How to Do Gymnastics
Research local classes., Get started at your level., Learn all the different activities., Work on your flexibility., Get strong., Take a dance class., Talk to your coach., Do bends., Practice your jumps., Do flips., Do all sorts of tricks!, Find...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Research local classes.
Gymnastics isn't really a sport you can teach yourself.
Reading about it is a good start, but at the end of the day, you need someone who knows what they're doing and can provide you a safe environment.
Coaches don't just say, "Okay, now do a backflip!" You'll need to take classes to get started.
The most important thing to consider is the safety of your facility.
Are there nice, padded walls? Are there wall spotters? What does the gym/school provide you with when it comes to gear? In addition to those things, ask to talk to the coaches.
Get a feel for their program.
Ask whether they compete, the levels offered, how many hours per week are required, how much the class costs, whether it is a recreational class or a team (a team is much more intense), and what the teacher-to-student ratio is. -
Step 2: Get started at your level.
If you have a hard time physically getting up in the morning, that may be something your teacher should know before they enroll you in a specific program.
On the opposite end, if you've been doing cartwheels and round-offs since you could crawl, that's something to take note of, too.
Your program needs to be something you can handle but also challenges you — or you won't stick with it for very long! , There are several different types of gymnasts, which focus on different equipment and different forms of fitness.
You may want to try several before you choose one to specialize in:
Artistic gymnastics is the most popular form.
Women in this specialty train on the balance beam, vault, and uneven bars, and practice floor routines as well.
Men train in floor routines, vault, parallel bars, high bar, still rings, and pommel horse.
Rhythmic gymnasts move and dance to music, using the ball, ribbon, rope, clubs, or hoop.
Mostly women train in this form, but men compete in a few countries as well.
Aerobic gymnastics or sports aerobics focuses more on aerobic fitness than the other forms.
Routines are performed on the floor without equipment, and do not involve balance skills or acrobatics. , If there's one thing you can (and should!) do on your own time, it's work on your flexibility.
You have no excuse! While you're sitting and watching TV, sit down on the floor, and start touching your toes in just about every position you can.
Whatever you're doing, you can fit in a stretch.
It's not just your legs, it's your whole body.
Even super fit people who start gymnastics often get caught off guard when it comes to this.
What's the one area everyone forgets about? The back.
Turns out your back and shoulders (and the flexibility of your back) is super important when it comes to gymnastics! If the stretch causes pain, you've gone too far.
Stretch gradually and only to the point of mild discomfort to avoid injury. , Gymnasts may not have the biggest muscles, but they're extremely strong.
Most amateur gymnasts train strength using their own body weight, for instance with pull ups and push ups.
Weight training is best left for the college level or above, since it takes specific routines to avoid slowing yourself down with unnecessary muscle bulk.If you do begin weight training, your muscles will start enduring rips and tears and will need time to heal themselves.
So be sure to take days off! You've deserved it.
You can still do cardio and exercise, but lay off on the weights to give your muscles a breather. , Gymnasts need to be fluid and graceful.
Those floor routines are a combination of impressive tricks and dance.
If you're choppy and can barely manage to do the macarena, a beautiful floor routine will be quite the challenge.
Ask your coach if he knows of a good studio that works with gymnasts. , As you progress, there's going to be things your coach wants you to do.
The beauty of it is if you're not ready or if you'd like to take your skills in a different direction, say so.
If you want to nail that backbend before you move onto the next move, say so.
If you think you want to get into tumbling instead, say so.
That's what they're there for! It's important to be very open with your coaches.
This sport challenges you to your physical limits, then throws you in front of a crowd to perform.
If you don't feel ready physically or mentally, seek advice from your coaches. , Bends are among the first moves learned by many gymnasts (in addition to the standard cartwheel and handstand).
Bends are the core part of many of the more complicated, impressive tricks.
Without a bend, you definitely won't be doing flips.
If you're not there yet, LifeGuide Hub has some articles to whet your appetite:
How to Do a Bridge How to Come up from a Back Bend How to Do a Back Limber How to Do a Back Walkover , As you get better, you'll progress to jumps.
When you combine jumps and bends, you get flips, so this is also moving you on up the skill ladder.
Here are a few examples:
How to Do Gymnastics Jumps How to Do a Chinese Split , A beginning gymnast's dream: doing flips.
This is where you'll really start to feel like you're making progress.
Start doing them with a spotter and in your gym, and once you get comfortable you can start busting them out at parties and on the stage.
All that hard work is paying off! Take a look at the following articles:
How to Do an Aerial Cartwheel How to Do a Roundoff Back Handspring How to Do a Backflip , Once you learn the basic bends, jumps, and flips, you'll be able to combine them into sweet floor routines.
You'll work on the speed of your transitions and, most importantly, your confidence.
If you've gotten this far, you've more than earned it.
