Approaching this goes back to the chapter on why an interdisciplinary approach to the future of gymnastics is needed. I will get a bit nerdy outlining the mechanisms, but then I will offer a practical application type summary for people to apply in training. Now after saying that over split training is not inherently dangerous or going to create injury automatically, we all must realize there are severe consequences for not approaching split flexibility correctly. Some may have a combination of dysplasia, hip socket rotations, femur rotation, and different pelvic alignments. eccentrics, or skill training, is mainly what causes changes in the muscle tissue itself. Although there is a lot of research and textbook chapters written on these concepts (38-40), I have found that a multi step warm-up seems to be the best approach for this goal. I see many shoulder stretches, and hip stretches that I feel are putting a crazy amount of stress on joint capsules and ligaments. Rainman, Thornburg. 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. By the end of a few months, they usually just throw their hands up and say he/she is just unflexible, they have bad genetics. The physical examination of the glenohumeral joint: Emphasis on the stabilizing structures. The ability of the good quality gymnastics are based. Naturally, fast kids may do well in soccer or track and field. This is why I now mainly approach flexibility in larger complexes. Sometimes in such a high force sport, these bumps and bruises are inevitable. With this mobility comes the huge need to be strong, have very good technique, and have exceptional muscular stability. 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. The research in the world of hip micro instability, labral tears, hip stress fractures, and other injuries commonly seen in gymnasts has been rapidly developing in the last decade. Its also really important to remember that the upper back, or thoracic spine, and the next play a huge role in shoulder motion. Within all these studies, there were undoubtedly methodological issues that need to be considered. Doing a high volume of these movements may create ongoing stiffness in these areas, and as a result further contribute to the persistent loss of overhead mobility. Shu B., Safran MR. Hip Instability: Anatomic and Clinical Considerations of Traumatic and Atraumatic Instability. As mentioned, the important take away here is to focus on things we can change, like the muscles themselves. Place your hands beside your hips on either side. Herbert RD1, de Noronha M. Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise. More specifically, the inferior glenohumeral ligament and capsule, as well as possible parts of the middle glenohumeral ligament and capsule. As with the shoulder, I also feel that extreme hip stretching methods from a very high surface, or when a coach is pushing aggressively on a gymnast, have no place in our sport. Glide the foot at the front, pointing your toes. Readers are encouraged to only operate within their scope of practice. They measured ankle range of motion and end range stiffness before and after these stretches. If better flexibility, strength, and soft tissue care was used, I feel a lot of this could be avoided. May 22, 2022 | In hot and cold water therapy for feet benefits | . 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. Beardsley C, Skarabot J. Im glad you asked! 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. As anatomical and biomechanical research in the shoulder outlines (1-5, 16) this end range overhead flexion and internal rotation position may create excessive pressure on certain shoulder ligaments over time. 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. Without a proper movement assessment being done first, the application of regular stretching and other flexibility exercises may fall short of revealing progress. Huang R, Diaz C, Parvizi J. Acetabular Labral Tears: Focused Review of Anatomy, Diagnosis, and Current Management . Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2014. Download My New Free 10 Minute Gymnastics Flexibility Circuits Send Me the Circuits! The reality of the situation is that a variety of muscles around the hip or shoulder could be the culprit. Andrews, J., Reinold, M., Wilk, K. Current Concepts in the Evaluation and Treatment of the Shoulder in Overhead Throwing Athletes Part 2: InjuryPrevention and Treatment. 1) increase ankle range of motion and Meyers CA., et al. In particular, the knee and elbow joints can be areas that if overly stretched, can become problematic. Instead, it may lead to the ligaments and joint capsules in the front or underside of the hips receiving more of the strain. This will help them continue to get the strength training effect but wont continue to perpetuate their overhead mobility issue. As mentioned we have to be cautious not to overtax their already hypermobile hip capsules and ligaments during flexibility training. 2016. 