GETTING GYMNASTY
Getting Gymnasty
It’s always a challenge getting the message across to people interested in learning gymnastics.
In my experience most people see and want to do gymnastics elements, but haven’t the vaguest conception of the work it has taken to achieve these skills.
I have hosted a six week introduction to gymnastics course in the past and have had athletes disappointed that they hadn’t achieved a muscle up by the end, bearing in mind they didn’t attend all the sessions and the only gymnastics they did was during each session I taught.
Most people are in such a rush to reach their individual goals (Muscle Ups, Toes to Bar Handstand walks), but 1. aren’t prepared to put the work in, 2. try to cut corners & skip necessary steps.
There is a hard yet inevitable truth … gymnastics training requires time, discipline, persistence, perseverance and as a result, PATIENCE!
There are not only physical requirements such as, strength, flexibility & agility, but one of the most important factors is a psychological component.
Do I have the correct disposition to follow the steps correctly and systematically? Am I prepared to take a step back in order the take 3 steps forward? Am I prepared to do seemingly unrelated exercises in order to improve in the long run? Am I prepared to expand my comfort zones? Am I prepared to make my weaknesses into strengths? Am I prepared to eliminate the words, “I cannot do that!” from my vocabulary? Am I prepared to trust the process. All these things require discipline, mental strength and stamina.
The willingness to acknowledge and trust the process is the foundation of success!
I might be a little biased by saying this, but Gymnastics training is one of the most difficult in the world and as such needs to be respected. You are potentially putting hundreds of pounds of pressure though your joints and sometimes asking your body to do things that it simply wasn’t designed or meant to do.
One of the most fundamental requirements of gymnastics is efficiency. It is essential that you are at an optimal weight in order to perform specific tasks. For instance if you are 50 lbs over weight it would be wrong and irresponsible for you to try a kipping muscle up, just from an injury prevention standpoint.
Gymnastics training requires a massive amount of body control and spatial awareness. This takes hours and hours of repetition and training, day in and day out and needs to be continually maintained.
The point I am making is that there are no quick fixes. There are no magic buttons that once pushed will instantly enable you to perform miraculous feats or maneuvers.
However if you are prepared to be patient, take the time required & follow the steps and put the work in, you will most certainly be able to track your significant progress over an extended amount of time.
You will also find that there will be a lot of positive carry over to other areas of your training.
I know this isn’t exactly what people want to hear. Perhaps by writing how hard gymnastics is and emphasizing how long it takes to gain success, I might have shot myself in the foot in this article. But that is the point. You have to be prepared to take these things on board and accept these principles in order to reach and surpass your goals.
If you are receptive to this point of view and willing to take these steps, then you will most certainly be opening the door to unlimited possibilities and scratching the surface of your own boundless potential.
