The concept of the core is something that pops up in almost every gymnastics discussion, due to its role in skill work. In every gym you step foot into you’re bound to hear someone talking about tight cores, squeezing the belly hollow, and “doing abs” for conditioning. Every current or former gymnast reading this can vividly relate to the amazing but awful feeling of the seal stretch after what felt like 2 hours of hollow rocks. Granted this type of strength is really important for gymnastics, there is so much more information to the core relating to injury prevention and skill performance. In the last 6 months I have read an incredible amount of literature and books discussing what the core does for our every day lives, sports, and ways to train for safe movement. I have spent a lot of time processing the information and brewing up ideas about these ideas may change the way some people think about core training in gymnastics. Last week’s article about how a gymnast’s core problem can look like hamstring tightness got the most attention out of anything I have ever published. I wanted to follow that up and write about where my brain has been the last few months for core training in gymnasts. I also wanted to share some of the ways I have put these ideas into our pre-hab/strength programming for coaches and gymnasts to try out.
I'm a Physical Therapist at Bay State Physical Therapy in Salem MA, a women's optional gymnastics coach for North Shore Wildcat's in Beverly MA, and was also a competitive gymnast for the majority of my life. I received my doctorate in Physical Therapy along with my minor in Psychology in 2013, and look to obtain my Certified Strength and Conditioning title in the upcoming year. I created The Hybrid Perspective to offer my opinions/thoughts on the benefits of connecting Physical Therapy and Gymnastics. I look to address common patterns of dysfunction and injury/pain for gymnasts, educate people about gymnastics based pre-hab to possibly reduce injury, help maximize gymnast's performance, and gain knowledge myself from those involved in the sport. Feel free to share, comment, and offer your experiences through the site.
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