Comprehensive Conditioning with Limited Time

[coachmolly]

I've mentioned before that I'm working with a HS team, one where none of the girls have a background in competitive gymnastics. The most experienced girls have been involved in a strictly rec. program with more of an emphasis on throwing new skills and having fun rather than strength, flexibility, and learning skills through proper progressions. Needless to say, I'm really trying to work on developing solid base strength in a very limited amount of time with limited resources (and desire to condition and re-learn basics).
I'm working on developing a conditioning program that is effective for their needs, but also balanced to prevent injury and mindful of the missing foundation and increased likelihood of injury. So, ideally I want to implement exercises that are skill specific, but also serve as injury prevention. I also want to make sure I'm balancing muscle groups/opposing muscles as much as possible to avoid creating potential injuries.
Anyway, here is a list I have developed so far (with plans to pick a few each day), and I would love comments or additions from the more experienced/knowledgeable coaches out there. Thanks so much in advance for any comments/suggestions(and for reading through this novel of a post!).
Kip Conditioning:
L-Hangs (15-30 seconds)
V-Hangs (5-10 seconds)
V-Hang push toes to ceiling
Leg lifts (no arch)
Drop kips
Jump to front support-cast back


Legs:
Lunges
Lunges w/weights
Toe raises
Heel raises
Wall sits
Candlestick-Jumps
Frog Jumps


Arms:
Chin-Ups
Dips
Push-Ups (hands on bleachers)
Push-Ups (feet on bleachers)
Chin-Up pullovers
Handstand blocks
Handstand walks
Handstand holds w/partner (30 secs)


Abs/Core:
Hollow Wheelbarrows w/partner
Hollow holds
V-Ups
N-Ups/Knee-Ups/Whatever you call them
Hollow hold w/upper body off mat and partner holding feet
Crunches


Back:
Arch-Ups
Arch/Superman hold
Arch ups on vault/spotting block (upper body hanging off- partner holding feet)

 

[BlairBob]

I don't think you need to bother doing wall sits. They are quad dominant. If anything they need to focus on glute and hamstring work.

Besides Glute Ham raises (which are quite difficult) you can start out easier by doing glute bridges and add a hamstring curl by using either a frisbee, furniture slider, or yoga ball. Then just using one leg instead of 2. Then move on towards the glute ham raise.

For lower body strength, one leg jumps/run or another good drill. I warm these up with lateral one foot hops but eventually the goal is to cover as much length per jump.

Arch ups (Back extensions) get fairly easy. If you have small DB, you can weight them and they can hold the weight behind their neck with their hands.

Superman holds and superman reverse leg lifts will get pretty easy by themself. The next step is doing them inverted on a set of stall bars or headstand/handstand leg lifts while upside down.

Another good lower back exercise is the skin the cat. You can focus on the lower back by going from a basket hang (invert pike) to german hang and pulling back to basket. This is harder than a reverse leg lift inverted on stall bars.

Incline pushups where the hands are higher than their feet are only useful if they are very weak.

Windshield wipers down laying down or from a hang on a bar and body levers are another good exercise.

For straight arm conditioning for the kip, have them sit in a straddle and raise their arms from the ground to overhead with a weighted bar or two DB. Have them sit with their back against the wall and don't allow them to arch their back and stick out their ribs as they lift the weight.

 

[coachmolly]

Thank you!
The girls are, as a whole, pretty weak. They have limited gymnastics experience and many view it as an "off season" sport for fun. Those who do other sports are largely involved in leg-dominant activities (track/soccer), so upper body and core strength are lacking. So I like to throw in a few "easier" exercises every now and then so they can continue making progress but not actually feel like I am absolutely torturing them, which has been the general consensus since I started organizing the conditioning program a little more.
What are glute bridges? I just threw wall sits in there because I figured it would add some element of balance, but I would definitely be willing to remove that if I had some other options for leg work.
I actually just added skin the cats to my list before I saw your response, so glad to see you second that addition. I'm not sure how well they will do with them, but it's worth a shot. And what exactly do you mean by the inverted superman work? I'm picturing something like a press handstand against the wall and I have a feeling that's not what you're talking about. I had them do heel drives yesterday (hug the vault and lift heels- perhaps reverse leg lifts?) and that was quite a challenge for them.
I like the idea of one leg jump work as well. Fast twitch type actions seem to be a weakness for many of them so this might help at least a little in that respect. And I like the straight arm kip strength idea, very easy to implement with what we have on hand.
Thanks so much for the great advice! I opted for the less practical college degree in Religious Studies so basically everything I know about strength/conditioning and exercise science type stuff has been self taught and I'm the first to admit I need all the help I can get!

 

[marie83]

I don't think you need to bother doing wall sits. They are quad dominant. If anything they need to focus on glute and hamstring work.

Besides Glute Ham raises (which are quite difficult) you can start out easier by doing glute bridges and add a hamstring curl by using either a frisbee, furniture slider, or yoga ball. Then just using one leg instead of 2. Then move on towards the glute ham raise.

For lower body strength, one leg jumps/run or another good drill. I warm these up with lateral one foot hops but eventually the goal is to cover as much length per jump.

Arch ups (Back extensions) get fairly easy. If you have small DB, you can weight them and they can hold the weight behind their neck with their hands.

Superman holds and superman reverse leg lifts will get pretty easy by themself. The next step is doing them inverted on a set of stall bars or headstand/handstand leg lifts while upside down.

Another good lower back exercise is the skin the cat. You can focus on the lower back by going from a basket hang (invert pike) to german hang and pulling back to basket. This is harder than a reverse leg lift inverted on stall bars.

Incline pushups where the hands are higher than their feet are only useful if they are very weak.
Windshield wipers down laying down or from a hang on a bar and body levers are another good exercise.

For straight arm conditioning for the kip, have them sit in a straddle and raise their arms from the ground to overhead with a weighted bar or two DB. Have them sit with their back against the wall and don't allow them to arch their back and stick out their ribs as they lift the weight.

Can you describe the bold bit for me please?

 

[BlairBob]

Glute Bridge Slide out

[video=youtube;TBrNZpH9a2M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBrNZpH9a2M[/video]

[video=youtube;Gv8K_yPcBLY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv8K_yPcBLY[/video]

The Inverted Leg lifts start out as a Headstand press variation. So basically in headstand go from a tucked to straight leg. then straddle and pike press HS. Then bent arm Headstand presses and straight arm presses which get harder because of the upper body strength needed to stay held up.

 

[marie83]

Thank you!