Parents Vacation

[Cloe Forner]

Hello all!
So after my DDs state meet (which is tomorrow) she has a 3 week vacation.
She is 16 and is very committed and lives/breathes gymnastics. If she is not at gym practicing, she's at home practicing. I think that vacation will be good for her; let her clear her head mentally and just experience life outside gymnastics. This is supposed to be a fun family vacation to see her grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I asked her if she was excited and she simply said kind of... She's worried she will lose skills, strength, flexibility (you know all the gymnastics things). I told her not to worry and to just enjoy the vacation. I guess what I am asking is, is 3 weeks to long? She is a level 4 (wanting to move up to level 5) so its not like she's doing fulls, yurchenkos, or any of that kind of stuff. She is just really nervous about missing out on class and not progressing how she wants to. I understand because I know how much time she has put into this, and I know how upsetting it would be if she lost skills. Another option I was thinking of was maybe letting her stop by some gyms in Florida and letting her do open gym there. What do you all usually do for vacation?
Thanks for reading if you have made it this far!

 

[twocurlygirlz]

a 3 week vacation sounds amazing! There are tons of gyms in Florida that have open gym where she can go and get some time on tumble trak, bars etc! I would say play it by ear and see how she feels a few days in to it- just so she doesn't feel obligated in case she is having tons of fun on vacation!

 

[ProudGymnast]

I wouldn't necessarily recommend going to gyms, let her enjoy the vacation and give her body a break. Especially at levels 6 and under, there is little risk of losing skills. More the risk is coming back full swing of things after those 3 weeks without being in shape and getting injured. So when I go on vacation, I always bring ankle weights, sliders, and a stretching band and do daily conditioning, stretching, and handstand work for a half hour when I wake up, just to keep myself in shape. I also take that time to reflect on my goals, and create a plan for the next season. But I just recommend taking the 3 weeks off of gym, I know when I go on vacation and just take it off I come back very ready and excited to go to gym, and all my residual aches and pains are feeling much better.

 

[Cloe Forner]

a 3 week vacation sounds amazing! There are tons of gyms in Florida that have open gym where she can go and get some time on tumble trak, bars etc! I would say play it by ear and see how she feels a few days in to it- just so she doesn't feel obligated in case she is having tons of fun on vacation!

Yes it does! I mainly want her to have fun but I do think stopping at a gym for open gym (maybe even once) wouldn't hurt. We are going to saint Augustine. Is there any you would recommend?

 

[Cloe Forner]

I wouldn't necessarily recommend going to gyms, let her enjoy the vacation and give her body a break. Especially at levels 6 and under, there is little risk of losing skills. More the risk is coming back full swing of things after those 3 weeks without being in shape and getting injured. So when I go on vacation, I always bring ankle weights, sliders, and a stretching band and do daily conditioning, stretching, and handstand work for a half hour when I wake up, just to keep myself in shape. I also take that time to reflect on my goals, and create a plan for the next season. But I just recommend taking the 3 weeks off of gym, I know when I go on vacation and just take it off I come back very ready and excited to go to gym, and all my residual aches and pains are feeling much better.

Yes I really do want her to just take a break and relax. But of course she will be doing conditioning and stretching... We also figured out she had a stress fracture in her back a month ago. She has been trying to take it easy, but since competition season and everything its just been really hard to find that break she needs.
Thanks for your response!

 

[ProudGymnast]

We also figured out she had a stress fracture in her back a month ago. She has been trying to take it easy, but since competition season and everything its just been really hard to find that break she needs.

Then this sounds like the perfect opportunity to get the time off she needs to take so that doesn't bother her again and heals correctly. Have a good vacation!

 

[NutterButter]

Yes I really do want her to just take a break and relax. But of course she will be doing conditioning and stretching... We also figured out she had a stress fracture in her back a month ago. She has been trying to take it easy, but since competition season and everything its just been really hard to find that break she needs.
Thanks for your response!

How did you figure out she had a stress fracture? Did she take any time off for it to heal? Competing through the stress fracture?

 

[Cloe Forner]

Then this sounds like the perfect opportunity to get the time off she needs to take so that doesn't bother her again and heals correctly. Have a good vacation!

Yep! That's what I was hoping for... I just wanted to make sure that 3 weeks off wasn't going to mess with her skills. I am new at this whole "gymnastics mom" thing! Thanks!!

 

[skschlag]

Yes I really do want her to just take a break and relax. But of course she will be doing conditioning and stretching... We also figured out she had a stress fracture in her back a month ago. She has been trying to take it easy, but since competition season and everything its just been really hard to find that break she needs.
Thanks for your response!

If she has a stress fracture, she should be under the care of a doctor, who will most likely say, NO GYM for a while. Is she seeing an ortho for this injury?

