In support of this, my experiences working with hundreds of gymnasts to improve flexibility also supports the use of regular stretching and foam rolling for the range of motion, perceived soreness, and perceived recovery, with minimal negative impacts on performance. The hip stretch routine below is a sequence of exercises designed to help you overcome the most common restrictions so that you can start moving the way you want and need to. Some naturally flexible gymnasts have a bony alignment where the hip socket is not as deep. Some may have a combination of dysplasia, hip socket rotations, femur rotation, and different pelvic alignments. 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. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach 2(2) 2010. I have also seen what was believed to be a hip flexor strain turn into a large labral tear and career-ending injury. 2015 Jul;7(4):34658. This can be seen with the examples above. Kalichman L1, Ben David C2. 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. Now let me tie this into why I no longeruse of ankle weights. Its very important to remember that certain joints are not inherently built for lots of flexibility. (17) Adjunctive radiographic X-Rays or advanced medical imaging can also be helpful to see a boney congruency. 389 398, Sands WA, McNeal J. Mobility Development and flexibility in youths. Moving past all this background information, its time to talk about what actually causes a gymnasts arms not to go overhead in a handstand, a gymnasts legs to not go into a full split, or a gymnasts arms to not go behind their body for pommel horse swings. Keywords: gymnastics, stretching exercises, flexibility, balance 1. 2018. 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 cover those in-depth below. For many people in the gymnastics community, it comes down to a professional discussion on taking away overly aggressive flexibility methods, following the science of shoulder anatomy and making subtle changes in training. Sometimes in such a high force sport, these bumps and bruises are inevitable. 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. Despite our best efforts we may continue to see cast handstands that lack open shoulders, leaps that do not have larger angles, and parallel bar swings that lack a large front swing. Place your right hand on the left arm's elbow and pull toward the chest. These structures and systems tend to have much more potential to change through training. (46-48). Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach April 23, 2014, Shibata, K.R., Matsuda, S. & Safran, M.R. Ogura Y, Miyahara Y, Naito H, Katamoto S, Aoki J. Through very sophisticated mathematical models, they did show evidence of, a mechanistic multiscale model for stretch-induced sarcomereogenesis, in which chronic muscle lengthening is characterized through a scalar valued internal variable, the serious sarcomere number.. It only takes one bad landing for the gymnast to suffer a major and possibly career ending injury. 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. Determination and Desire are however the most important traits for successful participation in any It uses either a floor bar or the other arm version to bias external rotation of the shoulder. So think about this for a second. These issues are commonly overlooked as culprits to why a gymnast struggles in this area of gymnastics. This is especially true when notallowing compensation from other body parts or excessive swinging for momentum. There is more support in the literature for the use of static and dynamic compression, but I think lighter recovery sessions of self-myofascial release, light stretching, or even light aerobic exercise are valuable tools alongside other methods. Foam rolling as a recovery tool after an intense bout of physical activity. Herbert RD, Gabriel M. Effects of stretching before and after exercising on muscle soreness and risk of injury: a systematic review. Microinstability of the Shoulder in the Overhead Athlete. Gymnasts should focus on maximizing wrist and shoulder flexibility, as well as doing lots of physical preparation work to strengthen the elbows. It blows my mind that people actually would push on knees for better lines at the cost of potentially increasing laxity in their knee and increasing the chance of a gymnast blowingACL out during landings. If better flexibility, strength, and soft tissue care was used, I feel a lot of this could be avoided. 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? In the long term, the increased strength of the upper back and follow up technique work will solidify the flexibility gains made. The first few sections of this blog are background and explanation for flexibility methods using scientific research. As mentioned we have to be cautious not to overtax their already hypermobile hip capsules and ligaments during flexibility training. With slightly more difficult exercises and higher volume, the workouts are still only up to 45 minutes in duration. Cross-body shoulder stretch. Improves flexibility in shoulders, feet, and hamstrings Wall sits - To do a proper wall sit start with your back flush to the wall, and position yourself like you are sitting in a chair. Typically not a time to increase joint motion, as the body is usually in a very high-stress state and has just taken a lot of training volume, A naturally hypermobile type genetic structure, and shallower hip joints (acetabular dysplasia), Proper spinal control, alignment and awareness that does not stress the lower back or hip joints excessively, Adequate muscle length in the hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, and groin, Adequate muscle strength in the core, glutes, deep hip stabilizers, and rotator muscles to safely support