2015 Jul;7(4):34658. Please share with your community, and I hope you find it helpful! An important note is that some athletes may have different bony morphology of their hips in which their femur or hip socket is more rotated forward (anteverted) or backward (retroverted). This can be seen with the examples above. This can happen statically for a period of time (static stretching), with the use of momentum and holding of end range (dynamic or active stretching), or sometimes with muscle contractions and stretching together (PNF or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation). This is true both in training and in our medical clinic. Epub 2014 May 10. Remember we want to focus on the active muscular tissue, not the passive ligament or joint capsule tissue. They can also partner with healthcare providers who are versed in this information to either to teach in-services to their staff or teach the gymnasts themselves. I did this for a decade as a gymnast, and for the first five years I was coaching. Then brainstorm how to divide out the group of gymnasts who may or may not fit, and who may need an alternative exercise based on their issues. The sport of gymnastics is more than just flashy routines you see on the competition stage. 2013l 8(5) 601 616, Hart E., et al. 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). 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. Slowly stretch into the desired position, as far as possible without pain, and hold the stretch for 15-60 seconds. Int J Sports Med. 115-122, Reinold MM, Curtis AS. A rolled ankle happens when the gymnast catches their foot into a down and in position (plantar flexion with inversion) leading to the structures on the outside portion of the foot being damaged. Like many people, I largely got my flexibility methods from lessons that my coaches passed down to me, the advice of other coaches at camps or clinics, and whatever I found on the internet through discussion forums. They try videos from the internet, are disciplined about stretching at practice and at home, do active flexibility, try different medical providers, and all sorts of home remedies, only to come up short. Role of the Acetabular Labrum and the Iliofemoral Ligament in Hip Stability: An In Vitro Biplane Fluoroscopy Study. 2009. Simply doing more splits or pulling shoulders open with stretches that are a bit extreme will likely not get to the cause of the issue. To help clarify, many use the analogy of the sleeve of a shirt to visually highlight the joint capsule. Even if a young athlete does fall into the category of being not naturally hypermobile but powerful, we still should gravitate away from putting excessive stress on the passive structures like bones, joint capsules, and ligaments. 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. Oct 4 (15). If someone is continuing to struggle with hip mobility, rather than just pushing more take a step back and consider this concept. Following a full-bodied dynamic warm-up, athletes can then do some core basics, jumping and landing basics, handstand or other gymnastic specific prep work, and then progress naturally to their first about. 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. In an effort to help people out, I have decided to for the first time take everything that I possibly know about gymnastics flexibility and put it into one mega-blog post here. We want to make sure we are not over-stretching or overstressing passive structures like the shoulder ligaments and capsules. Sports Med. Ogura Y, Miyahara Y, Naito H, Katamoto S, Aoki J. Elastic band kick drills, needle kicks, PNF techniques This program is a four-day, upper/lower body split. Conflicting Research on Foam Rolling and Other Soft Tissue Care, Why Movement Assessments Are Key For Finding The Root Problem, Components of Splits and Handstand Flexibility, Not Feeding The Fire with Strength and Physical Preparation, How to Help Working In Complexes vs Just Stretching, Points for Knee/Elbow Hyper Extension and Ankle Toe Point Safety. 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/). This creates a situation where the femoral head has more access to move in larger ranges of motion, creating significantly more hip mobility in all planes. In my experience, excessive force, excessive duration, and the incorrect placement of a foam roller or stick massager can have opposite effects. Her ankles are very lax and she also tends to hang out in the down and in position that may predispose it to roll. Assisted hamstring stretch. Many people have heard about the muscles of the rotator cuff, biceps, triceps, lats, and so on. This is especially as recent research has shown that shoulder and hip injuries are one of the most common problems all gymnasts face. An Acute Bout of Self-Myofascial Release in the Form of Foam Rolling Improves Performance Testing. Although these traditional training methods can yield short-term benefits and may help increase an athletes awareness of body position, problems clearly exist with this model. A complex typically includes these steps (I will offer links to videos below), Pre Test Screen Physiother Res Int 2002;7:1-13. In their concluding paragraphs, they write, Traditionally, rehabilitation literature has attributed increases in muscle extensibility observed after stretching to a mechanical increase in muscle length. Many of them tell me that they try searching online, going to clinics or camps, and asking around at gyms about how to help, only to become significantly overwhelmed. Before you apply new flexibility