Women cancelled practice

[ivyagogo]

We had to cancel practice tonight because it's too hot. For those gyms without air conditioning - what do you do to keep it cool enough for gymnastics? We have several big fans placed by the doors, but I don't think they really do anything other than make it impossible to talk while being heard.

 

[raenndrops]

You need to make sure hot air is exhausting out... if you happen to be one of the lucky gyms with high windows, you can put a window fan (or 2 or 3) in them and set it to exhaust outward. Since hot air rises, that will not only dispel the hottest air, but it will help the fans circulate cooler air.

Our "new" gym has 2 ceiling fans that ACTUALLY do help a little. On really hot days, HC encourages extra water breaks and breaks to lay under the ceiling fan (one is above FX)... and puts 3 fans around the floor for the breaks. This does help.

 

[ivyagogo]

We don't have any windows at all. We just have a few doors that we open to try and get some kind of cross breeze. It's been well into the 90s all day and it is excruciatingly humid. It was already bad out when I took the dogs outside at 6:30 in the morning!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Use it to your advantage by doing clinics and shaping with the kids. Go to Home Depot and get some commercial fans (used for drying paint etc...). Put them around the gym on any walls or polls, not on the ground. You don't want any little ones putting fingers in them.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

Lots of water breaks, using the injury ice to rub on inside of wrists and back of neck, having water fights at break...

 

[chalkbowl]

We switch practice to the morning in the summer due to the heat issue, only things that seems to help with the heat + humidity combination in the gym by afternoon/evening.

 

[rosettasmom]

Our gym does team kids in the mornings, takes lot of water breaks and on really hot days they take a freeze pop and cut it in half once or twice during practice. Parents donate them at the beginning of summer so they have a stock on hand and frozen.

 

[RisingGymnast]

Our gym has huge fans (the ones that have stands, not box fans or ceiling fans). We have them placed around the gym. We are allowed to stand at them whenever needed. Our coach will stand and spray water into the fan, while we stand in a line and we get misted. She will also spray us individually. Make sure the girls are hydrating too!

 

[catou]

We have 3 big fans, but it was definitely really hot this morning and so humid. The temperature we felt was around 90 degrees.We have a plastic box where we place the gymnasts' water bottles. We bring it with us everywhere we go in the gym. This way girls have an easy access to water. They are allowed to drink whenever they want. We don't have any window and we train in the gymnasium of a high school, that doesn't have air conditioning.

There are rec and team practice in the morning, team practices in the afternoon, and rec again in the evening. Coaching a 3 year old class with the temperature we have these days is certainly a challenge.

And parents please, make sure your kid isn't dress as if it was a winter school day. I know summer is short here, but still. I've had a kid coming to gym wearing long leggins and along sleeved shirt to rec class last week... Some without a water bottle... Some others with their hair loose...

 

[PalmTree]

Having worked at three gyms without air conditioners, and now working at one WITH air - - there really is no comparison. As a gym owner, it would be one of my top priorities to get enough money for air. The kids do so much better. It's worth it, in my opinion, for the results you get.

 

[myliljunebugs]

I can't imagine not having A/C. In our area it would be unheard of for a HOME to be without A/C much less a business, particularly a gym! We usually hit 90 degrees by 10 am in our area plus humidity at this time of year so there would just be no way that would be safe for the hours these girls put in. This year has been unseasonably cool, but we are still hitting 90+ most days so I just can't imagine. That combined with DD not sweating, she would be heat sick in no time flat.

 

[Aussie_coach]

We don't cancel practice if it is too hot and it gets quite hot here, we also don't have air conditioning.

In the warmer weather we will have more frequent drink breaks and just keep a closer eye on the kids. If they show any signs of heat exhaustion we will have them sit and rest for a while. We do a shorter warm up and keep the physically demanding work until the evening when it has cooled down.

We have some fans and whirly birds in the ceiling to help circulate the warm air.

 

[jessmomto2]

It has been in the high nineties here for a few weeks and my daughters gym is still having practices. She unfortunately also practices at 4:00 so it's awful hot. They have large garage door in the gym that they open and some industrial size fans that keeps it a little cooler on the gym floor. They also have more frequent water breaks.

 

[beachgirl]

DD has a water bottle that sprays ice water mist. We live where it is usually in the 90s during summer and fall and the gym has no a/c. They have huge fans in the ceiling, the brand is Big A@@ fans and they just installed smaller fans all over that blow out mist that evaporates before it hits anything. The mist has made a tremendous improvement. Wondering what the water bill be like though and we are having a drought.

 

[Hayleigh]

We all bring towels ( small ones ) to keep the sweat on the surface to a minimum, keep our hair up in a tight bun or looped up pony tail ( to prevent hair sticking to us ) extra drink breaks, all windows and doors are open. Conditioning is at the end of the session at either 8pm or 8:30pm depending on the day, so that it's cooler. We all have water spray for our guards so we spray ourselves with that. Our coaches also try to avoid any extremely hard work until it's cooler in the evening. Luckily, this time of year is new routines time, so we are spending time making floor routines and doing strap bar work and working moves onto competition regulation equipment, so it's a fun time of year.

 

[2G1B]

Could you use some big fans to make like mega swamp coollers?