Parents Conditioning...how important?

[KipNurse]

Kind of taking a bit of a poll...opinions...
How important is conditioning in gymnastics? Strength training? I've heard some call it the 5th event...agree or disagree? How long do some of your kiddos strength train? I feel as though it would be a bit of an injury prevention plan...is this right? I heard a coach say they didn't think it necessarily translated to good gymnastics. Not THAT important, they said. Just curious...Rambling questions I realize. Just thinking...

 

[sce]

It is very important. Conditioning builds the foundation for being able to do the skills and especially to have proper technique in the skills.

 

[cbifoja]

Like you said.......it's the 5th event in women's gymnastics.

 

[cbifoja]

I think it's some injury prevention, sure...but also skill acquisition. You just can't do these skills without being extra strong. I got to watch bars today and got to thinking about how strong these girls have to be. My DD's group was working bails. It amazes me to think that they have to have the lower arm/grip strength to be able to catch and HANG ON to that lower bar after they fling themselves off the high bar. And they can't break rhythm. They catch, hang on, and keep working. I'm surprised they all don't resemble Popeye!

 

[MILgymFAM]

I would say it's integral. Every single time I have seen one of my girls struggle with a new skill, it's been either a strength or fear issue. Every time their conditioning is upped they get new skills. My DD who competes t&t has condoning for at least 30 mins of a 2 hr class. My other DD has at least an hour of her 4 hr practices that is conditioning. Since switching from a gym that did nearly no conditioning at all, I can see the difference in everything she does in the gym.

 

[cbifoja]

I agree MILgym. And the level of fitness is astounding. My daughter is fit! No body fat, ripped, abs to die for, guns that Marines envy.....the whole package. But she is having trouble with a core skill because, despite her 8 pack, she has some core issues that need to be fixed. That. Is. Mind. Blowing. To have to be that strong everywhere!

Gymnasts are just amazing.

 

[1canadiangymmom]

agree, 5th event. Minimum 30 min, 4 x week, plus all the side station conditioning while waiting for turns etc, plus part of the 30 min warm up each day is also strength, so I would probably say 5 hours out of 18 each week is actually conditioning, or roughly 28% of the time.

 

[Seeker]

It is very important. Conditioning builds the foundation for being able to do the skills and especially to have proper technique in the skills.

Agree with this statement 100%. Proper conditioning is critical to the success of a gymnast. I would run from a coach that thought otherwise.

 

[rjb123]

As a parent, I would say that I think strength makes everything easier. It just does. Also, (again, no expert here) I think that if a child doesn't have "enough" strength to do a skill, they can often make it happen by compensating in some way or another (form or whatever). This sets them up at risk for injury. If a skill is introduced and they already have the needed strength, and more it seems to come quicker, better, etc. Just my observation.

 

[bogwoppit]

Massively important. My kids are prime examples of what poor conditioning does to a body. It is probably the 1st event, not the 5th.

 

[ZJsMom]

Absolutely the foundation of all gymnastics. If you don't give the kids adequate strength for more difficult skills, it's setting them up to fail. And of course in MAG it's all the more important where there are so many skills based on upper body strength.

 

[skschlag]

my ds will say it is everything. He gets mad when kids "skimp" on it. It really is the way to keep going in this sport.

 

[duyetanh]

It is the key to unlocking and opening the door to success in gymnastics.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

It is the 5th rotation at our gym.

 

[Faolmor]

My DD (nearly 6 yo) has been in a development program for the past year, and up until now (she has just moved up to the last level), it has been 95% conditioning and form-focused and almost no skills whatsoever. The aim is to prepare them to be physically able to do the skills - and presumably to do them well and safely. Without conditioning, they just can't make their bodies hold the proper shape to do the skills correctly and safely. You can see the difference when comparing her group to the gym-for-fun rec kids, who aren't as well conditioned - they're the ones who fall out of their handstands (and I don't just mean over-balance, I mean crumple to the floor), who wobble all over the beam and whose bodies look "soft."

 

[Mrs. Puma]

I'm no expert, but it's HUGE. We just switched gyms and that is one of the biggest changes. My DD more than quadrupled her conditioning time, and her new coaches think this will help her immensely even within a month.

 

[bogwoppit]

I'm no expert, but it's HUGE. We just switched gyms and that is one of the biggest changes. My DD more than quadrupled her conditioning time, and her new coaches think this will help her immensely even within a month.

They are correct.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

It is the foundation. As someone else said it is first.

Our kids have conditioning time, but really it is all the time.

It happens during all their rotations.

Some examples

Doing vault. The kid does vault with coach. As the others vault, they move to the rope, climb using arms only, then hop handstands up to mat, then moving planks back to start of vault.

Doing bars, with coach, cycle by themselves, then pull-ups, then gut busters (bar hanging crunches), back to coach for bars again.

Kids not willing to condition are not going to make it at the upper levels in general.

Kids not willing to condition won't last long at our gym.

 

[Seeker]

I'm no expert, but it's HUGE. We just switched gyms and that is one of the biggest changes. My DD more than quadrupled her conditioning time, and her new coaches think this will help her immensely even within a month.

It will. When we changed gyms a bit more than a year ago, the changes were very quickly noticeable and continued to improve over time. I hope Little Puma sees big changes!

 

[lovemygymnast]

Conditioning is very important!! Length of time isn't necessarily better or worse though. Old gym they did double the conditioning time at beginning & end of practice but didn't get as many rotations as new gym on events. New gym conditions 30-45 minutes but my dd literally gets 5 times the rotations on equipment plus they do some conditioning on each event, so her muscles are very defined & she's super strong now. It's really interesting to see the differences between gyms.