I believe addressing this common imbalance in strength volume is a key contributing factor for seeing long-term shoulder flexibility gains and reducing overuse injuries related to the shoulder joint. I dont want readers to think static stretching is bad, and that we shouldnt do it. Research in the last decade has been very insightful to learn about certain ligaments and capsule areas that aid in preventing the ball of the shoulder from moving outside the joint and subluxing. With this concept of overuse muscular stiffness in mind, I want to pause for a critical point. And Im not off the hook here. Naturally, hypermobile kids may do well in sports like gymnastics and baseball. (17) In one situation, the gymnast may have lots of hip and toe rotation out but may not have any motion of toes in.. By this I mean those based on a proper assessment, that does not induce excessive pain, that has a consistency over intensity mindset, and uses stretching as once piece of a larger program for flexibility. J Athl Train 2004;39:254-8. the increased range of motion could not be explained by the structural changes in the muscle-tendon unit and was likely due to increased stretch tolerance possibly due to adaptation in nociceptive nerve endings.. There is also a very fine line between stretching the correct active structure to see improvement and overly stressing the incorrect passive structure to cause injury. Also, you must remember that immediately following the warm-up genetically go to an event has very high forces. Following a full-bodied dynamic warm-up, athletes can then do some core basics, jumping and landing basics, handstand or other gymnastic specific prep work, and then progress naturally to their first about. Gymnasts practice up to 30 hours a week and have regiments full of conditioning and exercises. I will get a bit nerdy outlining the mechanisms, but then I will offer a practical application type summary for people to apply in training. They also are usually subject to 100s of squats, squat jumps, and leg tigthening exercises per week. Background Anatomy and Understanding Hypermobility, Beightons Testing and Links to Capsular Laxity. J Bodyw Mov Ther. Do each stretching exercise at least 4 times each session. We do not want to excessively relax the muscular tissue and increase lots of joint motion before we then subject them to extremely high forces. This said, I believe the majority of the effects of stretching come through neurological means. