She got good at those. This was all short lived and she got her kip pretty quickly. Maybe drills helped, maybe not. But I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I didn't give in and fork over a few hundred dollars (more for mats) for an actual kip bar. Those things are rickety as heck. Also can't be used as closet rods because the bar is too thick.

But at level 7 she still enjoys the folding floor beam for playing around with some cartwheel sometimes, and the panel mat for basic fun. So we are not against a little equipment. But mostly bars are least practical - space hogging, unsteady, and not so useful for anything beyond a kip and playing around.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I'm curious, what do the coaches recommend for home at this level and how often?

I've over heard a few mom's at my DD's gym talking about their at home bars and I almost feel like my DD is at a disadvantage on bars because we don't have at home gym equipment and she doesn't get very much time in the gym at this stage. It seems strange to me that these have become almost the norm but I would like to get the pull up bar for at home conditioning for he whole family.

From Coachp below, don't

Yes, don't do it........

As far as other parents, my mom used to say if everyone jumps off a bridge are you going to follow

She had a point.

Most coaches would say leave the gymnastics to gym. Most would rather not undo bad form, habits and technique that have become muscle memory.

Most would recommend at home conditioning if anything. And most would be happy to give you a list. My daughter has a "vacation" program for when we go away.

My experience is different Really. At our gym, less then L4 the coaches say off time is off time. They coaches would say they are little, go enjoy your time off, play, run, swim, have fun and leave gym to gym. L4 and up the expectation is they condition. Especially if they are going to missing practice, for things like vacation. They are also expected to run through the non tumbling leaping portion of their floor.

 

[SuperMama]

I agree with not caving for the bar for all of the reasons mentioned so far. I'm just shocked that so many of the girls in my DD class have them. Seems like when it starts to become the norm it creates a disparity in the progress of the group.

It's like they're all within a similar range on other events but then on bars the ones who are "practicing" at home are able to do the skills faster. I will say though that when I watch the skills are noticeably sloppier then the girls who seem to be learning them in the gym.

I am supportive of letting DD do some conditioning in the off hours. I'm just not sure at her age how much is too much or too little.

From Coachp below, don't



As far as other parents, my mom used to say if everyone jumps off a bridge are you going to follow

She had a point.

Most coaches would say leave the gymnastics to gym. Most would rather not undo bad form, habits and technique that have become muscle memory.

Most would recommend at home conditioning if anything. And most would be happy to give you a list. My daughter has a "vacation" program for when we go away.

My experience is different Really. At our gym, less then L4 the coaches say off time is off time. They coaches would say they are little, go enjoy your time off, play, run, swim, have fun and leave gym to gym. L4 and up the expectation is they condition. Especially if they are going to missing practice, for things like vacation. They are also expected to run through the non tumbling leaping portion of their floor.

 

[Really]

Many of the gymnasts on DD's team have bars, trampolines and home beams too. I do think those girls have gotten their skills/progressed faster. But they've also gotten injured more. By the time meet season has rolled around, though, DD's gotten all the skills she needs to perform successfully at meets with tight form, and made good progress on the skills for the next level. AND the coaches have also generally cleaned up the form of the girls who taught themselves skills on home equipment, but they've grumbled a lot about having to do it. We don't have any actual gymnastics bars at home, just the outdoor chin-up bar. But DD's school playground has many monkey bars of different kinds, rings and high and low horizontal bars. She plays on the playground bars ALL the time and I actually credit the design of her school playground for her remarkable upper body strength. There are some school playgrounds that just don't have the same opportunity for the kind of activity that kids get if they have longer monkey bars, low and high bars (that even the shorter kids can use), ENOUGH equipment that all the kids who want to play can get a turn without worrying about collisions, etc. I really think if we want our kids (in the general population, not even just gymnast kids) to get enough activity, we need to put more thought into the design of our school playgrounds. My point, robyntai24, is that your kiddo can get lots of the "conditioning" that she needs in a play format. Hopefully there's a good playground near you. I've seen some playgrounds with electronic lights and sounds (!) that are really pretty lame for encouraging kids to explore through movement. They just play on the electronics like it was a video game. Grrr.

Deleted member 18037, I thought it was weird too how they dropped the conditioning homework starting in L4, but our gym has different coaches for L2/3 and 4+, so it might be a philosophical difference between the coaches? At any rate, DD's coaches also suggest that home conditioning be done if a long vacation is planned. Beginning in level 3, DD was declining to do any of the conditioning homework. "I already do enough conditioning at the gym. I'm just going to read a book!" Fine by me.

I agree with not caving for the bar for all of the reasons mentioned so far. I'm just shocked that so many of the girls in my DD class have them. Seems like when it starts to become the norm it creates a disparity in the progress of the group.

It's like they're all within a similar range on other events but then on bars the ones who are "practicing" at home are able to do the skills faster. I will say though that when I watch the skills are noticeably sloppier then the girls who seem to be learning them in the gym.

I am supportive of letting DD do some conditioning in the off hours. I'm just not sure at her age how much is too much or too little.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Deleted member 18037, I thought it was weird too how they dropped the conditioning homework starting in L4, but our gym has different coaches for L2/3 and 4+, so it might be a philosophical difference between the coaches? At any rate, DD's coaches also suggest that home conditioning be done if a long vacation is planned. Beginning in level 3, DD was declining to do any of the conditioning homework. "I already do enough conditioning at the gym. I'm just going to read a book!" Fine by me.

I think the hours at gym is probably a factor too. At most gyms the hours increase big time at L4. If the kid is in the gym 5 days a week, 2 days off of conditioning is not a big deal and actually probably a good idea.

Our gym is lower hours. The most hour our kids do (not counting camp time, during summer) is 12 a week. So I'm sure that is part of it.

On a side note the kid in my daughters group who is best on bars. conditions with her Dad for fun (it's their kid and Dad bonding time, Dad is a boys school coach/teacher). Her core and upper body strength is amazing. I have no doubt it helps her bars. But it was conditioning at home not gymnastics at home that did it.

And Really, good for your girl. For enjoying her downtime epithet a book.

 

[e'smum]

i have one. i would love to get rid of it. spent big bucks for the extra legs and a (single) bar that holds up to kip CH. it's a really nice bar. i also bought sandbags for each of the legs and a crash pad. we already had a 2 inch mat that we put under it as well. it's a solid bar. nicer than some in our gym. i wish i had my money back. and i'm dying to sell it but dh says no b/c we spent so much money on it. it's basically brand new.

it does lower so she could safely practice pirouettes if she wanted to. but she's at the point to where she thinks she already spends too much time at the gym so it's sitting in our shed taking up space. it was used for play. the mats she will pull out to make videos now. haha.

i'd say get a bar if you think she will use it and you are ok with spending that money for some play equipment. but ditto on what others have said about bad form. if she starts working on kips at the gym, she may want to practice at home. and that is why i bought ours but it did not help her get it any quicker. and she really didn't use it. i so wish i hadn't bought one. i want the space in our shed. i'd love to make it a man cave. that bar set is taking up 1/3 of the space.

ps - if our gym moves to a bigger space, maybe i will barter with the owner for a couple of months tuition for the bar set and crash pad! lol

 

[gymnastics24.7]

We have the jr. bar pro by tumbl trak. I have three girls in gymnastics and they love it. they are levels 6,7, and 9, but I have never seen them do a skill higher than level 4 other than a cast handstand on it. They love making up routines. We have it for recreational purposes, they don't work higher skills on it. It's fun and they love it. I personally think it's a fun addition, but because she's young i recommend adult supervision.