4 Common Mobility Issues Gymnasts Should Address

There are certain areas that gymnasts can develop tightness and stiffness in, due to the nature of the sport, how we train, and other factors related to our daily movements. I know as soon as some people hear “gymnast” they assume the athlete has rubber band like mobility all over. Even though there are a lot of gymnasts who are pretty mobile, there are plenty of gymnasts who develop certain areas that tend to wind up.  These same concepts also create excessive strain on other areas of the body that have to pick up the slack, often times becoming an area that breaks down and can become and injury. The lower back may be making up for tightness in the front of the hip during bridging skills, the shoulder may be making up for restricted extending movement in the middle spine during handstand work, and so on. Overtime if these areas are not addressed they can create large imbalances and compensations to occur, which can really throw off a gymnast’s mechanics.

 

Based on working with a lot of gymnasts, reading a lot, and our pre-hab program, I have come up with a list of common areas I feel gymnasts have mobility restrictions in. I really believe that by addressing these areas proactively during training it will help to reduce overuse tightness, reduce areas that are over stressed, and help with performance. I wanted to present a simple explanation of some things to think about, offer how it can have a negative effect on performance and possibly links to injury, then offer mobility drills for gymnasts to use in their training.

*Public Disclaimer Note* Please keep in mind that these drills are only intended for people who show mobility restrictions or tightness in these areas. These drills are not intended for gymnasts who show full or excessive mobility. There are tons of situations when gymnasts have incredible amounts of flexibility, and this isn’t the best choice for them. Giving those athletes mobility drills where they are not needed may actually be worse for them because it may create hyper mobility and contribute to instability. These athletes will most likely benefit from stability and coordination drills to teach them the correct positioning to control this motion. There should be no intense feeling of pain with any of these, only stretching or discomfort on some of the tighter areas. These aren’t tests to see how much the gymnast can take.

With that being said, here are some areas to consider in no particular order.

 

1) Calf Muscles – Gastrocnemius/Soleus

The calves muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus, are something I have covered quite a bit in the past. One reason the calves typically get extremely tight in gymnasts is due to the amount of time they spend in toe point. They also get very tight due to the amount of explosive jumping the sport requires through tumbling and running. If the calf muscles continue to lose mobility, it can make a huge impact on how the body can accept weight, squat properly, and may
lead to some very frustrating injuries for coaches/gymnasts to deal with. Proactively addressing the calf (often times more than just basic stretching in warm up) with some mobility pre-hab below is huge for gymnasts during training.

 

Ankle Plantar Flexion

The Effect on Gymnastics Performance:

• Restricted calf mobility into the opposite motion of toes up (dorsiflexion) can really throw off a gymnasts squatting and landing ability possibly causing losses of balance and stepping during landings resulting in deductions.
• The same concepts for jumping and landing mechanics transfer over to tumbling. A gymnast with restricted calf mobility may not be able to absorb shock properly leading to the knees and hips being in a bad alignment, which can then causes a loss of power during tumbling.

The Effect on Possibly Injury:

• Restricted calf muscles also get forcefully pushed past their mobility limits and may possible contribute to local injuries like Achilles tendonitis, Sever’s disease, and more serious damage to the Achilles
• Linked chain injuries in the knee, hip, and lower back due to abnormal mechanics during jumping and landing. Whatever motion the ankle can not perform will be made up by another joint above (knee, hip, back) or below (foot joitns).

Mobility Pre-Hab

Lacrosse/Tennis Ball Work/Foam Rolling – The gymnast can use a lacrosse ball to target localized tight areas on the back of the calf, as well as getting parts of the deeper Soleus muscle by working on the outside/inside areas just outside the shin bone. The gymnast can also use a foam roller to roll out one calf at a time

Positioning of Lacrosse/Tennis Ball for outer Soleus soft tissue work in “pigeon”

lateral Soleus soft tissue release with lacrosse ball

medial Soleus soft tissue release with lacrosse ball

Foam Roller for Calf Muscles

Gymnasts can also take advantage of home made PVC stick rollers, or other versions of this type of tool to roll out their calves. I wrote an entire post about making tools for a pre-hab kit in this post here. 

