Rules That Can’t Be Stretched

Hi All,

So it has come to my attention (alright I already kind of knew this), that there are gyms that DON’T STRETCH. And by this I’m not saying they don’t do things like oversplits (though they should), I’m saying their children actually don’t do splits every day (I’m talking about team kids here). I’ll be frank about this one. This is NOT acceptable. It’s not safe, it’s not wise, it makes skills more difficult for your children, it’s not fair to kids who then may then end up being “stretched” because they are inflexible etc. Sorry, rant over. There are a million different ways to stretch. Both static and active. I’m personally a big proponent of both. If your kids are physically prepared for gymnastics, both in terms of strength and flexibility, your job will be 100x easier.

This first video is a nice little stretch on stall bars. We all know that in reality kids get BORED with stretching. Now I make sure to try and instill in my kids the knowledge that flexibility is important, and that it will make a huge difference in their gymnastics. But it’s always nice to switch up your stretching routine sometimes.

The second video is just a short very simple stretching compilation. The one thing I would like to emphasize is doing splits with your back leg against the wall/mat. It stretches muscles that normally don’t get stretched enough in splits.

What’s your flexibility routine like in your gym?