Parents Low practice hours/wanting more time in the gym

[welovethegym]

Ok so, my DD is an XG, and she has just about all her XP skills, but is opting to compete gold for at least the first part of the season. She only practices 6 hours a week, (3h/2d) which from my understanding is quite low. We were supposed to get an extra day for XG in the summer, but that idea didn't come to fruition. Since she has a lot of time on her hands, she does a few other sports (through school), but she would quit all of them in a heartbeat to get an extra day or two in the gym. Point being, she wants more time in the gym, and so do the other girls in her level. Other parents have mentioned it time and time again, and we always hear "We're working on it" (But never hear anything about actually adding an extra day). So I'm wondering if theres anything that I can do for her. She doesn't/doesn't want to practice at home much, besides stretching, and running through her beam dance before a meet. Would private lessons be worth it for a kid with this much itch to be in the gym? I'm also curious to hear what other gyms hours for these levels are.

 

[annie121]

No advice since I'm a new parent but our gym's XG practices 12 hours/week (4h/3d). Your gym does sound like it's on the low end of hours.

 

[WV Gym Mom]

Our Golds our 12hrs per week (3daysx4hours), plus one hour of ballet. What are the Platinum hours at your gym? Could she possibly uptrain with them? If a gym is not allowing an extra day, or offering up up hours, its usually a strong "lower hours" philosophy that they are following, OR a space and coach constraint. Or possibly they are simply trying to keep a clear difference between xcel and DP hours?

On the flip side, I will add - if your daughter is doing great and is almost ready for platinum, and is accomplishing this on 6hours/week of effective coaching...maybe that is a good amount of hours for her?

 

[welovethegym]

Our Golds our 12hrs per week (3daysx4hours), plus one hour of ballet. What are the Platinum hours at your gym? Could she possibly uptrain with them? If a gym is not allowing an extra day, or offering up up hours, its usually a strong "lower hours" philosophy that they are following, OR a space and coach constraint. Or possibly they are simply trying to keep a clear difference between xcel and DP hours?

On the flip side, I will add - if your daughter is doing great and is almost ready for platinum, and is accomplishing this on 6hours/week of effective coaching...maybe that is a good amount of hours for her?

First year Platinum is 10 hours, and practice twice with the silver/gold, and then one time with the higher levels. So still, very minimal, but its more then she does right now. Since she's going to be doing a school sport during winter, she will have to switch a day since she has games every Tuesday (when she practices). So that would give her a little more time, which is a start.

 

[JBS]

I'm also curious to hear what other gyms hours for these levels are.

We no longer compete Gold. As a coach... I would be more concerned with days than hours. For example... we have found that the 3rd day is very much helpful for Xcel... but at a certain point the hours are not helpful.

For us at our gym... a 2.5 hour workout 3 days per week would be better than two four hour workouts... MUCH BETTER.

If I had to create workouts for Xcel Gold... I would do either the above or 3x3. Our Level 4 team is 3 hours x 4 days.

 

[JPC13]

As a coach... I would be more concerned with days than hours.

I've always wondered about this.

You hear the crazy high hours that some gyms train and even if they're doing 6 days a week (which is a very serious grind for anyone, not just kids) an elite training 40 hours a week is in the gym about 6.7 hours a day.

If you break that up into a two a day routine, you're still doing almost 3.5 per session twice a day. That's an incredible workload on the body -- far beyond what any pro sports ball player would train.

 

[Coach Kate]

We are an intentionally low hours gym. Our Xcel golds do 2.5 hours 2x a week, with an option for a third day that only 7 out of 25 athletes are choosing right now . Most of our kids do at least one other sport, and we have state champs and consistently place at least top 10, if not top 5 in the state as a team.

I personally don't take on privates just for kids who want to be in the gym more. I really only do privates with athletes who are coming to practice and maximizing their time and trying their best, but are still struggling on a particular skill/are behind the rest of the group.

That being said, I have to wonder about your gym, and if enough people were asking for these privates, maybe they would find a way to add an option for a third day.

Does your gym offer any open time? Is it a staffing issue? Would one of the parents be willing to go through training and safety certifications in order to be able to supervise open gym if that's the case? My parents did that way back in the day!

It might be worth asking for a meeting with coach so you can find out why they aren't willing to do another day. It could very well be their mindset and vision for their program, as is kind of the case with us, although we do make that third day available to golds and platinums (diamonds are required to go 3x). There are other gyms in the area that do more hours, and we are always clear about that. If it is a staffing or space issue, it is good to know that as well. Could the girls who want to come in and condition and stretch for an hour with another group? Could a parent get trained and supervise during a quieter day/time? Are there any plans for extra clinics or open gyms during early release or school break days? There are a lot of creative solutions depending on what the hang up is.

 

[welovethegym]

Does your gym offer any open time? Is it a staffing issue? Would one of the parents be willing to go through training and safety certifications in order to be able to supervise open gym if that's the case? My parents did that way back in the day!

It might be worth asking for a meeting with coach so you can find out why they aren't willing to do another day. It could very well be their mindset and vision for their program, as is kind of the case with us, although we do make that third day available to golds and platinums (diamonds are required to go 3x). There are other gyms in the area that do more hours, and we are always clear about that. If it is a staffing or space issue, it is good to know that as well. Could the girls who want to come in and condition and stretch for an hour with another group? Could a parent get trained and supervise during a quieter day/time? Are there any plans for extra clinics or open gyms during early release or school break days? There are a lot of creative solutions depending on what the hang up is.

Nope, we don't do open gyms. Could be a staffing issue, a lot of our coaches either don't do Xcel or don't do the younger levels. I'll try to get in communication with our coaches, thank you for the insight!

 

[Dahlialover]

Non expert advice here:

Training in another sport like swimming or dance could help your child as much as another day in the gym. So much depends on core strength and general fitness. Also, cross-training reduces injuries from overuse and keeps life interesting. Is you kid a strong swimmer? If not, I would focus on that because it is an essential safety skill. I didn’t let my kids start gymnastics until they were competitive swimmers because you gotta do the thing that will make you not die first. It seems to have really helped my child.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

If your kid wants more gym hours the choice as it stands is to change gyms