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Right now while many of us are all still quarantined at home, it can be challenging to keep up with gymnastics at home.

But did you know there are plenty of opportunities for you to find gymnastics workouts online while you’re home?

While you won’t be able to train major skills, you can still keep your body in gymnastics shape by practicing certain aspects of gymnastics at home. Even Simone Biles is at home doing her own workout plan under these circumstances and it doesn’t include doing the “Biles” in her living room! Instead she’s focusing on keeping her muscles in shape with conditioning exercises like you see below from her Instagram feed.

 

So how can you do gymnastics online and keep up with your gymnastics conditioning?

Here are 3 ways to help you keep up with your gymnastics lessons while you can’t get to the gym.

 

#1 Gymnastics Online Conditioning Workout Plans

You can find different gymnastics conditioning workout plans online that you can print out and do at home. It’s super important for gymnasts to keep up with their conditioning during the quarantine so that they are ready to go when their gym reopens and are physically prepared to meet the demands of a full gymnastics practice. A gymnast’s conditioning during this time, therefore, should be consistent and purposeful.

Before a gymnast does any conditioning plan online, she should make sure to check with her coach first. She or he may have a conditioning plan to follow already. It’s important that a gymnast stick with her coach’s recommendation. It’s also important that gymnasts don’t do any conditioning workouts that might cause injury or harm. Adult supervision is always advised when doing any activity at home.

Here are some important areas for a gymnast to focus on during her conditioning workout:

Anaerobic/Aerobic Conditioning -Gymnasts need to keep up their endurance and explosiveness during quarantine. One fun way to do this is to do run-throughs of your routine but instead of dancing and tumbling, you run. Specifically, you’d jog during your dance parts and sprint during your tumbling passes. You’d need to be outside or in a large space where you can sprint safely. Play your music and do these jog/run throughs 5-10x all the way through. This is a great way to keep up with your aerobic and anaerobic conditioning while in quarantine. The same thing can be done using a jump rope, on a stationary bike, or on a rowing machine, if a gymnast is unable to run or to create variety.

Leg Strength – Because so much of gymnastics relies on good leg strength, a gymnast should incorporate leg conditioning into her weekly routine.

Things like:

-Squats (double leg and single leg and holding against the wall)

-Calf raises (straight, turned in, and turned out)

-Lunges (alternating single leg, lunge jumps, and walking lunges)

-Lying hip lifts

-Jumps (straight, tuck, split)

 

Arm Strength – A gymnast must also have a strong upper body, which leads us to some arm conditioning.

Examples include:

-Pushups (regular, wide, narrow, and incline)

-Pull-ups and Chin-ups (using a pull up bar)

-Dips (can do these on your home beam, leaning against a couch, etc.)

-Handstand Pushups – you can do these against the wall

 

Core Strength – Without a doubt, core strength is vital for a gymnast. Luckily there are plenty of core conditioning exercises online that gymnasts can do at home. One fun way to strengthen your core is to do a core workout to popular music such as in the Baby Shark Workout and the Uptown Abs Workout (we’ve linked some of them below). Or you can play your own music and try to create your own ab workout.

Other ab exercises to practice:

-Hollow holds and rocks

-Arch ups

-Planks

-Side Planks

-Crunches

-Scissors

-Tuck-ups

-Pike-ups

-Straddle hold

 

Handstands – These are one of the most fundamental of all gymnastics skills and are an important skill to practice. Spiderman Against The Wall is a great handstand drill that focuses on proper form and increases muscle endurance. You can start by holding your Spiderman handstand for 10 seconds and then working your way up to 1 minute at at time.

 

#2 Youtube Videos

We’ve put together a list of different conditioning workouts you can do at home on our YouTube Channel (while you’re there, be sure to subscribe to our channel). When you look for youtube videos, make sure you are watching ones from a reputable source (a gym, coach, or professional gymnastics organization) and that you pay attention to proper form (especially for ab exercises – watch that your lower back doesn’t sink during planks).

Some of our favorite conditioning workouts are:

Quarantine Workout – 15 Minute Home Workout Challenge for Gymnasts

Baby Shark Abs Challenge

Coronavirus Conditioning For Gymnasts by Chalk It Up Buttercup

Cha Cha Slide Conditioning Style

You can also check out our previous post with 17 Videos For Practicing Gymnastics At Home for more video ideas.

Following these workouts is a fun way to condition while feeling like you’re part of a group! Plus, most of them are just fun to do because of the music.

In addition to conditioning, you can also study gymnastics by watching your favorite elite meets from the past few years. Rewatch the 2016 Olympics and see Simone Biles claim her gold. Watch the 2008 Olympics and watch Nastia Liukin claim gold and Shawn Johnson claim silver in the all around. Or watch the 2012 Olympics and watch Gabby Douglas claim her gold! Or if your favorite gymnasts are from other countries, watch their performances instead. There are so many options!

Watching high level athletes perform can give you some tips for how you can become a better gymnast. Watch the way they perform. Take note of their poise in between events. These are things you can also be doing at home to get better at gymnastics. Practice your salute. Practice lifting your chin and chest as you go through the dance parts of your floor and beam routines. Study elite gymnasts over and over until you start to feel like one!

 

#3 Join a Zoom Workout or Online Gymnastics Community

Speaking of feeling like you’re part of a group….While you can’t be in the gym with your teammates right now, you can still do things together through zoom and other video streaming services. Many gymnastics centers are offering weekly zoom workouts for their members. And some even have instagram or facebook accounts with weekly challenges for their gymnasts to complete. While it’s easy to become socially distant during this time, it’s important that you’re still engaging with your gymnastics community in one way or the other.

Another way to stay connected is by joining an online community of gymnasts from all over the world, such as SkillTrakker. In SkillTrakker, gymnasts follow daily challenges that help them improve their gymnastics skills at home. The daily challenges can be done in less than 15-20 minutes so it’s not a huge time commitment although gymnasts can do monthly challenges as well for more of a time commitment.

The benefit of SkillTrakker is that it provides gymnasts with motivation because gymnasts get points based on the number of challenges they complete and these points get tallied up. A leaderboard with top scores keeps track of which gymnasts are putting in the daily work and resets at the beginning of a new month. Each month the theme changes which gives gymnasts a chance to focus on different aspects of their gymnastics. SkillTrakker also recently released a Forum where gymnasts can engage in online discussions with other gymnasts in a monitored setting.

While you have to pay to join, at $7 per month it’s totally affordable and packed with tremendous value. To join the SkillTrakker Community and the next challenge, click the link below.

skilltrakker app

 

3 Ways to do gymnastics online while in quarantine

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15 comments… add one
  • Sophie May 17, 2020, 6:55 am

    Hi, I have yoga mats. I really want a folding Mat for gymnastics mat but i am not aloud. And when i do gymnastics i don’t feel like a proper, gymnast because of the mats.

    Reply
    • Kirsten May 17, 2020, 9:51 am

      Hi Sophie, don’t worry. No matter what kind of mats you have, you are still a gymnast. Make sure to practice everyday to keep getting stronger and better.

      Reply
      • Sophie May 31, 2020, 8:14 am

        Hi Thank You. Also when i try to do side splits one of my legs go bent and it wont let me straighten it. Any Advice. Also what equipment do you think we need? Also can we do gymnastics on yoga mat???
        You made my day.

        Reply
        • 3 year June 3, 2020, 12:00 pm

          You can do gymnastics on a yoga mat.Also, maybe you should try your side split with out th yoga mat.

          Reply
        • 3 year June 3, 2020, 12:01 pm

          You can do gymnastics on a yoga mat.Also, maybe you should try your side split with out a yoga mat.

          Reply
    • Lewis Arocha September 11, 2021, 10:12 pm

      Why are you not allowed the mat?

      Reply
  • Taliyah May 21, 2020, 7:44 pm

    So where are the things what we have to do??

    Reply
  • Sophie May 31, 2020, 8:17 am

    Hi. When I try a side split I have a problem. Where one my legs go bent and when I try to straighten it. It wont let me. Any advice?????

    Reply
    • Anonymous August 23, 2020, 3:40 pm

      Try making both legs straight instead of trying to go all the way down at first. It will get easier as you go on. 🙂

      Reply
  • Sophie May 31, 2020, 8:18 am

    Also do we have to go to a gymnastics class or lesson to be a gymnasr?

    Reply
    • Amity July 7, 2020, 2:59 am

      Hey Sophie! No, but instead of calling yourself a gymnast call ur self a ‘self-taught’

      Reply
  • unknown June 1, 2020, 3:58 pm

    Can you guys have a free skill tracker challenge? I’m trying to look for one that you don’t have to pay.

    Reply
    • Synne May 19, 2021, 1:50 pm

      Hello

      Reply
  • katie January 16, 2021, 3:58 pm

    how do i do a backhandspring?

    Reply
  • Jade November 14, 2021, 4:53 pm

    I need help doing a handstand

    Reply
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