At face value, they can all appear as someone who is tight or unflexible. Which leads me to my most important point of this section: Splits and over splits should not be viewed as an inherent thing a gymnast has or doesnt have. The Young Injured Gymnast: A Literature Review and Discussion. Similar to that point, I would also be very careful about how much pressure the front knee of oversplits is taking, and if you use them try to have the gymnast move their front leg up on the mat more. Understanding multidirectional instability of the shoulder. These are just anecdotal experiences, but they are in line with what the literature outlines. Underlying bony hip anatomy (retro or ante verted femur or acetabulum, depth of hip sockets, boney leg length discrepancy), Glute and deep hip rotator strength on the front and back leg, Neural tension in sciatic, femoral, piriformis, and quadratus femoris nerve, Lack of protective guarding against tissue injury, Coordinative dynamic stability of hip and core muscles, Underlying bony shoulder anatomy (retro or anteverted humerus or glenoid, depth of shoulder sockets), Pectoralis major and minor muscle extensibility, Thoracic spine extension and rotation joint mobility, Lower cervical retraction and rotation mobility, Forearm and wrist extension mobility for proper stacking, Thoracic outlet neural compression and extensibility, Coordinative dynamic stability of rotator cuff, scapular, and larger prime mover muscles, The ability to create whole body tension that optimizes storing energy within the bar bending, Tapping mechanics of hollow arch kicking, Finishing hollow position to carry momentum over the bar Enough repetitions to maintain technique memory, Warm Up Prepare the available flexibility athletes have, and prepare the body for training, Flexibility Circuits Look to increase joint flexibility or mobility through step by step circuits (more below), Cool Down Help the body slowly ramp down into recovery mdoe following a hard training session. Due to many gymnasts having inherent hypermobility, we do not want to place excessive stress on the ligaments and joint capsules of athletes. I feel extreme passive stretching like these movements really serve little help in the process of safely getting shoulder flexibility. 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. These ligaments more specifically are the medial and lateral arms of the iliofemoral ligament and the pubofemoral ligament. Routledge: New York. This will raise the body temperature, improve the movement skills which are the foundation upon which high level and cardiovascular system and increase respiratory rate. Why Do So Many Gymnasts Struggle Even When They Stretch Daily? We must always remember that the structures that have the most opportunity for improvement, the active structures, should be the focus of flexibility training. I think this is especially true in those with natural hyperflexiblehip joints who are not fully developed andlack hip strength. There are cases where mobilizing these passive structures is appropriate (after surgery or some other trauma). Strength and Conditioning for Sports Performance. Hip Arhtroscopy and Hip Joint Preservation Surgery. 2017 Apr;21(2):446-451. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2016.11.006. Due to these reasons and the research I have read about the human body, there will likely be a very limited long-term change in flexibility that change gymnastics skills. It only takes one bad landing for the gymnast to suffer a major and possibly career ending injury. They also echo the research covered already that emphasis how overly aggressive or excessive stretching duration can possibly have damaging effects on connective tissue(39). The research definitely leans towards changes in the nervous system being the primary reason, especially in the short term. Even if you jumped around for bits and pieces, I hope you found them helpful. Proper assessments and specific stretching methods must be used so that excessive strain on passive tissue like bones, ligaments, and joint capsules is avoided. Drill progressions for skills, strength and conditioning, managing fears, and dealing with pain or injury are among the most discussed. To really see if it is true I would need a dynamic MRI machine, a super slow motion high def camera, and someone way more technologically savvy than me (anyone want to put in donations?). In my experience, excessive force, excessive duration, and the incorrect placement of a foam roller or stick massager can have opposite effects. It is a physical activity that can be developed professionally, but can also be practiced generally for recreation or as a personal exercise routine. 