Some may have a combination of dysplasia, hip socket rotations, femur rotation, and different pelvic alignments. Ensure you are warmed up correctly This is true both in training and in our medical clinic. By understanding these concepts, people in the gymnastics community can save a significant amount of time while also reducing the risk of injury during flexibility training. In general, these structures can be lumped into the categories of passive or active, with research outlining this more specifically for the shoulder (1-5) and the hip (5-12). Curr Sports Med Rep. 2018 Nov; 17(11), Macdonald GZ, et al. 0, pp. Click here to read our full privacy policy. You can see a video of our entire warm up here. Approaching this goes back to the chapter on why an interdisciplinary approach to the future of gymnastics is needed. It may help improve range of motion acutely, but it will not change movement in a gymnastics skill-specific manner. Many of the gymnasts I coach or treat for injuries report that light, soft tissue work makes them feel more warmed up and helps to reduce perceived muscle soreness. This said, I believe the majority of the effects of stretching come through neurological means. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 25:3809, 1997. Hip Instability: Current Concepts and Treatment. Assisted hamstring stretch. Dave 2007. In another, the gymnast may naturally have lots of hip and toe rotation in but not have any moving toes out. A full movement evaluation and something known as a Craigs test is the best way to practically assess if a gymnast may fall into one of these categories. The twenty-five individuals in the experimental group stretched their calves in a standard protocol four sets of thirty-second calf stretches to the point of tolerable discomfort, five days per week, for six weeks. Clin Sports Med 30 (2011) 349-367. 90 Minutes of Must Hear Gymnastics Coaching Expert Advice, Master the Basics: Gymnastics Drills for Kips, Fly Aways, and Giants, Nick Ruddock Shares His Best Uneven Bar Methods for Giants, Flyaways, and Cast Handstands, Understanding and Treating Back Pain in Athletes, 5 In-Season Gymnastics Tips for Maximizing Meet & Routine Performance, Gymnastics requires significant amounts of flexibility and mobility, which makes it a primary area of training, It can be very confusing and easily overwhelming, especially with the rapid increase in scientific advances and the internet, Anyone working with gymnasts should have an understanding of basic anatomy and physiology before assigning flexibility drills, Although research is conflicting, there appear to be both neurological and mechanical reasons as to why regular flexibility training increases range of motion, Its crucial that proper methods are used to reduce joint stress and bias the stretching of soft tissue structures, especially in hypermobile athletes, Static stretching has a role to play in gymnastics but must be used correctly and at the right dosage. Duration of static stretching influences muscle force production in hamstring muscles. 2010;90:438 449. Along with this, no stretching shoulder produces excessive soreness longer than the end of the day, as prolonged soreness may indicate microtissue damage. Labral tears may progress to requiring surgical repair and putting an athlete out of training for months or even career-ending. Instead, it may lead to the ligaments and joint capsules in the front or underside of the hips receiving more of the strain. There has been conflicting research on the long-lasting changes in range of motion from various stretching methods as well as self-soft tissue work. Examination, treatment, intervention, and rehabilitation for athletes should only be performed by a licensed medical professional. This is commonly tested with something called a Beightons screening. Scand J Med Sci Sports. Although this does happen in gymnastics, there are many times when this is inaccurate and dangerous. There are usually large groups of people warming up, a limited amount of space, and a limited amount of time. Warm ups and cool downs are another common topic that comes up when discussing flexibility. Recently many gymnasts are reporting to have hip flexor strains that they push through. The ligaments and joint capsule, along with the alignment of the ball on the socket, create what is known as the passive structures or stabilizers. These stretches below are seen daily in gymnastics. Importantly enough, following a review of the literature, it was outlined that the combination of appropriate self-myofascial release and targeted static stretching may yield the most beneficial gains to acute changes in flexibility. Sometimes in such a high force sport, these bumps and bruises are inevitable. There are some times when we are aiming to just get the body going, and other times when we are looking to truley increase joint range of motion. Trying to aggressively push through that bony or ligamentous limitation will only lead to pain and headaches for all involved. 2006 Nov;20(4):804-10. Department of Exercise and Sport Science University of Utah Most gymnastics coaches would agree that flexibility is an essential aspect of gymnastics training and performance. This natural selection type introduction to gymnastics presents an essential background foundational concept of flexibility training. Pictures 2 and 3 are showing a dynamic chest stretch over a foam roller where the shoulder blades are held down/ in while the arms slide on the floor from overhead to hip. This means not only for the ankle joint, but also the rest of leg chain all the way up to the hip and lower back. While genetics and luck do play a little bit of a role when it comes to flexibility, as a whole I tend to disagree that these are the main reasons thousands of gymnasts struggle with flexibility, particularly at the hip and shoulder joint. You may remember the shoulder joint has a very shallow socket, which allows for lots of motion but then creates a situation where stability is needed. I more hope to highlight that assuming ongoing pain reports are no big deal and can be trained through, rather than thinking critically about the situation, can be very problematic. When you combine these three areas, along with the already discussed points about not having the best science behind flexibility methods to stress muscular tissue and spare joint capsules, it certainly makes sense why gymnasts may struggle with their flexibility. Returning to the analogy of a shirt sleeve, more naturally mobile athletes (gymnasts, baseball players) usually have a baggier shirt sleeve. Due to this, they may not be biasing the proper muscular tissue intended and as a result may show limited effectiveness. The physical examination