Domino Relevé Walks: You need dominos or something else to substitute (could be bean bags, but nothing sharp!). We will be doing the second drill in the video below. Set dominos up along a beam or the floor. Holding high relevé walk the length trying not to knock them down. Do 4x. Try not to let your ankle turn. 

Why is this important? Doing the dance steps in your beam and floor routine in high relevé is one of the way judges separate the good routines from the great routines. 

 Assemblé Tuck Jump Connection: For this connection we are going to do an assemblé tuck jump. An assemblé starts from one foot and goes to two. You can see it in the video below. A tuck jump starts on two feet and ends on two feet. Practice your assemblé a few times and then try to connect the two jumps. You can do it on the floor, or to make it more advanced you can do it on a low beam or line. Do 10 assemblé- tuck jumps connected. 

10 Handstands: Do 10 handstands. Concentrate on extending your body by pushing through your shoulders and pulling your feet towards the ceiling.  

Spiderman Against the Wall: You can see how to do a spiderman handstand here. Hold your spiderman against the wall for 20 secs (beginner), 35 seconds (intermediate) or 45 seconds (advanced). Concentrate on holding a straight body position, with your bottom squeezed, legs straight and toes pointed. Repeat one more time. 

Why is this important? A handstand is a building block of so many skills in gymnastics- including front and back handsprings, cast handstands on bars and handspring vaults. You need to be able to stay completely straight in you handstand in order to hold it longer and to do these other skills correctly. The spiderman drill helps you achieve a completely straight body position when you get your body to line up with the wall.  

Alternating Split Leaps: Watch the video below from 1:04 to 1:15. Do 6 alternating split leaps in a row trying to get both legs to look the same. You will be leaping with your right leg, and then immediately with your left, then right, etc. Repeat 5x.

Assemblé Split Jump: Let's practice our connections. An assemblé starts from one foot and goes to two. You can see it in the video from day 1 or here. Practice your assemblé a few times and then try to connect your assemblé to a split jump. A connection means it will still be 2 separate jumps, you will just do one after the other. So you will do an assemblé land with your feet together and then do a split jump. (Remember- A split jump starts on two feet and ends on two feet.) You can do this connection on the floor, or to make it more advanced you can do it on a low beam or line. Do 10 assemblé- split jumps connected. 

You've earned today's puzzle pieces!

4P's for Relevé Hold: The 4 P's are- PUSH through your big toe & 2nd toe, PINCH your thighs and bottom, PULL in your abs and PRESS your shoulders down. Get in a straight body position with your arms straight above your head. Try to hold your straight body position for 20 seconds (beginner), 40 seconds (intermediate) or 60 seconds (advanced) while practicing your 4P's. You want to do be able to do this without wobbling. Do 3x. 

Straight Leg Skips: Watch the video below from 1:45 to 2:15. To do a straight leg skip lift one leg to horizontal and push through the other foot to jump off the ground. Land and hold for 1 second. Then step forward, lift the other leg to horizontal and push through your bottom foot to jump off the ground. Repeat 16x (8 per leg). These straight leg skips are a great drill for helping you get higher off the ground in your leaps. 

Why is this important? When judges score floor and beam routines, they look at every leap and jump the gymnast does and evaluate if it got high enough off the ground. If it doesn't, they give a deduction. This is one way they separate great routines from just good ones. 

Tuck Opens to Handstand: You can see this exercise in the first part of the video below. Put your hands on the ground with your feet in front of you. Tuck your legs in and and then push them straight up to handstand. Then lower your feet to the ground. Repeat 10x. To make it more advanced you can try pike opens instead of tuck opens. 

Spiderman Against the Wall: You can see how to do a spiderman handstand here. Hold your spiderman against the wall for 20 secs (beginner), 35 seconds (intermediate) or 45 seconds (advanced). Concentrate on holding a straight body position, with your bottom squeezed, legs straight and toes pointed. Repeat one more time. 

