Parents What is the ideal body type for a gymnast?

[gatorz]

I keep coming across the concept of a preferred body type for gymnastics in my reading on this forum. Apparently it makes it easier to perform the skill? Which body type is it? I'm not at all knowledgable about gymnastics so I am just curious.

 

[Aussie_coach]

That is a touchy subject.

And not a simple one to answer. Many different body types have proven to work well in gymnastics, depending on the skills chosen.

It also changes over time and from cycle to cycle as there is a different emphasis on different types of skills. For example gymnastics used to favour a more graceful and string dance style, but as time has gone on there has been more emphasis on power tumbling.

Gyms these days will try to avoid putting parameters on an ideal body type for a sport because it’s not something you can control. Instead the focus in on body factors you can develop. Ideally you need to be strong, flexible and fast.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

That’s more a coach/gym bias then a gymnastic thing.

 

[Dahlialover]

The difficulty of many skills is impacted by an athlete’s strength to weight ratio. That is one of the reasons that shorter gymnasts have an advantage—shorter legs means less weight to move around. The bigger you are the more difficult it is to complete certain skills.

Aesthetically, there used to be a creepy obsession in elite gymnastics with the prepubescent female figure. It was common to starve elite gymnasts in order to delay the onset of puberty until after their competitive career was over. No boobs or butts allowed. However, in recent years, older, more muscular gymnasts have been achieving success in elite gymnastics. Consequently, a slightly wider range of body types are now accepted.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

I’d argue there is no perfect body type anymore, gymnasts of all shapes and sizes are successful at high levels.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

The difficulty of many skills is impacted by an athlete’s strength to weight ratio. That is one of the reasons that shorter gymnasts have an advantage—shorter legs means less weight to move around. The bigger you are the more difficult it is to complete certain skills.

I dont think it’s more difficult. It’s differen. I think they need to adjust how they train.

And you also need coaches. Who are willing to train them and work with their body type. Far too many (coaches that is) simply don’t want to. So the girls either don’t get picked or get what they need to succeed

 

[Dahlialover]

I dont think it’s more difficult. It’s differen. I think they need to adjust how they train.

And you also need coaches. Who are willing to train them and work with their body type. Far too many (coaches that is) simply don’t want to. So the girls either don’t get picked or get what they need to succeed

As a former over-size gymnast, I promise that the weight-to-strength ratio is mathematical fact. Not all skills are ratio-dependent but, to perform skills that are, gymnasts with unfavorable ratios need to do tons of strength training and develop flawless technique. It is harder! It takes more time, effort, and determination to learn ratio-dependent skills when you don’t have a naturally favorable ratio. And that’s okay! The point of sports it to challenge yourself.

I love the xcel program because it allows girls with diverse body types to compete routines that emphasize their strengths. It would have been amazing for me! Compulsories are really unforgiving but xcel makes competitive gymnastics much more inclusive.

 

[mezzamare]

Not all skills are ratio-dependent but, to perform skills that are, gymnasts with unfavorable ratios need to do tons of strength training and develop flawless technique.

This is interesting! Can you expound a little for a bumbling, very non-athletic person? Like, what do you mean by ratios, which skills are good examples, that sort of thing. I enjoy learning about the details and mechanics of things.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

As a former over-size gymnast, I promise that the weight-to-strength ratio is mathematical fact. Not all skills are ratio-dependent but, to perform skills that are, gymnasts with unfavorable ratios need to do tons of strength training and develop flawless technique. It is harder! It takes more time, effort, and determination to learn ratio-dependent skills when you don’t have a naturally favorable ratio. And that’s okay! The point of sports it to challenge yourself.

I love the xcel program because it allows girls with diverse body types to compete routines that emphasize their strengths. It would have been amazing for me! Compulsories are really unforgiving but xcel makes competitive gymnastics much more inclusive.

Fair enough but I guess we see it differently.

Doing strength training would be training differently as I said. I’m sure there are somethings harder for taller gymnast, smaller gymnasts, etc….

Again, you train differently. And in optionals there are options to play to your strengths. That requires a coach to be willing and able to work with the gymnast

 

[Dahlialover]

This is interesting! Can you expound a little for a bumbling, very non-athletic person? Like, what do you mean by ratios, which skills are good examples, that sort of thing. I enjoy learning about the details and mechanics of things.

The easiest example is a pull-up. The amount of strength required is totally dependent on the amount of weight being lifted. This impacts gymnasts most in events like bars or rings that are dependent on upper body strength. It gets complex when you look at limb/muscle length and leverage, so I can’t explain every nuance. That being said, there are many different physiological factors that confer advantages and disadvantages. I don’t want to overstate this one.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

The easiest example is a pull-up. The amount of strength required is totally dependent on the amount of weight being lifted.

Well yes and a bit no. Smaller/lighter doesn’t mean it’s easier.

Its proportional. Yes less to pull but proportionally less muscle to “pull” with.

Smaller or bigger you need to do the work to be able to do the pull up.

I’m a 63 yr old whose dream is to do 1 unassisted pull up. At my most fit, cut, lifting weights and working out with a trainer 3x a week. I could not do one. And I was relatively small and all muscle at my most fit. Chin-ups yes. Pull up, never. I’m still working on it. I’m shooting for 65

The work needs to be done for anything.
Flexibility matters
Twitch matters.
Timing as to when you learn the skill matters
As does size and the proportion of that size.

 

[Coach Em]

an athletes ideal body type is a strong and flexible one. That can look different on everybody.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

The ideal gymnastics body type is the one where they have a body and do gymnastics with it.

Now, an athlete's choice of skills and progressions may change depending on their build, as well as other individual quirks. But there's such a wide array of possible skills to chose from

 

[rjb123]

The ideal gymnast body is one that doesn't break.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

The ideal gymnast body is one that doesn't break.

This and sometimes coaches saying 'no' to a kid who wants to move from Xcel to JO is actually a kind thing. Parents may complain that they only pick a certain body type and are elitist, but often the training will not/can not alter to be safe for this kids. I think this accounts for many of the severe back injuries/overuse injuries. Kids who have the passion and desire pushing through to keep up with those who have the bodies that can cope with the training.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

an athletes ideal body type is a strong and flexible one. That can look different on everybody.

The ideal gymnastics body type is the one where they have a body and do gymnastics with it.

Now, an athlete's choice of skills and progressions may change depending on their build, as well as other individual quirks. But there's such a wide array of possible skills to chose from

The ideal gymnast body is one that doesn't break.

All of this a million times

 

[Kiasuppa]

Gymnastics often favors a compact, muscular body type for power and flexibility, but skill matters most!