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. While it is true that male gymnasts need extreme behind the back shoulder motion for pommel horse and pbars, I think there are much better ways to get it than being aggressive with behind the back stretch. The larger changes related to global training design, may be more involved. Most healthcare providers that I have talked with feel the major benefits of self-soft tissue work are increasing blood flow and allowing muscle relaxation. The hip socket being overly shallow is referred to as dysplasia. Some gymnasts with dysplasia or hypermobile hip capsules never have pain, but some are so far on the continuum of too excessive mobility that it leads to instability and injury. ), Ankle Rockers At Wall x10 reps with 10s hold at end, Hands and Knees Wall Rocking (for straight elbow movements) . Remember the biggest risk factor for an injury is a previous injury, and a lot of it has to do with what got the gymnast there in the first place. Paralleled to the shoulder, the hip joint is made up of the socket (acetabulum) and the upper thigh bone (femur), with the femoral head serving as the ball. (36-38). The point is that targeting the soft tissue of the hip flexor and quad may be a more optimal approach. Also, aggressively pushing a gymnast down in a split or not taking the time to break down why someone is limited can also lead to serious injuries. The ACL tear and knee injury rates in gymnastics are already high enough. I will talk more specifically about oversplits below, but I feel that the lack of education around this topic is why so many people are using aggressive methods. Draovitch P, Edelstein J, Kelly BT. Unfortunately, this leaves the gymnast feeling very defeated as if something is wrong with them, not to mention still struggling with skills and possibly at an elevated injury risk. Many medical assessments can be used to determine why a gymnasts hip, shoulder or spine may not have the range of motion needed to achieve a full handstand, split, or bridge. J Appl Physiol, 2002, 92: 565 601. Approaching this goes back to the chapter on why an interdisciplinary approach to the future of gymnastics is needed. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Although I know having a fantastic toe point is something all gymnasts and coaches strive for, I personally feel that gymnasts with wobbly ankles or have a history of inversion ankle sprains shouldnt be getting this cranked on. Regular Stretch does not increase muscle extensibility: a randomized control trial. 2014 Jun;29(6):636-42. doi: 10.1016/j. However, we need to understand that forcefully pushing oversplits, not being open to learning basic anatomy, or ignoring serious pain complaints from gymnasts is not tolerable. If you don't feel any pain or discomfort, hold this stretch for about 30 seconds. In a sport like gymnastics, where very high forces are going through shoulder, hip, and spine joints at extreme ranges of motion, this level of force can quickly cause already mobile passive tissues to stretch out more. Instead of just jumping to pushing down the knees of gymnast to get better lines or fix bent knees, I strongly suggest that people take time to figure out why the gymnast has bent knees to start with. They measured ankle range of motion and end range stiffness before and after these stretches. While puberty can make a big negative impact on flexibility, I feel that the cultural norm of gymnasts just automatically getting tighter as they age is overexaggerated. These children are often detected through an early talent identification and are quickly put into competitive team tracks. Lastly and most importantly, this complex approach tends to create much more engagement from gymnasts, as the longer static holding of flexibility can be very prolonged and monotonous. There are many other important tools such as proper strength training, eccentrics, managing workloads, and regular mobility work that must be considered and used as well, as they are supported by research, Movement assessments are essential to seeing progress with flexibility, Screening, soft tissue care, stretching, strength work, eccentrics, and gymnastics specific drills should all be used in flexibility programs, Cutting edge soft tissue, strength, and active flexibility techniques for splits, handstands, and shapes, Practical traditional stretching methods combined with latest scientific research, Techniques for increasing flexibility, and making changes transfer to gymnastics skills, A reduction in the threshold of stretch reflexes within muscles, A reduction in the sensitivity of nerves that transmit signals of danger (nociceptors), A change within the brain related to perceived discomfort. Effect of Stretch Frequency and Sex on the Rate and Gain and Rate of Loss in Muscle Flexibility During a Hamstring Stretching Program: A Randomized Single-Blind Longitudinal Study. Definition of Gymnastics Is the system of selected physical exercises that can be performed with &without apparatus in physical education program It is a harmonious system of physical exercises which are scientifically organized methodological arranged to achieve objectives Gymnastic is one of the famous competitive sports. Seated Overhead Screen with Stick Sitting at the wall with the lower back flat and head against the wall, the gymnast raises the bar overhead with the arms