WAG Does your gymnast do any kind of additional training outside of the gym?

[Greyhound]

Just curious to learn if anybody has additional training for their gymnast outside of the gym. By additional training I do not mean privates with any of their coaches in the gym, but rather training that takes place outside of the gym such as additional private gymnastics training, conditioning training, nutritionist or dietician, etc.

 

[claudidoll]

Mine is also a pre-competitive diver, both sets of coaches think it's great cross training for now... But I suspect they will want her to choose one or the other in the next year or so

 

[Greyhound]

That makes sense. I was actually specifically wondering about other gymnastics related training.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

My dd does a daily light conditioning and stretching regiment at home on her off days, it's takes her like 10-15 minutes max, nothing major. Other than that she does do an occasional private dance lesson to help with her dance on floor and beam, but that is actually with our gym in house dance teacher so technically that's not "outside" the gym lol.

 

[MomIdidit!]

DD does her splits on her two nights off and is in constant movement around the house (mostly walking on her hands). The other five nights she really doesn't have anytime to do anything outside of the gym.

 

[ProudDad]

There is life outside the gym???

 

[ShesAMonkey]

There's no time in my DD's schedule for much else at this level (upper level optionals). But if I had to do it all over again, I would sign her up for a dance class. It would have helped her floor skills immensely. She has improved as she's gotten older but the girls on her team who took dance always looked more comfortable/natural out there and scored higher.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

She will condition if taking any days off, but otherwise just bike riding, swimming, shooting hoops or playing football or soccer in the neighborhood.

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

When my dd was younger, I used to make her do conditioning at home and pracitice a few things on floor and beam. Now, she is so tall, that her
head hits the ceiling while she is on the beam that we had made. Now, I started a local gym a couple of months ago and I can take two people with me, so, sometimes she goes and sometimes my brother in law goes with me. On those days, she does mostly weights.

 

[Sneezyone]

DD loves to swim and hit the beach. She has panel mats and a yoga mat to stretch and work splits in her room. She has a chin up bar and stretchy bands too that she uses from time to time. Outside of that, she dances for fun and occasionally hits the gym for cardio w/dad. There's not time for much more and we don't require any of it.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My ODD will do pull up contests with her dad and both my girls take dance class together. My YDD makes sure to do something on her days off because her hours are low. She will swim, ride her bike, use the rowing machine, or jog. She also continues daily to do her physical therapy exercises for her wrist.

 

[LizzieLac]

There isn't a lot of free time, but DD swims laps one day a week and most weeks takes a spinning class the other day off. She does this to improve her cardio, but the spinning class she does with her school friends so there is also a social aspect. She used to be a competitive swimmer and dives, so I think the time in the water just seems more natural to her than running (which she says she hates ).

 

[GymDad9.9]

My daughter spends enough time in the gym between team and TOPS. She needs the extra time to rest, relax and be a kid.

 

[NutterButter]

Oh my gosh, no. There is just no time between gym and school. During breaks DD will work on Doc Ali. She is looking forward to summer break so that she can spend more time on it.

 

[cbifoja]

Mine has recently been wondering if she should do some cardio on her days off since she doesn't feel that is a strong suit of hers but I've discouraged her from doing that after getting some advice from CBers.

The only time she does stuff out of gym is when she is off for an extended period of time. She stares to get antsy and will go workout and do some basics in the basement (stretches, jumps, press handstands, light tumbling).

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Nothing official for my dd, but she's only 8. She's always doing stuff at home on her own though. Don't worry, it's nothing crazy that belongs at the gym. We don't have a bar or beam or anything like that. But she LIKES conditioning and will do a lot of the stretching and core work from the gym at home (v-ups, leg lifts,, planks,etc. ) She's also always doing handstands, cartwheels, round offs, back walkovers, trampoline jumps, etc. around the house.

 

[Anna's_Mom]

Mine does a weekly 1-hr. teen jazz dance class, which seems to be helping both her gymnastics and her musical theater performance. Since she sings and is in the Show Choir at school she also gets lots of dance workouts with that and lots of practice on breath control.

 

[NH~GymMom]

No. Her only coaching for gymnastics comes from her gym and I'm not sure they would look to favorably on us getting additional external private lessons for her. She doesn't need a nutritionist or dietician and if she did I wouldn't consider it training or even conditioning for gym, just part of keeping her healthy.

 

[scgymmom322]

My five year old takes a combination ballet and tap class (1 hour a week) in addition to training 4 hours a week in the gym. My 7 year old takes ballet, jazz, and hip hop (45 min per class, all in a row) in addition to training 9 hours a week in the gym. Their coaches encourage dance lessons, and I will keep them in at least ballet while it still fits with our schedule, and as long as they are enjoying it and not feeling overwhelmed by activities.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

No, somehow she has gotten to 20 hours a week at age 9. It has been a gradual process that has kind of snuck up on us. Spare time, which amazingly it seems she has a fair amount of, is spent on her scooter, rollerblades, American Girl Dolls, and Legos.