5 Reasons why your gymnastics suck
Having basic gymnastic ability is fundamental to your training and exercise program regardless of age, ability, development and type of training that you favour.
Over the past few years there has been a growing interest in developing basic gymnastic skills to the point where people are now dropping the barbells and dumbbells, quit pounding the pavements, moving away from their yoga and Pilates class and focusing their energy on getting e.g. a handstand, muscle up, pull up, ,dip etc. This has largely been as a result of crossfit, movement culture ala Ido Portal and the resurgence in calisthenics e.g. fitness FAQ.
However, with this growth I’ve noticed that many people are trying to skip over the basics because they’re in a rush to do the cool stuff.
In this article I will give examples of how I can tell if you have not nailed down the fundamentals as these must be mastered before you can display control and then control under stress and speed as seen in a metcon i.e. part of a workout when your heart rate gets elevated.
These skills take a long time to master, but much like any skill that you practice and develop, once attained you don’t lose them easily.
- You can’t hold hollow – this is one of the first movements we teach with ANYONE we work with and you need to develop your ability to hold it for 60secs with the feet 6inches off the floor and NO ARCH in the lower back. If having your legs that low is too hard then simply raise them up. If you still find this difficult then there are mobility/flexibility issues you need to address as in point 2.
- You can’t touch your toes –
Client – “well I’ve never been flexible”
Me – “so do you foam roll and stretch daily? Sit in a full squat? Hang from a bar daily?
Client – “No”
Me – “well what did you expect!”
Mobility and flexibility work is the boring, unsexy part of training everyone likes to skip over. If you can’t simply touch your toes from cold then your risk of injury will always be high unless you take your mobility seriously.
You can’t hold a wall facing handstand – this is probably one of the biggest mistakes from those wanting to develop a handstand. We have clients in their 60’s with the capacity to hold a wall facing handstand showing perfect lines so it is possible to be upside down on your hands at any age and shows your ability to keep your core tight and excellent for developing upper body strength and stability.
You can’t do strict pull ups or muscle ups – kipping or performing a movement with speed should never be allowed unless people can perform these exercises strict first. Biggest mistake here – most people simply need to loosen their shoulders out more and just get stronger, especially the upper back.
You’re not being consistent – if it’s important then practice it daily. You can’t expect to get your first pullup, push up, wall facing handstand etc if you only do them once a week. Mobility can be practiced easily on a daily basis and as long as you’re not pushing yourself to failure on the basic movements all the time then a constantly varied daily practice should be comfortably performed.
Consistency will ALWAYS trump intensity so pull back from doing junk metcons with 100 burpees in them when you can’t yet perform a proper set of 10 chest to floor press ups.
Take the time needed to develop these skills as they will stay with you forever and most people don’t care about how much you can back squat but being able to hold a free standing handstand hold is something everyone finds jaw dropping.