PVC Rolling Sticks

Self Calf Release Using PVC Rolling Stick

Ankle Joint Mobility – The gymnasts can follow this up by doing some mobilization work for the ankle joint as well as the soft tissue by using a band to help. The gymnast will loop a band around a stable base, step through the open end, and get into a lunge stretch. By holding the foot with the hands, the gymnast can gently pull up and then lean forward into the stretch. There should be no ankle pain, only a stretch sensation in the calf area.

Dorsiflexion Mobilization with Band Assist Step 1

Dorsiflexion Mobilization with Band Assist Step 2

Flexibility/Stretching – The gymnast can then finish this area by doing some proper stretching for the calves using a beam base, especially if they are jsut standing waiting for a turn on beam. Keeping the knee straight targets more of the gastroc muscle, and bending the knee targets the soleus. Be sure to spend a bit of time on both.

Gastrocnemius Stretch Using Beam Base

Soleus Stretch Using Beam Base

 

2) Hip Flexors/Anteiror Hip Chain

There are a handful of muscles that are involved in flexing the hip, some of which also have roles for rotation of the hip and stability through the spine/hip. These muscles are very common for gymnasts to become tight in, due to the the amount of hip flexing seen throughout all of gymnastics. Some examples include, pressing, jumps, in bar work, running/hurdling, pulling into flip shapes, kipping, staldering, and holding L shapes. One of the hip flexors the rectus femoris also is used for squatting and knee extending, so these motions can cause tightness often felt closer to the joint. Another deeper muscle, the psoas, starts up in the lower spine area and blends with other flexor muscle as it travels farther. Along with just hip flexors, there is quite the mesh of associated tissues and the hip joint capsule that can bundle up on gymnasts from this same type of work.

Just as with the calf muscles, when these hip flexing muscles loose their mobility it can cause problems both locally and also huge problems away from the hip joint. It can serve as one contributing factor to the arched back posture many gymnasts acquire, which is known as an anterior pelvic tilt. Along with poor hip joint position, often times the front of the hip area becomes restricted. The deeper psoas muscle starts off at the lower spine, and has a big role in the spine falling forward into an arching. Mobility restrictions can also limit the amount the hip joint can move into other direction known as hip extension. This limitation then leads to overuse of the lower back, and coaches would be surprised how the hip flexor restriction when done correctly.

Testing for restricted anterior chain/hip flexor mobility

The Effect on Gymnastics Performance: The tightness of the hip flexors can limit the amount of hip extension (kicking leg backwards) gymnast can have causing

• decreased bridge/back handspring shaping abilities for tumbling because the hip is not moving into extension fully
• decreased ability to attain a tight arch positions like seen in the bottom of tap swings, usually with an increase in lower back arch seen
• decreased extension for leaps/jumps

The Effect on Possibly Injury: The same resting anterior tilt and limited hip extension can be a contributing factor in common gymnastics injuries like:

• Lower back pain due to missing hip extension being compensated and made up for in the lower back. The gymnast will often times extend from the lower back causing increased stress to go through certain spine joints, leading to over use problems and many lower back strains. If this is combined with missing middle back range above the spine, it creates a “loading point” where many gymnasts can develop over stress and if more serious possible stress fractures/sponylolithesis. This compensation in the lower back arch can be seen in many gymnasts during drills, skill work, and flexibility.
• Creates an unstable core position – Gymnasts who have a very notable anterior tilt and constantly perform in this position decrease the stability of the core and increase the risk for impacts to be put through certain areas the spine. This directly affects the lower spine mechanics and power output. Many gymnasts complain of lower back pain with tumbling because the forces may be going through a not fully protected spine with poor core stability.
• Hip flexor strains and hip pain in the front due to the tight hip flexors being pushed past their available range, or due to problems related to muscles of the buttock becoming weak/inhibited and making the hip unbalanced.
• Many authors use great information to talk about how when one muscle is extremely tight, the opposite muscle may be inhibited or weakened. So in this case, the restricted tight hip flexors and certain rotator muscles may be causing the glute muscles and opposite rotator muscles to be inhibited or weakened. This then greatly throws off the mechanics of the hip, contributing to local hip issues and knee/ankle/foot issues.

