Gymnastics for you!

I have always thought that Gymnasts are super strong athletes. The way those guys and girls can fling themselves around and make it look graceful is always impressive to watch at the Olympics. My favourite feat of strength is the Iron Cross that the men perform on the Rings Apparatus.

I have never done much Gymnastics training personally. The closest thing I have come to it is the Body Weight Athlete (BWA) Program put together by Mike Fitch (of Animal Flow fame). A great program and I have truly enjoyed trying to obtain the various ‘Pinnacle' (as the program designates them) movements. I am nowhere near hitting any of the pinnacles, but it is always nice to have something to aspire towards.

With those pinnacles in mind and access to TRX’s new ‘Duo Trainer,’ (as well as the original TRX Suspension Trainer and some Olympic Rings), I put together a little movement session that I thought some of you might like to try (scroll down for the video).

The first move you will see is one based on one of the pinnacles from the BWA program, the ‘Pistol' Squat. I find using the TRX Suspension Trainer and doing the TRX Single Leg Squat is the best way for my body to imitate this move. It helps increase my range of motion (safely) and keep my postural integrity as I perform it. I am not going ‘ass to grass' (as the famous phrase goes), I am focusing on keeping my alignment every millimetre of motion down and back up. Doing this makes the TRX Single Leg Squat a lot tougher than it looks on camera!

Second up, I tried to imitate the Iron Cross to the best of my ability by using the TRX Duo Trainer and performing a (what looks to be static) Chest Fly. It may look like I am not moving, however; I am creating as much tension in my body as possible at the end of my range of motion. I’m not sure if the camera picks it up, but I am shaking tremendously here. Holding this position at my end range again doesn't look impressive on camera, but if your intent is to create whole body tension at your end range of motion, you'll feel like you're working bloody hard.

Last but not least, I used some Olympic Rings to perform a hanging swing. This move drives your heart rate up! To keep these gymnastics inspired, imagine that you're getting ready for your dismount off the rings. In technical terms, this is called ‘Brachiating.' The benefits of a good hang are many and varied; my good friend John Polley has done a blog on this very subject, which you can find at this link. Another fantastic reference for information on the benefits of swinging (from your arms!) is Robert Schleip’s book, ‘Fascia in Sport and Movement.’ There is a whole chapter dedicated to what happens to the body when you perform swing-based movements. There are some fantastic benefits for your fascial network that can’t be replicated by any other means [1].

So team, enjoy the video. The timings I used for my session are 15 seconds on (it did go a little over in the TRX Single Leg Squat) and 15 seconds recovery/transition (I like this format a lot which could be the basis of an upcoming blog). One set on each leg for the Single Leg Squat, then one set each of the Chest Fly and Hang Swing. I kept rotating through these moves for a total of 20 minutes. Of course preceded by movement preparation, and the session was completed with movement recovery.

If you try it, I hope you enjoy it and please, let me know how you went.

Chaddy

References:

1. Schleip, Robert, and Amanda Baker, eds. Fascia in sport and movement. Handspring Publishing, 2015.