of the glenohumeral joint: Emphasis on the stabilizing structures. Without the ability to assess these various factors, it can be very challenging to make progress in flexibility. Here are 8 gymnastics exercises that will help improve your flexibility: Pike stretch The pike stretch is great for improving your upper body flexibility. eccentrics, or skill training, is mainly what causes changes in the muscle tissue itself. For example, this research study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26944667) recently looked at x-rays from professional ballet dancers during full straddle splits. The most effective approach to increasing flexibility may be when stretching is used with proper assessments, consistency in stretching, follow up control work, strength programing including eccentric training and proper volume / fatigue management for athletes. Simply throwing a bunch of random flexibility drills you recently saw at a clinic or on a video (Im majorly guilty of this one) is a quick way to ask for complaints of hip pain. The way someones hips or shoulders are shaped, unique rotations of bones, certain anatomical variations, or issues along the entire body chain, can all have a substantial impact on the amount of flexibility a gymnast can display during skills. Their hypermobility, along with any underlying talent or great coaching they obtain to control this range of motion, allows them to be quite successful at an early age. 4 full hip and shoulder circuits in PDF Front splits, straddle splits, handstands and pommel horse/parallel bar flexibility Downloadable checklists to use at practice Exercise videos for every drill included The Young Injured Gymnast: A Literature Review and Discussion. I feel this approach not only makes more sense from a gymnastics technique point of view, but also incorporates a lot of current scientific research on flexibility, soft tissue work, and human movement. Gymnasts are already notorious for having really tight calves because of how much time they spend in a toe point along with doing so much jumping and landing. The issue is more about, The lack of assessments being used before and after stretching, The lack of flexibility exercises that target active muscular structures (muscles and tendons) over passive structures (ligaments and joint capsules), The lack of a consistency over intensity mindset that is supported by research, and also avoids aggressive techniques that may cause injury, The lack of individuality and specificity being used based on a gymnasts individual issue, The lack of stretching being used as one small piece for the overall flexibility approach that carries changes in range of motion to actual skills, The current body of research on stretching suggests that, Changes in the nervous system are likely the main reason why stretching overtime increases range of motion (changing stretch reflex, changing perception of discomfort, desensitization of specific nerves), Changes in the muscle or tendon tissue itself also likely occur (change in number of sarcomeres, length of sarcomeres, amount of stiffness in muscle tissue). This can happen withhip flexing movements (think front leg high kick or leap) as the front of the femur bone makes contact with the front of the pelvis (impingement) and then the contact acts as a fulcrum for thefemoral head toslide out the back of the hip joint (instability). But, the timiing protocols for these studies were insanely more than and human does, so its likely not the main case for increases in muscle length. It is way beyond the scope of this text to breakdown all these different anatomical variants, but the reader must be aware of the simple fact that not all gymnasts hips are the same. They measured ankle range of motion and end range stiffness before and after these stretches. The goal is to make hand contact with the wall. These topics tend to be what I write and lecture about most because they are often underrepresented or misunderstood in gymnastics. (10), In another study by Konrad (10), twenty-five adult individuals were compared to twenty-four adult individuals in a control group to see if a six-week calf stretching program would. In simpler terms, I think that ankle weights make the skill very different compared to just the weight of the leg, and dont accurately represent/have transferred to nonweighted leaps. As mentioned we have to be cautious not to overtax their already hypermobile hip capsules and ligaments during flexibility training. North Am J Sports Phys Ther 1(1):1631, 2006. Due to many gymnasts having inherent hypermobility, we do not want to place excessive stress on the ligaments and joint capsules of athletes. Again, without an in-depth knowledge of anatomy, injury mechanisms, and medical imaging, it is tough for someone to tell the difference between a hip flexor strain and a more severe ligament or labral tear. Place your left arm across your chest to the right side. More research is needed, but this concept of natural boney adaptations in gymnasts is a central idea I feel will emerge in years to come. Through their chapters, the researchers outline that flexibility training must be viewed in a broader context outside of only aiming to increase joint range of motion. 0, No. The Relation Between Stretching Typology and Stretching Duration: The Effects on Range of Motion. Cross-body shoulder stretch. 2014 Jun;29(6):636-42. doi: 10.1016/j. List of Gymnastics Exercises. Self-soft tissue work refers to using foam rollers, lacrosse balls, tennis balls, or other implements to help massage different muscular areas of the body. In a study by Zollner et al (17), the researchers looked more at changes in muscle tissue when chronic stretching was used in simulated animal models. Cordasco FA. Its for good reason too. This is because a large body of manual therapy and self-soft tissue work does not recommend very intense/painful pressure, or extremely long bouts of foam rolling are needed to gain the positive benefits. Champagne, IL: Human Kinetics. Bialosky, et al. These are the muscles themselves, to a small degree the tendons that connect muscles to bones, and largely the nervous system. Effect of PNF stretching training on the properties of human muscle and tendon structures. For choreography or specific drills, this may be very appropriate when not pushed quickly to extreme ranges of motion. Not to mention their flat feet may cause those same outside ankle structures that may be inflammed/damaged to get re-irritated when impinged upon. The average quality of studies included in this section of the review was slightly higher than the average qualities of the studies in the review overall. Chaundry H, et al. 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