Gymnastic.ly

     Meets. We all love meets. Truth is, meets can be something look forward to as long the troubles are out of the way. One of the biggest complaints I get from young teenage gymnasts is about periods. This problem is often what makes or breaks a gymnast. However, a gymnast that is truly serious about her career will not let this phase her. Learning to put in tampons is never fun, but often a requirement for a gymnast. Even though you may be able to get away with a pad during practice, meets are not a good time to try to hide it. If tampons are really not a the road you want to go down, Amazon sells underwear that is specifically made for gymnasts like you. The garment is sewn so according to the average gymnastics leo cut (shape and size). Therefor making it hard for it to be seen, and it won't show when you stretch around in your uniform.      Another common complaint is bras. For the smaller girls, there is good news. The regular cupped bra that you we...

     Yes, I know. Even the thought makes you cringe. Truth is, dieting is the best way to see results from your conditioning. Did you know that 70% of maintaining a healthy weight is purely diet? Of course, you still have to exercise, but how will you exercise correctly if you do not have to proper nutrients? I'm sure when I say the word "diet", the first thing that comes to your mind is starvation. But that doesn't have to be the case. Studies have shown that when you deprive yourself of food your metabolism slows down. Think of this as a game. When you eat more food with more carbs, your metabolism gets faster. When you eat less food with less carbs, your metabolism slows down. However, it can take your body up to a few days to speed up or slow down your metabolism. So try to follow a high carb diet for two days, and then back off and eat hardly any carbs for three days. During these three days, your body will be constantly burning calories, causing you to loose wei...

     I think that all gymnasts know how stressful competitions can be. There is so much preparation and dedication that goes into winning one event that is only about four hours of your life. But for most competitive gymnasts, they are your life. When you go to practice, you are going for one main reason, to prepare for an upcoming meet. Otherwise, what exactly are you preparing for? In this article, you will learn different ways to cope with these common stresses and you will also be armed with some awesome techniques that can change your gymnastics career for the better. First thing is preparation. When things get down to the wire, it is important to pay attention to what your coach is saying. If they think that you should tweek something in your routine, then tweek it. If they think that you should alter your passes, then alter your passes. As annoying as it may be, your coaches only want to make you look as good as you can for the up and coming meet. As a gymnast, it ...

     As most gymnasts know, going to practice is crucial to success as a competitive gymnast. You need to make sure that you are at practice on time and you do your best. Remember the saying: "Practice like you play". It is the total truth. If you don't practice like you compete, then once you are in a competition you are going to crack under the pressure of all of the sudden having to do your best. Doing your best in practice also helps you to set a standard not only for yourself but for the entire team. When you do your absolute best everyday, then the rest of the team will strive to be like you. As you are (in competition) one of their competitors. As your team tries to get stronger so that they can beat you, you will start to notice that you are winning more and more team awards. See how just giving it your all individually can bring up the entire team? While you are at practice make sure that you are also doing lot's of drills and conditioning. These will help t...

     Coaches. They come in all shapes, sizes, and tolerance levels. How do you tell what this each coach is looking for? That can be a hard one. Telling what a coach is looking for before they even open their mouth is hard to do. When you are trying out for a team, the point is that you don't know. All you can do is your best. Do the same thing in practice. When you first meet a coach, be kind and respectful. Sometimes coaches can take a wile to warm up to you and your personality, and sometimes it can take a while for you to warm up to theirs. So let them gain your respect. It will do you some good in the end. Remember that you are trying to gain a good reputation and relationship with your coach, so make sure that you are doing your best gymnastics and you are always correcting everything that they are telling you to correct. Show them that you care about their ways of coaching and what they have to say about your gymnastics. 

     As a gymnast, it is very important to condition! Yes, I know, we all hate our conditioning! But the best thing to do is to just decide to have a love/hate relationship with your conditioning. It will make everything go a lot smoother and coaches love it! While conditioning, pay attention to your form. Are you pointing your toes? Are your legs straight? Is your tummy tight? Are your fingers pretty? Answering those questions with a yes is the key to getting a good workout. It is also the key to clean gymnastics. How are you supposed to receive good scores in competitions when you can't even point your toes while conditioning? If you start to feel as if your conditioning is getting too easy, don't just take advantage of it. Talk to your coach about upping the conditioning difficulty a little bit. A little extra strength never hurt anyone. Especially in the sport of gymnastics. Do your best to condition everyday even when you don't have practice. Just conditioning twice ...