the hip joint, Adequate full range control and strength for the central nervous system to allow leg motion to occur safely, Consistent training and regular use of newly acquired motion to transfer motion to skills in the long-term, Proper mental and psychological developmental/maturity of the athlete to actively be engaged in the training, know normal versus abnormal levels of discomfort and consistently work to seeing progress, Skendzel, et al. Many great studies have outlined how hip ligaments and labrum may get strained at very end ranges that are unprotected or repetitively subjected to high force (as seen in several gymnastics skills). Dr. Dave Tilley DPT, SCS, CSCS Remember we want to focus on the active muscular tissue, not the passive ligament or joint capsule tissue. I have worked with many athletes that tend to be stiffer, but because of their incredible natural power, they succeed early on in gymnastics. This is true both in training and in our medical clinic. It can be overwhelming if you are not familiar with it. Because exercise can shorten your muscles, skipping your post-activity stretch can decrease your mobility over time. Coaches notice their flexibility or ability to perform lower-level skills well. The on-going process of training will include the development of strength, co-ordination, spatial awareness and the core gymnastics movement skills which are the foundation upon which high level and good quality gymnastics are based. Like in the shoulder, natural mobility of the hip allows them to move through a greater motion. However, more recent research has supported the idea that foam rolling and properly designed dynamic warm-ups prior to training appear to have no significant negative effects on performance, may enhance it, and also positively impact the range of motion in various muscle groups (49-50). Strength and Conditioning for Sports Performance. Trying to aggressively push through that bony or ligamentous limitation will only lead to pain and headaches for all involved. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2012; 26(8) 2119 2129. There is a much better way that is safer and has valid science behind it for support. Without this knowledge, it is impossible to know whether reported discomfort during stretching is a safe and expected result or an unsafe atypical response. Exercise selection, strength program balance, and athlete individuality also have a significant impact on limited progress in flexibility. The sport of gymnastics is more than just flashy routines you see on the competition stage. The main articles that support this are, With this being said, there are definitely studies that claim changes to the mechanical properties of the muscle, tendon, and junction between these structures change overtime with stretching. Stretching the shoulders overhead typically produces discomfort in the underarms where the lats and teres major are, with some possible chest tissue stretching where the pecs are. Speaking beyond the research, I truly feel that both mechanical and neurological changes occur in muscles as well as tendons with prolonged stretching. To help clarify, many use the analogy of the sleeve of a shirt to visually highlight the joint capsule. Heres 3thoughts about why. Eccentric pull up lowers or EZ Mover Sliders, Gymnastics skill technique drills to use the new range of motion They also tend to have excessively mobile hip capsules, similar to the shoulder. I will say take these research studies with a grain of salt due to their methods, smaller sizes, and sometimes using cadavers as subjects. 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). Some of the gymnasts could be born more lax and likely have been successful in gymnastics because of it. Although there are conflicting viewpoints on this discussion, I have boiled my thoughts down to three main contributing factors as to why gymnasts may get stiff as they participate in gymnastics. In the most basic sense, I dont think oversplits are inherently bad for gymnasts. I think the more accurate way to describe them is that over splits may be bad for a particular gymnast at that moment in time. If the ligaments and joint capsules are already hypermobile, and have trouble dealing with high force, and then we add more laxity to them over time, we are likely asking for disaster regarding instability- based shoulder and hip injuries. We want to make sure we are not over-stretching or overstressing passive structures like the shoulder ligaments and capsules. Although its purely anecdotal, I have consulted with cases where x rays show a very similar phenomenon in gymnasts doing oversplits while getting hip xrays. Optimal Management of Shoulder Impingement Syndrome. The Relationship Between Stretching Typology and Stretching Duration: The Effects on Range of Motion. Weber AE, Bedi A, Tibor LM, Zaltz I, Larson CM. This is why I now mainly approach flexibility in larger complexes. 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. Slowly stretch into the desired position, as far as possible without pain, and hold the stretch for 15-60 seconds. J Athl Train 2004;39:254-8. Ben M., Harvey LA. I see many shoulder stretches, and hip stretches that I feel are putting a crazy amount of stress on joint capsules and ligaments. Remember, you can download the entire chapter on flexibility, the 10-minute flexibility guides, or the pre-hab guide here. Stretching Skeletal Muscle: Chronic Muscle Lengthening through Sacrocmeregenesis. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. Similar to the study above, it was found that while ankle range of motion did improve, there were no significant changes in the muscle extensibility outcomes that would indicate tissue change. 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