Pat yourself on the back! , You've got the skills, now what do you want your specialty to be? Do you want to try the uneven bars? Maybe the balance beam? How about the rings? Or even rhythmic gymnastics! There's going to be one that you enjoy more than the others — so get to finding it! Maybe your niche is competing! Ask your coach if you can take this to the next level.
She should be able to direct you to organizations and competition that will help you earn more recognition — not to mention trophies. , Gymnasts are typically rated by skill level once they start competing.
Find out how to qualify for higher level competitions from your national organization, such as Canada's CanGym or USA Gymnastics.
For example, the USAG Junior Olympics system sets competition standards for ten levels.
Here's an example of what it takes to reach level six.
If you would like to compete in college and beyond, aim for level nine or higher by the end of high school., Discipline is key in this sport.
It takes time and repetition for your body to learn and remember the moves, so keep working until you get it right.
If you get frustrated, sit down for a minute, get a drink, then go back and try again.
It may not be easy, but once you get it, you'll know how worth it it really is.
Be sure to work on building your strength, including arm, shoulder, and back strength, your core muscles, and your leg muscles.
Include pull-ups, push-ups, v-ups, crunches, handstands against a wall in your strength conditioning routine.
It's not all flips and fun! And, as always, make sure to stretch first. , Once you hit the appropriate level (your coach will know when this happens), you can enter the competing world.
It may be harsh, it may be time consuming, but it also can be a lot of fun.
However, don't feel obligated to compete
-- gymnastics can be for leisure, too! You can compete in your school, then in your area, then regionally, and then throughout the country if you so choose.
Competitions can get pretty intense! There's always a panel of judges eyeing your every move and it can be quite stressful.
If it's something you want to endure and excel at, go for it! But if it's not, feel free to keep getting better on your own time. , There's not much evidence for the "common knowledge" that stretching prevents injury, and overdoing it could even lead to problems.That said, most gymnasts and sports doctors would likely agree that some stretching is beneficial for increasing your range of motion.
Target the muscle groups most at risk for injury in the activity you'll be performing.Warming up and stretching are not the same thing.
A warm up is any light exercise that gets your heart rate up and your muscles loose.
Stretching increases flexibility.
Consider a short warm up, four or five 60-second stretches, then a brief warm up again. , When your coach says, "Alright, who wants to demonstrate a backflip for me?" and you raise your hand when you just mastered the somersault yesterday, that's not a good idea.
You need to know your own skill level so you know what you're capable of and what to expect from yourself.
If you bite off more than you can chew, you'll wind up in a cast watching yearningly from the sidelines.
On the opposite side of the coin, know what you are capable of! If you've been practicing for months and you're improving, you'll need to take a risk once in a while.
Realize all the work you've done and what you can do.
It's the only way you'll get better! , Just like how they tell powerlifters to only lift 10% more weight than the session before (even if they feel like lifting more), you need to work up in small increments, too.
You can't go from a cartwheel to a front handspring in a day.
Rome wasn't built in one, and your skills won't magically develop in one, either.
So take baby steps and, above all, be patient.
You will fail.
Straight up.
You will fall on your butt and you will bruise yourself.
You will be, at one point or another, laying face down on the floor, willing the gods to make everyone disappear by the time you open your eyes.
This happens.
This happens to everyone.
If you never fell, you'd never know what not to do! , An aspect of gymnastics we haven't really gotten much at yet is how incredibly intense it is.
Seriously.
People who run marathons walk into a gymnastics class and they are quite literally (and figuratively) floored.
What does this mean? It means, if you're to do this, you gotta be healthy. 24/7.
Your body is what you're working with.
If you don't treat it right, it sure won't be doing you any favors.
Always get a good night's rest.
If you're tired, you will not perform at 100% of what you're capable of.
Simply put.
It'd be silly to expect otherwise of your body! It's of utmost importance that you eat healthily.
That means lean meats (you need your protein!), lean dairy, whole grains, and definitely loads of fruits and veggies.
Little to no processed junk should be in your cupboards! That being said, eating disorders are a huge problem in the gymnastics world.
Yes, you need to be lean.
Yes, it's easier to flip a smaller body.
However, when you don't intake food, you lose your muscle.
You become weak.
It is impossible to support your own weight when your muscles are literally being eaten away.
If or when this issue arises, know that you're not alone and that seeking professional help is a top priority.
Remember that your mentors may have been there, too. , This is especially important if you're working with the rings or the bars — your hands need protecting! And if you're experiencing any pain whatsoever, you'll need to wrap your joints.
Always take precautions to prevent injury. -
Step 3: Learn all the different activities.
-
Step 4: Work on your flexibility.
-
Step 5: Get strong.
-
Step 6: Take a dance class.
-
Step 7: Talk to your coach.
-
Step 8: Do bends.
-
Step 9: Practice your jumps.