GymHQ Leap Complex #1: Do these down a mat or room. With your arms out to the side, and chin up, kick forwards 20x alternating legs (10 per side) while moving across the room. Kick backwards 20x alternating legs. Then do 20 alternating split leaps (you can see in the video below at 1:12) and 20 straight leg skips (same video at 1:44). Make sure to keep good form! 

Why is this important? One of the best ways to increase your flexibility is by doing kicks. Doing this leap complex consistently will help you increase how big you can split your legs in your leaps, along with helping to make them higher off the ground. 

Domino Relevé Walks: You need dominos or something else to substitute (could be bean bags, but nothing sharp!). We will be doing the second drill in the video below. Set dominos up along a beam or the floor. Holding high relevé walk the length trying not to knock them down. Do 4x. Try not to let your ankle turn out. 

Tuck Opens to Handstand: You can see this exercise in the first part of the video below. Put your hands on the ground with your feet in front of you. Tuck your legs in and and then push them straight up to handstand. Then lower your feet to the ground. Repeat 10x. To make it more advanced you can try pike opens instead of tuck opens. 

Why is this important? You need to be able to get into a straight body position with your body completely in alignment in order to be able to do higher level gymnastics skills. 

GymHQ Leap Complex #1: Do these down a mat or room. With your arms out to the side, and chin up, kick forwards 20x alternating legs (10 per side) while moving across the room. Kick backwards 20x alternating legs. Then do 20 alternating split leaps (you can see in the video below at 1:12) and 20 straight leg skips (same video at 1:44). Make sure to keep good form! 

Assemblé, Tuck Jump, Straight Jump: Let's practice our connections. An assemblé starts from one foot and goes to two. You can see it in the video from day 1 or here. We already did an assemble connected to a tuck jump. This time try adding a straight jump at the end. You can do this connection on the floor, or to make it more advanced you can do it on a low beam or line. Do 10 assemblé- tuck jump, straight jumps connected. 

You've earned today's puzzle pieces!

Assemblé, Tuck Jump, Split Jump: Let's practice our connections. An assemblé starts from one foot and goes to two. You can see it in the video from day 1 or here. We already did an assemble connected to a tuck jump. This time try adding a split jump at the end. You can do this connection on the floor, or to make it more advanced you can do it on a low beam or line. Do 10 assemblé- tuck jump, split jumps connected. 

Why is this important? At most levels gymnasts are required to connect jumps together in both their floor and beam routines. They must be able to connect them by doing one jump then the other without moving their feet or pausing between the jumps, otherwise the gymnast will lose credit for the connection resulting in a deduction. 

4P's for Relevé Hold: The 4 P's are- PUSH through your big toe & 2nd toe, PINCH your thighs and bottom, PULL in your abs and PRESS your shoulders down. Get in a straight body position with your arms straight above your head. Try to hold your straight body position for 20 seconds (beginner), 40 seconds (intermediate) or 60 seconds (advanced) while practicing your 4P's. You want to do be able to do this without wobbling. Do 3x. 

Spiderman Against the Wall: You can see how to do a spiderman handstand here. Hold your spiderman against the wall for 20 secs (beginner), 35 seconds (intermediate) or 45 seconds (advanced). Concentrate on holding a straight body position, with your bottom squeezed, legs straight and toes pointed. Repeat one more time. 

Domino Relevé Walks: You need dominos or something else to substitute (could be bean bags, but nothing sharp!). We will be doing the second drill in the video below. Set dominos up along a beam or the floor. Holding high relevé walk the length trying not to knock them down. Think about the 4P's for relevé when you are walking. Do 4x. Try not to let your ankle turn.

GymHQ Leap Complex #1: Do these down a mat or room. With your arms out to the side, and chin up, kick forwards 20x alternating legs (10 per side) while moving across the room. Kick backwards 20x alternating legs. Then do 20 alternating split leaps (you can see in the video below at 1:12) and 20 straight leg skips (same video at 1:44). Make sure to keep good form! 

10 Handstands: Concentrate on extending your body by pushing through your shoulders and pulling your feet towards the ceiling. You want to get to a straight body position like in your spiderman handstands.  

You've earned today's puzzle pieces!