Women Gymnast build question - just curious

[gymnastmom38]

My soon to be 11 yo dd has always been more of a shorter, powerful type gymnast where pretty much all of her teammates are the longer leaner type. She's often referred to herself as a "Shawn Johnson" type as opposed to a "Nastia" type. Her shirts and pants are increasingly difficult to fit as she tends to build muscle quickly.

I tend to look around during meets to see what other gymnasts are built like and notice my dd is definitely in the minority when it comes to her build.

This got me curious, when it comes to the gymnasts here on this board, would you say your daughter is built more like a "Shawn" or a "Nastia"?

 

[BarCoach]

Out of the 9 girls in my group I have two Shawns and two Nastias. And 4 that I would say are a great mix of the two. And one who has gotten as far as she has from hard work but is tall and not lean and lacks both strength and flexibility. But these are only level 4s so I would expect to have a different answer once they reach optionals.

 

[gymnastmom38]

Just curious...does their body shape tend to change some by the time they get to optionals? Or do you find once they have a certain body type they stay that way? Thanks for your input!

Out of the 9 girls in my group I have two Shawns and two Nastias. And 4 that I would say are a great mix of the two. And one who has gotten as far as she has from hard work but is tall and not lean and lacks both strength and flexibility. But these are only level 4s so I would expect to have a different answer once they reach optionals.

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

My dd is "Shawn" type. She's bulky but not fat at all. She's solid as a rock! She's so short as well compared to the other girls in our gym. But she's powerful, just not as graceful.

 

[ladybird]

I have a Shawn and she is definitely in the minority at our gym.

 

[kandkfunk]

I too have more of a Shawn. She is very short (her torso is much longer than her legs - to the point that her 5'1'' self is about as tall as her 5'10" dad when they are sitting down). Clothes are so challenging, especially pants. She is constantly buying sizes to fit her thighs, but they end up being way big in the waist. And, she can never wear boot cut jeans. Only skinny jeans can be rolled enough for her to wear them without spending a ton on hemming. For shirts, she has to make sure there is enough shoulder room for her swimmer type shoulders. Button down tops are usually a no-go.

She is definitely the minority in her gym. Her level 8 teammate used to be the long, lean and graceful type until puberty hit. Now she is more muscular, although she has retained a lot of her gracefulness. She is now more of a cross between Nastia and Shawn.

 

[gymnastmom38]

Aren't skinny jeans a blessing?! My dd wears skinny jeans and jeggings from Justice and they seem to be the only thing that fit her. I have no idea where to go after she doesn't want to wear her Justice jeans anymore. Although she also likes to wear yoga capri pants as well. Boot cuts...what are those? lol. She's never been able to wear those.

Definitely swimmer type shoulders going on now. Since they've changed conditioning lately her muscles are starting to pop even more now...not that she needed it! Shirts are definitely becoming a challenge.

I too have more of a Shawn. She is very short (her torso is much longer than her legs - to the point that her 5'1'' self is about as tall as her 5'10" dad when they are sitting down). Clothes are so challenging, especially pants. She is constantly buying sizes to fit her thighs, but they end up being way big in the waist. And, she can never wear boot cut jeans. Only skinny jeans can be rolled enough for her to wear them without spending a ton on hemming. For shirts, she has to make sure there is enough shoulder room for her swimmer type shoulders. Button down tops are usually a no-go.

She is definitely the minority in her gym. Her level 8 teammate used to be the long, lean and graceful type until puberty hit. Now she is more muscular, although she has retained a lot of her gracefulness. She is now more of a cross between Nastia and Shawn.

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

I was definitely a Shawn. Sadly, you don't lose the body that makes clothes hard to find even after you are done with gymnastics!

 

[Committed]

Definitely a Nastia. She's super tall for her age (an absolute giant in gymnastics) and she's small boned, so she just looks more petite.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I have one of each. My older DD is a Nastia type, and that seems to be more prevalent at her gym, but definitely not exclusive.

 

[GYM0M]

I undoubtedly have a "Shawn." She is 43 inches tall and weighs about 52 pounds. Solid muscle, can't wear blue jeans, sticks to jeggins and yoga pants! She is the minority in our gym.

 

[raenndrops]

Mine are neither... both have long torsos... YG wears CL to AS leotards in the "big names" and she is only 9. OG, age 12, has come to terms with the fact that she can no longer wear her CL velvet leotard and has also passed all of her AXS to her little sister. She mostly wears AM now, with a few AS sprinkled in.
At the doctor on Monday, they said OG is 5'2.5" and 108 lbs... of solid muscle. Although YG is 3 years younger, she is only 2 years behind sister in size.
They wear skinny jeans or straight leg - YG a 10 slim and OG a size 0 or 00 depending on the brand. Waist bands are always too big if we buy to fit length, so belts or adjustable waists are a must! Both wear Junior fit tees that are broader at the shoulders and narrow on the way down. Luckily, they don't have super broad shoulders or I would be altering more clothes.

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

Didn't really think about it until the other day; we went to a new gym to try out and I told them her first gym rejected her because she was too tall. They laughed and said she looked more like a dark headed Nastia. LOL

 

[sleeping judy]

Mine is a mix. She is average height and muscular, but not bulky. I would not call her a powerhouse at all nor is she one of those really lanky graceful types. She does look like she has nice long legs because she has huge feet! Her toe point makes her leg look 7 inches longer lol

 

[Natalia]

Two legs and two arms connected by a trunk.

 

[LIGYMMOM]

I have a Nastia but taller, because I'm sure Nastia is not taller than average. She's 9, and slightly taller than the 10 yr olds on her team. She's always had muscles so she doesn't have the "slight" build like Nastia. Honestly she pretty much has the body of a volleyball player! I am almost 5'8 and hubby is almost 6' so she will be tall but what I love is that one of the top gymnasts at her gym has the same build as she does, she towers over everybody but she rocks! She can pretty much wear anything but sleeves do get a bit tight and sometimes jeans that are tight in the thigh are loose in the waist.

 

[htimcj]

I have a small Nastia, long and lean. Pants are a nightmare because she has really long legs but is like a stick. She where slim skinny jeans from Justice mostly. I am hoping that a bit more muscle develops eventually but other than vault she can tumble with the best of them in out gym. Not sure where the power comes from sometimes

 

[mobeans]

My 7 year old is lean and has a "gymnast body". She is shorter/more petite, with narrow hips and defined abs/upper body muscles. Those muscles are the result of her conditioning at the gym. She is strong but not naturally powerful if that makes sense. Her "strength" in gymnastics is her extreme flexibility and gracefulness. I guess she is like a shorter Nastia

 

[purpleleomom]

Mine is short and lean. She's had a six pack for as long as I can remember.

 

[superflipgirl]

I'm definitely a Nastia, but it's been 4 years since I was actually on my club team and I've lost some muscle. I wasn't necessarily a Shawn though when I was a club gymnast, I was a lot like the way that purpleleomom described her kid: short and lean. I was definitely on the shorter side, but not bulky in the least, however did have prevalent muscles. I've always been extremely flexible and more graceful than powerful, even when I was shorter. I totally sympathize with the jeans thing, because my legs were pretty muscular in comparison to my waist, but I've grown a lot taller in the past few years and my legs have stretched out, making them thinner and now I don't have trouble buying pants anymore, I actually did outgrow the "hard to find clothes body" Except that I've gotten wayyyyyyy chestier since quitting club so there's the issue with finding dresses that are big enough for my chest but small enough for my waist....-_-