WWW: Why I Want To Be A Gymnast

During my training for the Spartan race, I realized that I suffered from upper body strength more than I realized. So to compensate this, Drew and I decided to incorporate some gymnastics into the end of my workout. This became a realization when I was working out with a friend who used to be a gymnast as a child and in high school. Her upper body was so much more defined and she had a crazy amount of balance and core strength. She hadn’t done any gymnastics in years, but her flexibility and strength had stayed with her.

USA! USA! USA!

This made me begin to wonder how important it was for adults and children to become gymnasts, or at least incorporate some of their workouts in your own. So I did some research and found that it is good for kids. Kids learn the importance of physical fitness and how to warm up before exercising, how to practice to get the routines down, the need for sleep and good nutrition, and the sense of accomplishment when they achieve goals. Gymnastics can help create good posture and body alignment, builds tremendous upper-body strength and lower-body strength, and develops good endurance. Along with that, gymnasts will learn balance, coordination, and flexibility. When they learn this at a young age, it becomes natural and second-nature to them. Along with all these positives, they normally have a lower fat percentage and decrease their risk for obesity in the future exponentially.

On top of the physical pros, it also helps children mentally and socially. It sharpens focus and self-esteem. It also helps them with their self-confidence and performing in front of people and overcoming fears and nerves at an early age. Plus,most of the kids think they are just having fun. There is one downside, though, multiple research shows that gymnastics can cause significant delay in skeletal and pubertal maturation and growth. However, the overall height for these gymnasts was not expected to be affected by their gymnastics. There is also an increase in injury, but that comes with any sport.

If you took me to a gymnastics center and started me at square one against a 7 year old, they’d accelerate a lot quicker. Therefore, even though gymnastics is helping me in some of my training, it is very beneficial and affects children more. This is why Drew has been saying for months that when we decide to have kids, they will be going to gymnastics to help obtain overall strength and coordination. But for now, I will still strive to be a gymnast.