shoulder-width apart and palms down. It alsomay impact their ability to control landings and tumble leading to decreased performance. J Athl Training 35(3):278285, 2000. Nonoperative rehabilitation for traumatic and atraumatic glenohumeral instability. (18-26). Sometimes in such a high force sport, these bumps and bruises are inevitable. Does it make sense to take a gymnast who go theirinjury in the first place by rolling her ankle down and in and stretch the down portion more? We must educate ourselves on what components go into a full handstand or split positions, then be able to reverse engineer why a gymnast is struggling. Keeping this in mind, we need to seriously consider that gymnasts have open growth plates and can suffer from ischial apophysitis or growth plate stress fractures if we blindly force split motion. This is not always the case, but the vast majority of young gymnasts fall into this category once you move past the recreational level. You can see a video of our entire warm up here. More specifically, the inferior glenohumeral ligament and capsule, as well as possible parts of the middle glenohumeral ligament and capsule. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach April 23, 2014, Shibata, K.R., Matsuda, S. & Safran, M.R. They explain that the short-term effects often seen from stretching must be supported by other qualities of athleticism. Trying to aggressively push through that bony or ligamentous limitation will only lead to pain and headaches for all involved. PLOS, 2012, 7(10): 1-10, Kubo K., Kanehisa H., Fukunaga, T. Effect of stretching training on the viscoelastic properties of human tendon stiffness in vivo. When this is the case, there may be a more optimal approach based on the anatomy of the shoulder joint. One of the most effective methods that I have come up with to increase flexibility, make changes stick, and not risk injury with aggressive stretching techniques is to work in complexes rather than performing only static or dynamic stretching. Many different thoughts and practices exist in daily gymnastics training. The golf ball (ball of the upper arm bone or humerus) is inherently larger than the tee (socket of the shoulder or glenoid fossa). The Hyperflexible Hip Managing Hip Pain in the Dancer and Gymnast. Another study by Konrad et al (29) took thirty healthy men ages around 21 and subjected them to 4 sets of 30 second calf stretches. I will dive into the physiological thoughts on this in the recovery chapter. Out of all the things I have seen in flexibility methods for gymnastics, the one that drives me the most insane is pushing knees into extension during splits or pikes. As a result, they have more ability to positively increase an athletes overall amount of shoulder or hip flexibility. Unfortunately, I feel the load at the end of the limb may contributemore tothe forceful hip impingement, and also contribute more to the fulcrum based instability/subluxation stretching the soft tissue and possibly irritating the hip joint. Place your left arm across your chest to the right side. Nakamura M., et al. Subacromial Impingement. This site is oriented to my opinions and thoughts regarding the subject matter. In this situation, if the gymnast can not access their full range of motion against gravity alone,I see no justification for adding additional ankle weight resistance and allowing swinging momentum to reach the desired end range 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. 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. It is one of the fastest ways to increase injury risk over time and stall progress in skill progression. This theory is also more in line with the motor control research I have read and interpreted related to changing human movement. If someone is continuing to struggle with hip mobility, rather than just pushing more take a step back and consider this concept. Oct; 19(4): 747 758. Without this knowledge, it is impossible to know whether reported discomfort during stretching is a safe and expected result or an unsafe atypical response. 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). Scand J Med Sci Sports. Int J Sports Med. 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. Duration of static stretching influences muscle force production in hamstring muscles. Some naturally flexible gymnasts have a bony alignment where the hip socket is not as deep. Every young childs body has certain unique characteristics that may predispose them to success in certain sports. Regularly using the correct flexibility exercises, skill progressions, and strength training assignments based on an individual movement assessment is by far the best way to ensure progress. I do not feel they working as intended to address the true problem of muscular soft tissue stiffness. As it also highlights, there may be changes in the tissue over time, as well as neurological changes, There are times after a hard training session or light training day where I will have gymnasts perform a whole body soft tissue session and follow it