Mobility Pre-Hab

Lacrosse/Tennis Ball Work/Foam Rolling – One of the best ways to go about releasing some of the tightness in the hip flexors is to have the gymnast lay on a lacrosse ball or tennis ball. The ball should be placed just inside and below the pointy hip bone that can be felt popping out in the front (ASIS). Using this area as a general landmark, the gymnast can move up (just outside and below the belly button)and down and find certain points that are more dense. This can be done on the floor or on a beam so gravity can help out. Another area that is good to target is just below and outside the pointy hip bone, which is the area for a muscle known as the TFL. As I mentioned one hip flexor is also works with the knee, so foam rolling the quads is also beneficial. Be cautious about some of these areas, they may be uncomfortable.

Hip Flexor Lacrosse Ball Positions

Hip Flexor Lacrosse Ball Mobiltiy Work on Floor

Hip Flexor Release Technique Using Lacrosse Ball on Low Beam

Foam Roller for Quads

Hip Joint Mobility – Just as with the ankle the gymnast can also use a band to work on stretching the hip joint while trying to encourage some joint motion. It is extremely important to keep a neutral spine, with the core engage, and not allow the gymnast to compensate by extending from their lower back. The first picture shows improper core engagement, no glute squeeze, and a compensation i the lower back arching, which is no good.

IMPROPER Hip Flexor Mobilization End – Note Athlete Compensates with Lower Back Arch and Appears to Have More Mobility

This is often part of compensation that got the athlete to have restricted hip flexor mobility, tightness in the front of the hip capsule, and the anterior pelvic tilt. The gymnast will loop the band across a stable base, step the base leg through the band, then put the other leg in front in a lunge. The gymnast will move back until the band is taught, then start by squeezing their back butt muscle. While doing this and then keeping the good spine position have the athlete shift their weight forward into the stretch. They can also reach their arm up overhead to get more of a tension from the structures above the hip joint.

Hip Flexor Mobilization Start

Proper Hip Flexor Mobilization End

Flexibility/Stretching – The gymnast can lay on their back on the end of a black and work on their hip stretching. The gymnast will scoot their butt to the end, lay back and hug on leg, keep the back very flat against the block with the core engaged in a good spine position, the let the other leg drop. Be sure they keep good breathing without holding their breath. This can be done with a partner for some extra help and proper alignment. The gymnast can also do the more well known hip flexor position, as long as it is in a good neutral spine with the buttocks engaged.

Self Hip Flexor and Quad Stretch

Assisted Hip Flexor and Quad Stretch

 

IMPROPER Half Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch – Note Anterior Pelvic Tilt and Compensatory Use of Lower Back Arch

3) Lower Back Muscles

The lower back muscles become another area that commonly gets over developed and lose mobility, especially when the brain may be choosing to use some muscles more than others to make up for missing core stability. Gymnastics requires a lot of extending from the lower back for skills inherently. When this is coupled with missing hip/middle spine mobility, poor core stability, and improper technique it causes the lower back muscles to do way too much work. Overtime they can become excessively tight, and then become painful or go into spasm. This is a problem I see in a lot of gymnasts, especially pain/tightness just above the buttocks or deeper in a side muscle (known as the quadratus lumborum). These types of painful spasms have been known to make gymnasts miss quite a bit of practice time, and may always seem to creep back up if the underlying mobility problems of the areas above/below, as well as lacking core stability and poor skill technique aren’t addressed.

The Effect on Gymnastics Performance: 

• The resting arch back posture during back handsprings and skill work can cause excessive back arch and decrease the gymnasts ability to stabilize the core. This can lead to decreased power during skill work, loose body shapes, and difficulty transferring energy with high level skills
• The increase in arch becomes a common spot of compensation during hand stand work, throwing off the athletes center of gravity and making handstand work challenging. This improper handstand shape then carries over and causes trouble with lots of other skills through all the events.
• The missing core stability and mobility above/below the lower back has a huge impact on gymnastics skill work as are touched upon

The Effect on Injury: 

• Overtime the muscles may become excessively tight, and when over worked can then become painful or go into spasm when they are over stressed.
• The unstable core position and focal loading point in the lower back can lead to a lot of overuse based lower spine issues
• The resting arch back position can become engrained as a default position, and can increase the risk of a “jarring” of the back during tumbling and landing
• The same resting arch back position can throw off jumping and landing mechanics, possibly being a factor in both overuse and traumatic injuries through the hip/knee/ankle/foot.

Mobility Pre-Hab

Tennis Ball/Lacrosse Ball – The gymnast can start by simply putting the ball in their lower back, then leaning up against a wall to work out some of the tension points. The gymnast can go side to side, or do sets of small squats to go up and down. The gymnast can also lay on their back and work on some knee hugs (a little more aggressive). Be sure the gymnast is using a proper spine position, with core engagement, and is not creating a lower back arch or anterior pelvic tilt. We want to always stress the proper technique and spine position.

Self Lumbar MFR with Double Tennis Ball Position

Self Lumbar MFR with Double Tennis Ball – Squat End

Self Active Lumbar MFR with Double Tennis Ball – Start

Self Active Lumbar MFR with Double Tennis Ball – Right Leg

The other muscle that I mentioned many gymnasts get pain and possible spasms with, the quadratus lumborum or QL, should be addressed too if it is a problem. The area to get at this muscle is just outside and deeper than the larger lower back muscles you can feel easily. The gymnast can usually get at this area best by putting the ball on a panel mat, then laying on their side at an angle.

Lower Spine/QL position

Lower Spine Muscle/QL Soft Tissue Work

 

4) Middle Spine/Thoracic Spine

The middle spine or the thoracic spine, are the 12 vertebrae that associate with the rib cage and also have the shoulder blades on top of them. Another very big reason many people develop stiffness in this is area is due to local smaller muscles (certain muscle around the shoulder blade, rotator cuff muscles, and also the core) not having good stability. The body may then compensates for this by using larger muscles, that should be working to move the arms, to create false stability. It is the bodies effort to keep certain joints from moving too much (shoulder blades, shoulder joints, lower back) to stay safe. This along with muscular imbalances, improper breathing, the use of exercises that fixate the spine, poor technique in skill work, postural habits (are you hunched forward over your computer or phone reading this?) can all cause problems. Usually gymnasts typical loose the ability to backwards, known as extension, and also rotate from this part of the spine. There are also times when gymnasts have an issue on the other side of the spectrum get a “flat spine” posture in this area, but I don’t want to dive into that issue here.

The Effect on Gymnastics Performance: Loosing mobility in this part of the spine can have a huge impact on many gymnastics skills. Some of them include,

• Decreased ability to extend back to a good stable bridge position
• Decreased ability to reach overhead and get the arms overhead during handstands for a full straight line, often times because the gymnast puts their head out excessively to see the ground or equipment their on
• Decreased ability to keep the spine in a good neutral spine during jumping and landing, often times leading to the gymnast’s body weight going forward over their toes

The Effect on Injuries: 

• The missing mobility in the thoracic spine can have a large ripple effect in terms of improper shoulder blade motion, and shoulder restrictions commonly contributing to shoulder pain
• The missing mobility shows in bridge and hand stand work, often times causing the gymnasts wrists to get pain as they hit shallow block angles
• The missing mobility can cause the gymnast to have to extend their upper spine, sometimes leading to tightness and pain in the neck