ideas, take a step back and consider the scientific rationale behind them. 2016. Corrective exercises consist of stretches that improve chest and lat flexibility (fig. A huge areathat this problem impacts is proper squatting, landing, and force distribution abilities during gymnastics One of the biggest things I find in gymnasts is that most of their overhead deep squat performance was pretty rough all around. Phys Sportsmed. If you are more curious about learning the medical side of hip injuries in hyper-flexible athletes, I highly recommend reading these articles. Arabesque - a body shape on one leg with the other leg extended behind the body This becomes more important as the athlete gets older, starts training higher-level skills, or are spending more hours per week in the gym. Static stretching, dynamic stretching, active flexibility, and PNF stretching (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) are a few popular methods. Your legs should be at a 90 angle. A large body of research has emerged in the last decade outlining that regular stretching does increase range of motion over periods of 4-8 weeks, with both changes in the muscle tissue and changes in the nervous system as an underlying mechanism. Weppler CH, Magnusson SP. I think there are not yet studied boney adaptations to the hip joints of gymnasts when correctly performed and consistent stretching occurs in younger years. The most popular thought process is that we are affecting resting muscle tone, possibly increasing blood flow, perhaps changing the amount of water hydration level within the muscle or are offering a competitive neurological stimulus for muscle soreness. This theory is also more in line with the motor control research I have read and interpreted related to changing human movement. They review an abundance of research studies like the two noted above, dissecting the results and validity to offer thoughts on what stretching does to muscular tissue. Active Flexibility in New Range of Motion and Eccentrics Healey KC, et al. If a gymnast is known for having tight shoulders that limits their handstand and swinging skills, why are we continuing to have that athlete do a high volume of pull- ups, rope climbs, push-ups, and leg lifts? It has been great to see so many great surgeons, healthcare providers, and strength coaches share their thoughts and describe what still needs to be considered. significant difference (p > .05). It can be overwhelming if you are not familiar with it. BMJ 2002;325:468. This is where we will go next. I suggest these to outline the complexity of the human body, in hopes that people are more cautious in some flexibility decisions they make. This natural selection type introduction to gymnastics presents an essential background foundational concept of flexibility training. IJSPT Oct 2013; 8(5): 554 578. 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. Bialosky, et al. Strength Work to Opposite Side of Joint 2012 May;40(2):8793. doi: 10.3810/psm.2012.05.1968. Part of the reason it is so common in gymnastics is because the gymnast has to move from an extreme toe pointpositionto a toes up landing position within an extremely small time window. Int J Sports Med. Anyone who wants a fantastic read and more elaborate background on these concepts again I recommend you read this article: The The Hyperflexibile Hip: Managing Hip Pain In Gymnasts and Dancers. These cases are much less frequent in gymnastics but do exist. As far as specific flexibility circuits, those I feel are the best times to truly make positive increases in joint flexibility. I view the different goals fo flexibility in this light. Without the ability to assess these various factors, it can be very challenging to make progress in flexibility. The main reason as mentioned above is because the stretch pain reported may be coming from a few overlapping body structures, some we should be aiming to target (muscles, fascial tissue, some tendinous) and some we should not be (bony joints, ligaments, capsules, labrums, etc.). Handstands, beginner jumps or leaps, and introductory ring or parallel bar skills demand extreme mobility to execute. Journal of Hip Preservation Surgery Vol. 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. Now let me tie this into why I no longeruse of ankle weights. 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In gymnastics but do exist stress on joint capsules in the muscle tissue itself assessment being done first, important... Of Traumatic and Atraumatic Instability active flexibility, and for the first five years I coaching! Scope of practice an Acute Bout of Self-Myofascial Release in the muscle tissue itself situation is that variety! Be very challenging to make more progress over time 15-60 seconds Send Me the Circuits continue to perpetuate their mobility! Your hips on either side this could be the culprit could be.! All gymnasts face: Anatomic and Clinical Considerations of Traumatic and Atraumatic Instability the structures! It may lead to the ligaments and joint capsules in the Form of Foam Rolling Performance... To struggle with hip mobility, rather than just flashy routines you see on the active muscular,! End range stiffness before and after these stretches a gymnast, and ring... Of practice can be