 

[Cloe Forner]

How did you figure out she had a stress fracture? Did she take any time off for it to heal? Competing through the stress fracture?

She has back pain for quiet a while... Though, she never really complained about it until recently. Here and there I would here her say "my back kind of hurts today" or "that back walkover really hurt my back". But she didn't complain about it to often. About a month ago it was hurting her so bad she couldn't even do a back walkover (and she is pretty flexible so they came fairly easy to her). So she told me and we made an appointment to our orthopedic doctor. He told us to take some time off and whatever hurts her not to do it. It has been very hard for her not to do the things that hurt her (because just her back pass hurts). She said her back has been staring to feel a little better now and its continuing to heal. Thankfully, she only has one meet left (which is states) and then she can really start taking it easy. I really want this vacation for her to be fun with lots of memories and I just want her to take a break from gymnastics (really take the stress off her back).

 

[Cloe Forner]

If she has a stress fracture, she should be under the care of a doctor, who will most likely say, NO GYM for a while. Is she seeing an ortho for this injury?

We did see our orthopedic doctor. He said she was still allowed to gym but nothing that hurts her back.

 

[skschlag]

We did see our orthopedic doctor. He said she was still allowed to gym but nothing that hurts her back.

Did he run any tests? MRI? I have never heard of someone having a fracture in the back but being allowed to just keep going..

 

[Cloe Forner]

Did he run any tests? MRI? I have never heard of someone having a fracture in the back but being allowed to just keep going..

Yes... He did an X-ray. He also said we should come back in to see him in 3 months or so to just check up on it.

 

[skschlag]

Yes... He did an X-ray. He also said we should come back in to see him in 3 months or so to just check up on it.

OK.

Even though we cannot give medical advice on CB, I will give you my advice as a mom With this information, I would not do any practicing on vacation. Truly let her back heal. I am not sure what kind of fracture she has, but really, she should truly take a break!

 

[Cloe Forner]

OK.

Well, with this information, I would not do any practicing on vacation. Truly let her back heal. I am not sure what kind of fracture she has, but really, she should truly take a break!

Ok, yes that sounds like a good idea! Thanks for your response!

 

[NutterButter]

Sounds like a special vacation! She doesn't need to train over her vacation. She won't loose her skills in that time. With the back issue though not only would I not let her do open gym but I also wouldn't let her do any gymnastics at all on your trip (and I know how tempting beach gymnastics is!).

If you haven't already, please search and read through some of the threads on stress fractures (you will likely come across my posts about my DD's back injury). The guidance you received from your ortho is outside of the norm for gymnasts returning to sport from a stress fracture. In my experience those who didn't take enough time off or didn't fully address the cause of the stress fractures have a high rate of re-injury. As your DD is heading into L5, BWO may still be part of her beam routine. I would suggest that she not do them anymore. Like after state - that's it. Never again. There are alternative beam series she can do but depending on the gym, she may have to advocate for herself. You don't want to fool around and find out with back stress fractures.

 

[rlm's mom]

Cartwheels, backhandsprings and maybe some stretching on the beach would sound nice to my DDs...

 

[gymgal]

no to visits to other gyms. It's not needed at any level and with her stress fracture, she really needs full rest from any gymnastics - likely a lot longer than the 3 week vacation. Personally, I would be looking for a 2nd opinion on the "she can do what doesn't hurt". Doesn't sound right. She is going into training seaosn and she has the time to truly take time off to fully heal. She should take that time.

 

[JessSyd]

And any time either of you start to feel stressed about the break, remember that, worldwide, gymnasts handled shutdowns of much longer then three weeks, and were then surprised at how easily they slipped back into it. And in fact some bounced back better than ever because their bodies had proper genuine rest and all the brewing joint issues, ligament micro-tears and micro stress fractures had time to genuinely heal.

A three week closure isn’t unusual for Australian gyms over Christmas. It’s fine - it really is! The main drawback is extra muscle soreness the first week back.

I allow gentle stretching, recreational chinups (aka hanging off things!) and the occasional press handstand during breaks and that is about it.

 

[bookworm]

Did he run any tests? MRI? I have never heard of someone having a fracture in the back but being allowed to just keep going..

Was this an MD? or was it a PT, chiropractor or alternative medicine practitioner that gave you the ok to keep practicing on a back fracture? My daughter had a stress fracture in her back and she had to take TWELVE WEEKS OFF ...no gym, no practice, nothing ...to make sure it healed. No offense, if you are being told that it's okay to practice "what doesn't hurt" with a back fracture, you need a second opinion by a reputable orthopedic/sports medicine doctor.

I've known several teammates that have had stress fractures in their backs over the years and exactly ZERO of them were cleared to practice or even condition for 8-12 weeks.