-
Step 10: Do flips.
-
Step 11: Do all sorts of tricks!
-
Step 12: Find your niche.
-
Step 13: Move up the levels.
-
Step 14: Work hard!
-
Step 15: Begin competing.
-
Step 16: Stretch.
-
Step 17: Know your own skill level.
-
Step 18: Work up in increments.
-
Step 19: Have good eating and sleeping habits.
-
Step 20: Wear protective gear.
Detailed Guide
Gymnastics isn't really a sport you can teach yourself.
Reading about it is a good start, but at the end of the day, you need someone who knows what they're doing and can provide you a safe environment.
Coaches don't just say, "Okay, now do a backflip!" You'll need to take classes to get started.
The most important thing to consider is the safety of your facility.
Are there nice, padded walls? Are there wall spotters? What does the gym/school provide you with when it comes to gear? In addition to those things, ask to talk to the coaches.
Get a feel for their program.
Ask whether they compete, the levels offered, how many hours per week are required, how much the class costs, whether it is a recreational class or a team (a team is much more intense), and what the teacher-to-student ratio is.
If you have a hard time physically getting up in the morning, that may be something your teacher should know before they enroll you in a specific program.
On the opposite end, if you've been doing cartwheels and round-offs since you could crawl, that's something to take note of, too.
Your program needs to be something you can handle but also challenges you — or you won't stick with it for very long! , There are several different types of gymnasts, which focus on different equipment and different forms of fitness.
You may want to try several before you choose one to specialize in:
Artistic gymnastics is the most popular form.
Women in this specialty train on the balance beam, vault, and uneven bars, and practice floor routines as well.
Men train in floor routines, vault, parallel bars, high bar, still rings, and pommel horse.
Rhythmic gymnasts move and dance to music, using the ball, ribbon, rope, clubs, or hoop.
Mostly women train in this form, but men compete in a few countries as well.
Aerobic gymnastics or sports aerobics focuses more on aerobic fitness than the other forms.
Routines are performed on the floor without equipment, and do not involve balance skills or acrobatics. , If there's one thing you can (and should!) do on your own time, it's work on your flexibility.
You have no excuse! While you're sitting and watching TV, sit down on the floor, and start touching your toes in just about every position you can.
Whatever you're doing, you can fit in a stretch.
It's not just your legs, it's your whole body.
Even super fit people who start gymnastics often get caught off guard when it comes to this.
What's the one area everyone forgets about? The back.
Turns out your back and shoulders (and the flexibility of your back) is super important when it comes to gymnastics! If the stretch causes pain, you've gone too far.
Stretch gradually and only to the point of mild discomfort to avoid injury. , Gymnasts may not have the biggest muscles, but they're extremely strong.
Most amateur gymnasts train strength using their own body weight, for instance with pull ups and push ups.
Weight training is best left for the college level or above, since it takes specific routines to avoid slowing yourself down with unnecessary muscle bulk.If you do begin weight training, your muscles will start enduring rips and tears and will need time to heal themselves.
So be sure to take days off! You've deserved it.
You can still do cardio and exercise, but lay off on the weights to give your muscles a breather. , Gymnasts need to be fluid and graceful.
Those floor routines are a combination of impressive tricks and dance.
If you're choppy and can barely manage to do the macarena, a beautiful floor routine will be quite the challenge.
Ask your coach if he knows of a good studio that works with gymnasts. , As you progress, there's going to be things your coach wants you to do.
The beauty of it is if you're not ready or if you'd like to take your skills in a different direction, say so.
If you want to nail that backbend before you move onto the next move, say so.
If you think you want to get into tumbling instead, say so.
That's what they're there for! It's important to be very open with your coaches.
This sport challenges you to your physical limits, then throws you in front of a crowd to perform.
If you don't feel ready physically or mentally, seek advice from your coaches. , Bends are among the first moves learned by many gymnasts (in addition to the standard cartwheel and handstand).
Bends are the core part of many of the more complicated, impressive tricks.
Without a bend, you definitely won't be doing flips.
If you're not there yet, LifeGuide Hub has some articles to whet your appetite:
How to Do a Bridge How to Come up from a Back Bend How to Do a Back Limber How to Do a Back Walkover , As you get better, you'll progress to jumps.
When you combine jumps and bends, you get flips, so this is also moving you on up the skill ladder.
Here are a few examples:
How to Do Gymnastics Jumps How to Do a Chinese Split , A beginning gymnast's dream: doing flips.
This is where you'll really start to feel like you're making progress.
Start doing them with a spotter and in your gym, and once you get comfortable you can start busting them out at parties and on the stage.
All that hard work is paying off! Take a look at the following articles:
How to Do an Aerial Cartwheel How to Do a Roundoff Back Handspring How to Do a Backflip , Once you learn the basic bends, jumps, and flips, you'll be able to combine them into sweet floor routines.
