I watched the French film District 13 a couple of weeks ago. There is some truly impressive athletic movement in this film. The freestyle attitude of Parkour, making use of the local environment, looking at everyday objects in a different light, is in total contrast to some sports environments where free expression is constrained.
I have always thought young children especially would be better off developing this type of movement and awareness, rather than being taken to a class and put through highly disciplined and structured movement patterns.
FreeG
James practicing FreeG
I am pleased to announce that from September we will be offering Freestyle Gymnastics (FreeG) sessions at our Gymnastics Club venues in Willand and Wellington.
These will be aimed at teenagers who want to be able to learn and practice Freestyle moves in a safe (and dry) environment. Sessions will run on Tuesday evenings in Willand Village Hall and Wednesday afternoons at Court Fields school in Wellington.
We have been able to do this is as a result of extensive fundraising activities by the Club and generous funding from British Gymnastics, local trusts, the local council and individuals.
Please contact us if you are a teenager who would like the opportunity to practice Freestyle Gymnastics Moves. No experience is necessary.
This video shows some of the moves that skilled FreeG performers can do.
Over the past few sessions I have been going through the strength section of James’s Athletic Development Manual with him. We went through strength and velocity and how a high velocity exercise means the strength aspect could be low, and vice versa.
For example, tuck jumps are a high velocity exercise with a lower strength needed. Where as a deadlift variation (1-3RM) would be high strength and low velocity as you couldn’t repeat many.
Exercises were also broken down into 4 categories of strength:
absolute
relative
dynamic
elastic.
Also, there are many ways to overload that don’t include just increasing the weight. You can change direction or the plane of movement and you can change the speed or rest period too. Each way overloads the body and you have to make it adapt again.
The importance of reflection
During the last practical session I had with James and some of the athletes, he asked me what I have learnt. This really got me thinking. I have learnt a lot! I don’t tend to self reflect so I know I need to work on that. How can you improve as a coach if you don’t reflect on what you have done or learnt?
It’s made me look at my plans for the gymnasts and my personal training clients differently and I have re-thought a lot of their training. I think I had just got into a routine and needed that nudge to think about things a little more and reflect on my previous training and what James has taught me as well.
Self reflection, as I now understand, is an important part of coaching. It gives you the chance to think about how a session went, what you can do to improve it, what worked well or what did you learn. All these questions will help you develop and improve as a coach.
Keeping things fresh
It’s good to make regular changes to stop a program/session getting stale too. Plus, if you are training the younger athletes, it keeps them a lot more interested and more likely to work.
If you do the same thing day in day out, they will get bored and won’t progress. Repeating movements are important to get the technique right, but adding in a few changes will challenge them physically and mentally.
This has made me think of where exercises fit and I have been thinking about this a lot more when I train my clients at work or the gymnasts I work with too.
I have also learnt a little about myself too. I learnt that I need to be more confident and give myself more credit. For years my teachers and tutors have said this to me over and over again and I’m starting to see why now.
How can a gymnast train well but maintain a healthy weight with all this pressure?
Yesterday’s blog looked at incidents that happened years ago when eating disorders were not well known and the training was very different. Gymnasts’ weight were under scrutiny.
Those severe cases are hopefully less frequent with better-educated coaches and different role models.
If you watch gymnastics now, the body shapes are all different and they still get the results they need.
Take Nastia Liukin and Beth Tweddle. Both very different body shapes but both have won Olympic titles! Still, young female gymnasts don’t live in a vacuum and society itself places immense pressure on the female body image.
Gymnasts need balance…
in their diet as well as on the beam. Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred source of energy. Gymnasts will be burning huge amounts of energy so this is vital in their diets. Complex carbohydrates are needed to give the gymnast a long sustained amount of energy.
You can get these from vegetables and wholegrain/wholemeal foods. For a quicker burst of energy, simple carbohydrates from fruit and sugars can give this. But, too much of anything can be bad. Too much carbohydrate can lead to weight gain if the energy is not used afterwards. Around 60-65% of the gymnasts daily diet or 5-8g/kg/day should be enough.
Protein is vital to help recovery and support of the muscle tissues. Male gymnasts usually require more than female gymnasts. 12-15% of the daily diet or 1.2-1.7g/kg/day is needed. Sources include meats (chicken, turkey) fish, eggs and nuts.
Fats should make up the remainder, 20-35% of the total calories. Fats are another source of energy and can help transport nutrients around the body. However, the type of fat is important. Limit the amount of trans fats, these are found in processed foods. Natural fats are best and are found in nuts, meat, oily fish and olive oil.
What should a gymnast be eating before and after training?
Beth Tweddle is an example of healthy gymnast
Try and eat 1-2 hours before training. A small meal including complex carbs and fluid intake should be enough to give the gymnast a sustained level of energy throughout training.
After training, having a meal that is protein-based will help the muscles’ recovery process, and carbohydrates will replenish the energy stores.
If you have to travel, eating something like a banana or an apple within 30 minutes after training will help replenish energy stores too. This is important if there is more than one training session in the day.
Gymnasts should stay hydrated during training too. Depending on how long a training session is, an energy drink can help sustain energy or a small snack will help keep them going too (How to make your own sports drink)
During competitions, a gymnast does a lot of waiting around. It is vital that they stay hydrated throughout the day. Small and regular sips will help this. A light breakfast and regular snacks like fruit or nuts will maintain their energy levels (more on competition eating here).
If you want to see how a healthy diet looks in action, then watch this video, aimed at adults but something the whole family can do.
Conclusion
Gymnasts need to eat more than the average person because the energy expenditure is more and their bodies require more energy to help recover afterwards. Nowadays, gymnasts like Beth Tweddle are proving you don’t have to have a tiny frame to excel at the sport.
All body shapes are able to perform at the highest of standards. Supporting your body with the right foods and amounts of these foods and training hard will make a champion, regardless of body shape.
I presented two workshops last month at a conference for gymnastics coaches: speed training and plyometrics myths.
The coaches ranged in age, experience and their gymnastic discipline.
There is no one size fits all approach to gymnastics, so I tried to cover the underlying principles first so that the coaches could then apply it in their own context.
I made sure I asked questions first: what were their concerns, existing practices and type of gymnast they work with.
Coordination for running
We then did practical drills with progressions from simple to complex.
Gymnastics is a very powerful sport needing an incredible amount of strength and power in order to perform routines on the floor or on equipment.
Vault requires a very short amount of energy but the power produced to perform their skills is huge.
Beam, floor, bars and ring routines only last a couple of minutes but again, the stamina to keep repeating explosive movements, or holding themselves on their hands and in positions requires a lot too.
Gymnastics is a very aesthetic sport too. There is a lot of pressure for gymnasts in each discipline (rhythmic, artistic, and acrobatic) to look the stereotypical way that everyone associates with gymnastics.
A sport that requires some very high bursts of energy repeatedly, and the pressure on gymnasts to look small and lean is difficult to balance when it comes to their diets.
How much training is required to be a top gymnast?
Think of it this way, a gymnast’s week will include training 4-7days a week, possibly twice a day when a competition is due, and training sessions can last a few hours each time. During these training sessions they are performing their routines over and over again. The energy expenditure is huge!
On top of this is the pressure of body image and diet. A young gymnast will believe eating less will help them either stay small or get small.
Technically, they are right: to lose weight there should be a calorie deficit. But when this calorie deficit is taken to the extreme, performance will drop as the body will not be receiving enough energy to carry out what is required in training.
It will not be recovering which reduces the body’s ability to adapt and improve. Therefore, eating disorders are very common amongst gymnasts.
Unhealthy obsessions with food and fear of gaining weight can be classed as an eating disorder. The two extremes are called Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa.
What are Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia nervosa?
Anorexia – An eating disorder characterized by markedly reduced appetite or total aversion to food. Anorexia is a serious psychological disorder. It is a condition that goes well beyond out-of-control dieting… (full definition here )
Bulimia – An eating disorder characterized by episodes of secretive excessive eating (binge-eating) followed by inappropriate methods of weight control, such as self-induced vomiting (purging), abuse of laxatives and diuretics, or excessive exercise... (full definition here med terms)
Nadia Comeneci
Three well known ex-gymnasts have suffered from these eating disorders: Cathy Rigby, Kathy Johnson and Nadia Comaneci (only gymnast to receive perfect 10 score).
Cathy Rigby suffered two cardiac arrests due to these disorders. All three have overcome them now.
One gymnast that really shocked the gymnastic world and made eating disorder come to light was Christy Henrich. At the age of 22, Christy died from multiple organ failure, weighing just 47 pounds. Christy was pressured to lose weight when an international judge told her she was fat in 1989.
After this, gymnasts started to come forward and admit to having eating disorders. Educational videos, counselling and classes then began to teach coaches and gymnasts. TV channels also stopped listing the weights of gymnasts and did not make comments.
Poor knee control and stability could be a balance problem originating from the hip/ gluteal area. I have been using mini bands over the last couple of months with some of the young athletes to help improve this.
Cheap, portable and different from the usual things, they seem to have been a hit. Have a look at some of the exercises here.
I would recommend doing these twice a week, in conjunction with your normal sport and strength training.
It’s good to make regular changes to stop a program/session getting stale too. Plus, if you are training the younger athletes, it keeps them a lot more interested and more likely to work.
Gymnastics is a very powerful sport needing an incredible amount of 