cbifoja
Proud Parent
My L8 daughter recently switched to a new gym and while she is great physical condition, she is really struggling with their cardiovascular workout. Her old gym used running as part of their warm up but sustained cardiovascular activity wasn't a big part of their workout. At the new gym, it is. And DD is struggling to keep up. She is far enough behind that while completing the circuit, she has had to leave the gym to toss her cookies before she could keep going.
It isn't just the running. The running is only a small part of it. As they run laps around their fairly large gym (22000 sq ft), they also have to do beam laps over 7 high beams (hands only, no touching the beams with your legs or feet), and sets of 15 jumps up to blocks during each lap. I have no idea how many laps they run but it usually takes the girls about 20 minutes to complete all this cardio.
Personally, I would absolutely DIE (literally die from heart failure!) if I had to do this cardio. But DD isn't used to being behind the curve when it comes to physical fitness and it is really discouraging to her. She participates in 3 and 5Ks a couple times a year for fun, but she doesn't do serious training for them.
I'm not really questioning whether or not it is worth her time to do it or not. Regardless of different opinions about how much cardio gymnasts need, it is part of her gym's training for better or worse. What I am wondering is if on top of the 2o hours of week she will be in the gym this summer, she should be training during her off days. And if so, what should she be doing? If she shouldn't be adding more training, how long would you guess it would take a healthy kid to get up to speed to this level of cardio?
It isn't just the running. The running is only a small part of it. As they run laps around their fairly large gym (22000 sq ft), they also have to do beam laps over 7 high beams (hands only, no touching the beams with your legs or feet), and sets of 15 jumps up to blocks during each lap. I have no idea how many laps they run but it usually takes the girls about 20 minutes to complete all this cardio.
Personally, I would absolutely DIE (literally die from heart failure!) if I had to do this cardio. But DD isn't used to being behind the curve when it comes to physical fitness and it is really discouraging to her. She participates in 3 and 5Ks a couple times a year for fun, but she doesn't do serious training for them.
I'm not really questioning whether or not it is worth her time to do it or not. Regardless of different opinions about how much cardio gymnasts need, it is part of her gym's training for better or worse. What I am wondering is if on top of the 2o hours of week she will be in the gym this summer, she should be training during her off days. And if so, what should she be doing? If she shouldn't be adding more training, how long would you guess it would take a healthy kid to get up to speed to this level of cardio?