You'll work on the speed of your transitions and, most importantly, your confidence.
If you've gotten this far, you've more than earned it.
Pat yourself on the back! , You've got the skills, now what do you want your specialty to be? Do you want to try the uneven bars? Maybe the balance beam? How about the rings? Or even rhythmic gymnastics! There's going to be one that you enjoy more than the others — so get to finding it! Maybe your niche is competing! Ask your coach if you can take this to the next level.
She should be able to direct you to organizations and competition that will help you earn more recognition — not to mention trophies. , Gymnasts are typically rated by skill level once they start competing.
Find out how to qualify for higher level competitions from your national organization, such as Canada's CanGym or USA Gymnastics.
For example, the USAG Junior Olympics system sets competition standards for ten levels.
Here's an example of what it takes to reach level six.
If you would like to compete in college and beyond, aim for level nine or higher by the end of high school., Discipline is key in this sport.
It takes time and repetition for your body to learn and remember the moves, so keep working until you get it right.
If you get frustrated, sit down for a minute, get a drink, then go back and try again.
It may not be easy, but once you get it, you'll know how worth it it really is.
Be sure to work on building your strength, including arm, shoulder, and back strength, your core muscles, and your leg muscles.
Include pull-ups, push-ups, v-ups, crunches, handstands against a wall in your strength conditioning routine.
It's not all flips and fun! And, as always, make sure to stretch first. , Once you hit the appropriate level (your coach will know when this happens), you can enter the competing world.
It may be harsh, it may be time consuming, but it also can be a lot of fun.
However, don't feel obligated to compete
-- gymnastics can be for leisure, too! You can compete in your school, then in your area, then regionally, and then throughout the country if you so choose.
Competitions can get pretty intense! There's always a panel of judges eyeing your every move and it can be quite stressful.
If it's something you want to endure and excel at, go for it! But if it's not, feel free to keep getting better on your own time. , There's not much evidence for the "common knowledge" that stretching prevents injury, and overdoing it could even lead to problems.That said, most gymnasts and sports doctors would likely agree that some stretching is beneficial for increasing your range of motion.
Target the muscle groups most at risk for injury in the activity you'll be performing.Warming up and stretching are not the same thing.
A warm up is any light exercise that gets your heart rate up and your muscles loose.
Stretching increases flexibility.
Consider a short warm up, four or five 60-second stretches, then a brief warm up again. , When your coach says, "Alright, who wants to demonstrate a backflip for me?" and you raise your hand when you just mastered the somersault yesterday, that's not a good idea.
You need to know your own skill level so you know what you're capable of and what to expect from yourself.
If you bite off more than you can chew, you'll wind up in a cast watching yearningly from the sidelines.
On the opposite side of the coin, know what you are capable of! If you've been practicing for months and you're improving, you'll need to take a risk once in a while.
Realize all the work you've done and what you can do.
It's the only way you'll get better! , Just like how they tell powerlifters to only lift 10% more weight than the session before (even if they feel like lifting more), you need to work up in small increments, too.
You can't go from a cartwheel to a front handspring in a day.
Rome wasn't built in one, and your skills won't magically develop in one, either.
So take baby steps and, above all, be patient.
You will fail.
Straight up.
You will fall on your butt and you will bruise yourself.
You will be, at one point or another, laying face down on the floor, willing the gods to make everyone disappear by the time you open your eyes.
This happens.
This happens to everyone.
If you never fell, you'd never know what not to do! , An aspect of gymnastics we haven't really gotten much at yet is how incredibly intense it is.
Seriously.
People who run marathons walk into a gymnastics class and they are quite literally (and figuratively) floored.
What does this mean? It means, if you're to do this, you gotta be healthy. 24/7.
Your body is what you're working with.
If you don't treat it right, it sure won't be doing you any favors.
Always get a good night's rest.
If you're tired, you will not perform at 100% of what you're capable of.
Simply put.
It'd be silly to expect otherwise of your body! It's of utmost importance that you eat healthily.
That means lean meats (you need your protein!), lean dairy, whole grains, and definitely loads of fruits and veggies.
Little to no processed junk should be in your cupboards! That being said, eating disorders are a huge problem in the gymnastics world.
Yes, you need to be lean.
Yes, it's easier to flip a smaller body.
However, when you don't intake food, you lose your muscle.
You become weak.
It is impossible to support your own weight when your muscles are literally being eaten away.
If or when this issue arises, know that you're not alone and that seeking professional help is a top priority.
Remember that your mentors may have been there, too. , This is especially important if you're working with the rings or the bars — your hands need protecting! And if you're experiencing any pain whatsoever, you'll need to wrap your joints.
Always take precautions to prevent injury.
About the Author
Victoria Vasquez
Creates helpful guides on DIY projects to inspire and educate readers.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: