All-Star Gymnastics Conditioning: What Is It Like?

[Official OWECheer]

I've read so many comments from gymnasts talking about how brutal gymnastics conditioning is, how cheer conditioning is much easier, etc., and I'm curious. Especially for those of you upper level gymnasts. What is it like?

@gymnastyetafanofcheer maybe you can explain?

 

[Keep_Believing]

I think part of it is the large amount of hours higher level gymnast put in equals more conditioning. My CP's only did gymnastics for a short time, but some of their friends who were a higher level were putting in more than 20 hours a week. There were a lot of chin ups, pull ups, hanging sit ups, handstand walking, handstand push-ups, etc. Some gymnast will have practices where they condition the whole time. If I remember right @MissBee was a very high level gymnast.

 

[FlexyTumblerMom]

The biggest difference IMO is bars conditioning (cheerleaders don't do it), and just the sheer number of hours - gymnasts do a lot more hours of conditioning at the higher levels. However, there is also a big variance in the levels/competitive systems when it comes to gymnastics - just like you would see comparing a level 5 worlds team at a major gym to a half year level 2 team at a small gym that does only small local competitions - so just because someone is a gymnast, it doesn't always mean that they are doing more hours of conditioning than every cheerleader. It depends on what level, what system, etc.

Bars conditioning is a lot of pull ups and hanging from the bar while doing leg lifts and leg lift holds - per CP this stuff is brutal, but very necessary to be competent at bars. It's also not uncommon for higher level gymnasts to spend half their practice, or even more, just conditioning.

 

[amanda-flips]

Press handstands, rope climbs without legs, pull ups, leg lifts on stall bars, squat jump, hollow holds, and cast handstands are some.

 

[gymnastyetafanofcheer]

I don't know much about cheer conditioning, however I can tell you my practice schedule and the conditioning in each practice.

I practice 5 days a week for 5 hours each day (during the summer) as an excel diamond which is around level 7/8, I am planning to switch back to JO and compete level 7 or 8 this season.

The first thing we do at practice is we run a mile and a half outside, and use the app called runkeeper to keep track. Then we go inside for warmup, we have lots of conditioning combined within the warmup. During the warmup we stretch, and we also do 2 straddle presses for a minute each, 2 pike presses for a minute each, pike and straddle leg taps, 45 wide armed push ups, 45 reg push-ups, 45 elbows in(there the worst!!!). Then we have to do 5 handstands held for a minute each, 10 bounce straddle handstands, 10 press handstands. We do 5 handstand push-ups, 25 handstand taps, and we have to do 5 handstand walks across the floor and back.

We then have stomach circuit, which consists of hollow body holds, hollow rocks, and hollow ups. We do 3 hollow body holds for a minute each, 2 sets of 50 hollow ups and 2 minutes of hollow rocks.
Then we roll over to our stomach and do 2 arch holds for a minute each, 2 sets of 50 arch ups, and 2 minutes of arch rocks.

Then we have 3 rope climbs without legs, and 2 with legs pinching and 1 with full body. While we wait for the rope we have 100 jumping jacks, 50 v-ups and we also have bars conditioning.

We have to do 25 skin the cats, 15 pull-ups, 25 leg lifts, 10 muscle ups, 5 l hand pull ups, 5 tuck pull ups, and 5 wide arm pull-ups.

We also have 5 casts to handstands, and 15 kips cast handstands.

We then have 75 frog jumps, 50 mountain climbers, and 100 tuck jumps on a resi.
Then we have to do 5 sets of pyro which is jumping on a mat jumping down jumping back up for like 5 mats down the rod floor, then running around the gym, jumping in the pit and running through it and going over one beam under the next over then under and then restarting.

Depending on how fast we complete conditioning and how many girls there are it lasts from around 45 minutes to an hour and a half or so.
Then we cool off with a 15 minute water/snack/bathroom break.

Then we go back in and start practicing and we have some conditioning drills mixed in.

At the end off practice we do 5 laps around the floor, and then oversplits each leg for 2 minutes, and we do bridge walks across the floor.

It is really hard at first but once you get used to it, it gets much easier and also that's summer conditioning. I know starting next week we go on the school year schedule, and we have practice 4 days aweek from 4:00 to 8:30.
I hope this helped!

 

[DaniV]

Our conditioning was very similar to @gymnastyetafanofcheer when I was an optional level gymnast. I used to practice 5 days a week for 4-5 hours a day depending on what part of the season we were in.

During the summer we used to run 3 miles but when it was too cold outside we would do other forms of cardio indoors (typically alternating high knee running in places with sprints or jumping rope for extended periods of time). We would then stretch and do about 15-20 minutes of "easy" conditioning that was geared specifically towards injury prevention. Lots of heel raises, toe raises, balancing on one foot on the tramp, wrist curls, ect. During practice we also mixed random conditioning in to each event and it would typically be skill/drill specific. Then we would ALWAYS condition for 45 minutes at the end of the practice. A couple of years we would follow a USASG produced conditioning program called "The 5th Event" which was set up to peak athletes at a certain time of the year to fully prep them for competition season. Looking at the conditioning the post above mine, it looked very similar to what she is doing so not much has changed in the 10 years that I've been out of the sport.

 

[gymnastyetafanofcheer]

Our conditioning was very similar to @gymnastyetafanofcheer when I was an optional level gymnast. I used to practice 5 days a week for 4-5 hours a day depending on what part of the season we were in.

During the summer we used to run 3 miles but when it was too cold outside we would do other forms of cardio indoors (typically alternating high knee running in places with sprints or jumping rope for extended periods of time). We would then stretch and do about 15-20 minutes of "easy" conditioning that was geared specifically towards injury prevention. Lots of heel raises, toe raises, balancing on one foot on the tramp, wrist curls, ect. During practice we also mixed random conditioning in to each event and it would typically be skill/drill specific. Then we would ALWAYS condition for 45 minutes at the end of the practice. A couple of years we would follow a USASG produced conditioning program called "The 5th Event" which was set up to peak athletes at a certain time of the year to fully prep them for competition season. Looking at the conditioning the post above mine, it looked very similar to what she is doing so not much has changed in the 10 years that I've been out of the sport.

I forgot all about wrist curling and heel and toe raises, also kicks holding on to the beam.
And we also do jump roping 200 frontwards, 200 backwards, 150 left leg, 150 right leg. however, I am not allowed to do the jump roping due to some injuries I have gotten from jump roping.

 

[Official OWECheer]

Wow, impressive. I have heard gymnasts talk about being able to crank out hundreds of pushups at a time, but is that true, or does it just apply to elite/Olmypic gymnasts? And how much training is considered too much training for kids in different age groups?

 

[gymnastyetafanofcheer]

Wow, impressive. I have heard gymnasts talk about being able to crank out hundreds of pushups at a time, but is that true, or does it just apply to elite/Olmypic gymnasts? And how much training is considered too much training for kids in different age groups?

Honestly, that depends on the gymnast. The most I have ever done in a row was 153, however I have a teammate who has done 587 in a row. So that depends on the gymnast to be honest.

And honestly as to how much training is considered to much depends on the level not age group. I know most of the younger girls actually have more stamina then us older girls, however though it also depends on the level.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

I don't know much about cheer conditioning, however I can tell you my practice schedule and the conditioning in each practice.

I practice 5 days a week for 5 hours each day (during the summer) as an excel diamond which is around level 7/8, I am planning to switch back to JO and compete level 7 or 8 this season.

The first thing we do at practice is we run a mile and a half outside, and use the app called runkeeper to keep track. Then we go inside for warmup, we have lots of conditioning combined within the warmup. During the warmup we stretch, and we also do 2 straddle presses for a minute each, 2 pike presses for a minute each, pike and straddle leg taps, 45 wide armed push ups, 45 reg push-ups, 45 elbows in(there the worst!!!). Then we have to do 5 handstands held for a minute each, 10 bounce straddle handstands, 10 press handstands. We do 5 handstand push-ups, 25 handstand taps, and we have to do 5 handstand walks across the floor and back.

We then have stomach circuit, which consists of hollow body holds, hollow rocks, and hollow ups. We do 3 hollow body holds for a minute each, 2 sets of 50 hollow ups and 2 minutes of hollow rocks.
Then we roll over to our stomach and do 2 arch holds for a minute each, 2 sets of 50 arch ups, and 2 minutes of arch rocks.

Then we have 3 rope climbs without legs, and 2 with legs pinching and 1 with full body. While we wait for the rope we have 100 jumping jacks, 50 v-ups and we also have bars conditioning.

We have to do 25 skin the cats, 15 pull-ups, 25 leg lifts, 10 muscle ups, 5 l hand pull ups, 5 tuck pull ups, and 5 wide arm pull-ups.

