The Benefits of Gymnastics for Athletic Development

Nicole Burda, CSCS
USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach
Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Optimum Performance Training, Inc. (OPTI)

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Participation in gymnastics activities provides the athlete with physical, cognitive, and psychological benefits.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS
Strength:
Gymnastics teaches the fundamentals of movement; these basic movements can help to build general athleticism. Gymnastics movements require the athlete to wield their body through countless positions, which demand the development of both static and dynamic strength and flexibility. In order to successfully complete the many skills and movements, it is necessary to develop strength and coordination of the entire body. Learning to fire muscles in correct sequence improves control of the body, which can then be applied to other athletic movements. Correct sequencing of the muscles firing, intra-muscular coordination, will improve the athlete's ability to develop power or force, which is an important component of most sports. Also, gymnastics activity tends to improve upper body strength and coordination due to the unique aspect of the sport in which many movements are inverted and require weight bearing on the hands.

Flexibility:
Gymnastics emphasizes flexibility owing to the athlete assuming different specific positions in order to execute a skill. Improving flexibility through gymnastics activity can be an excellent way to reduce injury during other athletic movements. For example, when a limb is forced into a potentially harmful position, requiring a large range of motion, the athlete is now more limber and better physically prepared to endure the impact.

Balance:
Proper body alignment and balance are essential aspects in executing different gymnastics skills and movements correctly. Gymnastics is unique in the respect that the athlete must be just as comfortable and able to balance in an upright position as in an inverted or even horizontal position. For example, the handstand, a basic gymnastics position is a classic image of a balancing skill. This simple movement displays the athletes' ability to control his or her body. By performing skills such as the handstand, the athlete may develop a higher tolerance for imbalance. The athlete will not react with as large of a "startle response" to unexpected imbalances and, therefore, will be better able to recover from disturbances to their balance. Training balance through gymnastics has many benefits that can be applied to other sports. The landing stability used in completing and transitioning through gymnastics movements will develop body control, mechanics for loading the musculotendinous units for quickness, and will help to reduce injury. Learning the perfect point of balance will help the athlete to find their optimal position of power. Also, learning to transition the point of balance when moving from position to position and skill to skill allows for improved transfer of energy.

Falling:
Learning to fall is treated like a skill in itself. Falling is taught as a prerequisite to other skills. Knowing how to roll and fall in a safe manner allows the athletes' body to spread the forces of impact over a larger area and time. Gravity never takes a day off; therefore, the ability to fall safely will help to avoid injury when practicing gymnastics and when falling when participating in other sports.

COGNITIVE BENEFITS
Practicing balance stimulates the nervous system and helps to link the mind to the muscle. Gymnastics will teach the athlete to be in tune with their body due to the necessity of body awareness and control in order to complete gymnastics exercises. The neuromuscular stimulation of gymnastics training will help develop spatial awareness, kinesthetic awareness, and proprioceptive awareness. Spatial awareness is the ability to know where the body is positioned in space. Kinesthetic awareness encompasses the ability to perceive and feel movement of one's own body, weight shifts, and positioning of the body. Proprioceptive awareness is the body receiving the information from the central nervous system about how to react and with what amount of tension. By developing awareness of the body through gymnastics skills the athlete will be more capable and better prepared to make corrections and adjustments needed to perform other athletic skills.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS
Through participating in gymnastics activities the athlete will gain psychological benefits, which can then be applied to other sports as well as later in life. Mastering a skill or movement in gymnastics requires discipline, patience, perseverance, focus and goal setting in order to progress. The athlete must learn to trust in one's own abilities that will in turn help boost self-esteem, develop self-reliance and the confidence to tackle new activities. Above all the athlete has the opportunity to experience the enjoyment and excitement of mastering a new skill and of achieving success.

If you have further questions concerning this information, please feel free to contact us via e-mail at: rclopti@aol.com