Mobility Pre-Hab

Foam Roller Drill For Extension: One of the best ways a gymnast can work on the mobility of the spine into extending is to use a foam roller. The gymnast will put the foam roller about shoulder blade height, place their hands behind their head, and try to keep their lower back neutral while engaged. The gymnast will open up their body over the foam roller while only trying to bend from the shoulder blade level spine. They can do a handful of mini sit up like actions to work in this area. Many times people simply rolling up and down along the muscles which may feel good and loosen them up, but it isn’t necessarily the best way to work on the joint mobility.

Thoracic Extension Drill – Start

Thoracic Extension Drill – End

The gymnast can also use a double tennis ball (taped together) to help with this middle back extension. They will lay over the double tennis ball with their middle spine in the shallow middle grove, at about shoulder blade level. Then, while continuing to keep the spine engaged and proper breathing, the gymnast can reach one arm of both overhead a hand full of times.

Tennis Ball Taped Into “Peanut” Tool

Thoracic Ext Lacrosse Start

Thoracic Ext Lacrosse Side View – Start

Thoracic Ext Lacrosse End

If the gymnast has a problem with shoulder flexibility they can also use a light weight to help assist their overhead motion while doing this drill. This gymnast is throwing her head out a bit too much, the upper spine should be relatively straight with the eyes and chin neutral.

Middle/Thoracic Spine Rotation Drill: This drill is really good to help the gymnast rotate from their middle spine, and also helps to work on some of their breathing techniques. The gymnast will lay on their side, with the top leg flexed up to about 90 degrees and resting on the foam roller. It’s important to make sure the athlete is completely on their side and no twisting from their lower back or hip. While keeping the lower spine neutral, and not moving the hip, the gymnast will attempt to rotate their body to face the ceiling using their top arm to pull the ribs. This drill works best when the gymnast exhales a deep breath with each rotation. Make sure to do both sides.

T Spine Rotate Rib Side – Start

T Spine Rotate Rib Side – End

 

Concluding Thoughts

So, by no means do these exercises cover every tightness problem that can come up in a gymnast. Every gymnast has different problems and may compensate in a different way, leading to different movement patterns. Many coaches and gymnasts think that these problems exist in isolation however the muscular, neural, fascial, joint, system are quire dependent on each other. Mobility restrictions in joints, muscles, fascia, tension in nerves, or other structures directly effect the adjacent areas as well as areas far away from the joint being looked at. There is also a huge concept to be entertained that due to core stability issues, these certain areas may be getting overused as the go to muscles for the brain, causing them to be used too much during movement. The brain may be increasing the activity of certain areas to make up for missing stability somewhere else, causing the muscle to be chronically firing to be shortened. For both the possible increase in tightness and the increase in how much the brain is choosing to use them, it’s important to address.If areas lose mobility are not addressed it can set the stage for the body to develop compensations, imbalances, alignment issues, and faulty movement patterns. The problem in gymnastics comes up as we take these basic movement problems and start stacking high forces and strength on top of it during training. Not to mention they show up all over skill work all the time. Examples like a gymnast with a resting anterior pelvic tilt who has the “pike arch” in her handstands no matter how much they try to squeeze their core, or a gymnast with a tight thoracic spine having troubles with back hand springs and handstand holding.

If there is a problem in these areas, mobility problems are best addressed as part of a comprehensive program and need to be stressed in technique during gymnastics training. You can use all the mobility drills in the world to address problems, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t address the gymnastics technique problem that got that athlete in the first place. Stress proper positions and progressions, and make sure you consistently do these during training. Pro-actively taking time to address them can be of huge benefit for a gymnasts potential injury risk and performance. There are a few more areas that I will write about in a few weeks, for now I hope readers find this useful. Best of luck,

 

Dave

 

References

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