We also have 5 casts to handstands, and 15 kips cast handstands.

We then have 75 frog jumps, 50 mountain climbers, and 100 tuck jumps on a resi.
Then we have to do 5 sets of pyro which is jumping on a mat jumping down jumping back up for like 5 mats down the rod floor, then running around the gym, jumping in the pit and running through it and going over one beam under the next over then under and then restarting.

Depending on how fast we complete conditioning and how many girls there are it lasts from around 45 minutes to an hour and a half or so.
Then we cool off with a 15 minute water/snack/bathroom break.

Then we go back in and start practicing and we have some conditioning drills mixed in.

At the end off practice we do 5 laps around the floor, and then oversplits each leg for 2 minutes, and we do bridge walks across the floor.

It is really hard at first but once you get used to it, it gets much easier and also that's summer conditioning. I know starting next week we go on the school year schedule, and we have practice 4 days aweek from 4:00 to 8:30.
I hope this helped!

My muscles hurt just from reading that. Ouch. What are elbow ins?

 

[gymnastyetafanofcheer]

My muscles hurt just from reading that. Ouch. What are elbow ins?

Elbow in push-ups are when you do the push-ups and instead of your elbows being to side they are inwards.

 

[kristenthegreat]

In contrast, I did gymnastics 2 years at the YMCA. It was their first level of competitive gymnastics (level 4).

We practiced 2-3 hrs for twice a week. The next level up was 3 times a week. We came in and did a lap or two around the gym, and then had our warmup. Each level had a different warmup they had to follow with different skills. Each athlete had to complete their warmup for their level. Press handstands, candlesticks, crunches, toe raises, etc. That took about 20 minutes. After that we worked two events during regular practice. Interspersed with that would be event-specific conditioning (because not everyone could use the equip at the same time). Leg lifts, pushups, toe raises, pull ups, etc. Depending on where we were in the season would determine how those conditioning things were met. They had a problem with people falling off the beam one meet, so the next practice every time a person fell off, we had to do 100 pushups. I think I did 500 that practice. I was allowed to take breaks in between, but it had to be done.

At the end of practice, we spent the last hour doing our full conditioning- we had to do 3 leg exercises, 3 arm, 8 minutes of abs work, then splits for 2 minutes each leg and 2 minute straddle. Each exercise was chosen by a different athlete as was the amount of reps. The coaches were there, so you had to make sure you chose the right number/difficulty. Step ups, variations of toe raises, wall pushups, handstands, etc.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

Elbow in push-ups are when you do the push-ups and instead of your elbows being to side they are inwards.

Ohhhhhhh ok. I was thinking it was something completely different.

 

[gymnastyetafanofcheer]

In contrast, I did gymnastics 2 years at the YMCA. It was their first level of competitive gymnastics (level 4).

We practiced 2-3 hrs for twice a week. The next level up was 3 times a week. We came in and did a lap or two around the gym, and then had our warmup. Each level had a different warmup they had to follow with different skills. Each athlete had to complete their warmup for their level. Press handstands, candlesticks, crunches, toe raises, etc. That took about 20 minutes. After that we worked two events during regular practice. Interspersed with that would be event-specific conditioning (because not everyone could use the equip at the same time). Leg lifts, pushups, toe raises, pull ups, etc. Depending on where we were in the season would determine how those conditioning things were met. They had a problem with people falling off the beam one meet, so the next practice every time a person fell off, we had to do 100 pushups. I think I did 500 that practice. I was allowed to take breaks in between, but it had to be done.

At the end of practice, we spent the last hour doing our full conditioning- we had to do 3 leg exercises, 3 arm, 8 minutes of abs work, then splits for 2 minutes each leg and 2 minute straddle. Each exercise was chosen by a different athlete as was the amount of reps. The coaches were there, so you had to make sure you chose the right number/difficulty. Step ups, variations of toe raises, wall pushups, handstands, etc.

We have to do that during competition season when we do routines and someone falls off, the amount and which conditioning we do depends on the coaches desicion.

 

[DaniV]

Wow, impressive. I have heard gymnasts talk about being able to crank out hundreds of pushups at a time, but is that true, or does it just apply to elite/Olmypic gymnasts? And how much training is considered too much training for kids in different age groups?

We never did anything quite that high unless we were doing "games" to see who could do the most. We would do timed push-ups, where we would have 1 minute to complete 60 push-ups, perfect form, touching chest and chin to the ground with our elbows by our side.