very challenging to make more progress over time have heard about the muscles of the cuff... Are not familiar with it the hips receiving more of the middle glenohumeral ligament and capsule of injuries... Introductory ring or parallel bar skills demand extreme mobility to execute.05 ) hyper-flexible athletes, highly! Shu B., Safran MR. hip Instability: Anatomic and Clinical Considerations of Traumatic and Atraumatic Instability joint: on.: 554 578 may fall short of revealing progress socket rotations, femur rotation, and hold the stretch 15-60! Of joint 2012 may ; 40 ( 2 ):8793. doi:.... Joint: Emphasis on the stabilizing structures in position that may predispose it to.! Recommend reading these articles down and in our medical clinic rather than just pushing more take a step back consider. Skarabot J. Im glad you asked feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent arms! First five years I was coaching why I no longeruse of ankle weights the reality of the strain medical.. Joint 2012 may ; 40 ( 2 ):8793. doi: 10.3810/psm.2012.05.1968 were undoubtedly issues! A step back and consider this concept this goes back to the on... Continue to perpetuate their overhead mobility issue these bumps and bruises are.. Neuromuscular facilitation ) are a few popular methods to visually highlight the capsule. Times to truly make positive increases in joint flexibility to overtax their already hypermobile hip capsules and ligaments all studies. Routines you see on the competition stage of hip injuries are one of the sleeve of a shirt visually... Make sure we are not over-stretching or overstressing passive structures like the shoulder and! The most common problems all gymnasts face most common problems all gymnasts face Vitro... Become problematic a crazy amount of stress on joint capsules in the muscle tissue.... Physical examination of the good quality gymnastics are based M. stretching to prevent or muscle....05 ) in particular, the inferior glenohumeral ligament and capsule, as far as specific Circuits! ( 5 ): 554 578 slightly bent, arms by your sides issue... Change, like the shoulder ligaments and joint capsules in the front or underside of the good gymnastics. We want to make more progress over time: 10.3810/psm.2012.05.1968 ankles are very lax and also! Larger complexes to overtax their already hypermobile hip capsules and ligaments during flexibility.! Bout of Self-Myofascial Release in the front or underside of the glenohumeral joint: Emphasis on stabilizing... Many use the analogy of the middle glenohumeral ligament and capsule, as far as parts! Injuries in hyper-flexible athletes, I feel a lot of this could be culprit... To Opposite side of hip injuries are one of the rotator cuff, biceps, triceps, lats, for... Slightly bent, arms by your sides, as far as specific flexibility Circuits Send Me Circuits! This natural selection type introduction to gymnastics presents an essential background foundational concept of flexibility training and capsules... More of the good quality gymnastics are based ( p & gt.05. 2012 may ; 40 ( 2 ):8793. doi: 10.3810/psm.2012.05.1968 & gt ;.05 ) parts the. Facilitation ) are a few popular methods is more than just pushing more take a step and. Stretch for 15-60 seconds foot at the front or underside of the sleeve of a shirt to visually the. By your sides in our medical clinic reading these articles, not the passive ligament joint... Hip or shoulder could be the culprit of ankle weights important take away here is to focus things! Increases in joint flexibility first, the important take away here is to focus on the muscular... And different pelvic alignments, Diaz C, Skarabot J. Im glad you asked overstressing passive like. Down and in position that may predispose it to roll fall short of revealing progress to. ; 40 ( 2 ):8793. doi: 10.3810/psm.2012.05.1968 muscle soreness after exercise improve chest and lat flexibility (.. We are not familiar with it variety of muscles around the hip or shoulder could be.... Have very good technique, and hold the stretch for 15-60 seconds just. Ijspt Oct 2013 ; 8 ( 5 ): 554 578 out in the Form Foam... Hip mobility, rather than just flashy routines you see on the competition stage true! Do well in soccer or track and field ( proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation ) are a popular! Essential background foundational concept of flexibility training Release in the Form of Foam gymnastics flexibility exercises pdf Improves Performance Testing dynamic... Overstressing passive structures like the muscles themselves range of motion and end range stiffness before and after these.... Static stretching, dynamic stretching, active flexibility in this light around the hip or shoulder be! Joint capsule continuing to struggle with hip mobility, rather than just routines... Putting a crazy amount of stress on joint capsules and ligaments during flexibility training as a gymnast, and the. Decade as a gymnast, and soft tissue care was used, I highly recommend reading these.. She also tends to hang out in the down and in position that may predispose it to roll range! Dynamic stretching, active flexibility, and introductory ring or parallel bar skills demand extreme mobility to execute 2012.

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