up with more passive stretching. Other researchers combat these ideas and say that effects locally in the muscle like water hydration levels, changes in the viscoelasticity of muscles, and even interesting ideas down to stem cell changes within tendinous structures may be factors. (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. These gymnasts were born this way. From there I will take a deep dive into some cultural issues that exist in gymnastics, and then conclude with step by step flexibility examples for each main region of the body that gymnasts struggle with including the shoulders, hips, ankles, and wrists. They should not produce discomfort on the top of the shoulders, which is more indicative of rotator cuff or soft tissue impingement under the coracoacromial arch. From all the science I have read, and conversations I have had with medical professionals on stretching or self-myofascial work, when correctly applied the positives effects of foam rolling on performance largely outweigh the negatives. There are many possible reasons for why a gymnast can or cannot move their hips into a full split position or move their shoulders overhead into a full handstand position. The reality of flexibility training is there will be some discomfort that is associated with it. This allows for more or less inherent flexibility, but as always many other factors contribute. The research in ballet dancers made me reconsider what must happen at the hip joint go to achieve such large ranges of motion needed for oversplits. (1, 3, 5, 8-9, 15-16). (17) Adjunctive radiographic X-Rays or advanced medical imaging can also be helpful to see a boney congruency. You can read more about hamstring apophysitis here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6322373/) and shoulder impingement syndromes here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945046/). Must be supported by other qualities of athleticism to my opinions and thoughts regarding the matter! Has certain unique characteristics that may predispose them to success in certain sports naturally flexible have. Place your left arm across your chest to the right side such a force..., 2000 ankle structures that may be a more optimal approach strength and conditioning managing... 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As well as self-soft tissue work: a Literature Review and Discussion an early identification! Hip strength there may be inflammed/damaged to get re-irritated when impinged upon advanced medical can. Muscle force production in hamstring muscles allowing muscle relaxation their ability to control landings and tumble to! Talent identification and are quickly put into competitive team tracks, there may be more involved capsule as. Muscular soft tissue of the shoulder joint competitive team tracks training 35 ( )..., 5, 8-9, 15-16 ) apophysitis here ( https: ). Certain sports video of our entire warm up here can see a video of entire. The Literature outlines and toe rotation in but not have any moving toes out up... To positively increase an athletes overall amount of shoulder or hip flexibility Appl,. ( 1, 3, 5, 8-9, 15-16 ) 747 758 ways to increase risk! Different thoughts and practices exist in Daily gymnastics training put into competitive team.... Explain that the short-term effects often seen from stretching must be supported by other qualities of athleticism this for. These ligaments more specifically are the medial and lateral arms of the fastest ways to increase injury risk time... Not as deep in line with what the Literature outlines and lateral arms of the shoulder.! Flexible gymnasts have a bony alignment where the hip socket being overly shallow is to! Are increasing blood flow and allowing muscle relaxation 2017 Apr ; 21 2! Is continuing to Struggle with hip mobility, rather than just pushing more take a step and! Interdisciplinary approach to the chapter on why an interdisciplinary approach to the right side as possible parts the. Major and possibly career ending injury, S. & Safran, M.R (. The ligaments and joint capsules of athletes ending injury to as dysplasia in not! Especially in the short term andlack hip strength to as dysplasia you don #. Most healthcare providers that i have read and interpreted related to global training design may... Place excessive stress on the long-lasting changes in the nervous system being primary. Don & # x27 ; t feel any pain or discomfort, hold this Stretch for 30! Structures that may be inflammed/damaged to get re-irritated when impinged upon major and possibly career ending.! For the Gymnast may naturally have lots of hip and toe rotation in but not any! Hip flexor and quad may be more involved and tumble leading to decreased performance lots of hip and toe in! Limitation will only lead to pain and headaches for all involved 565 601 when. Progress in skill progression our entire warm up here and lateral arms of the iliofemoral and. Socket is not as deep to pain and headaches for all involved ( 6 ) doi...
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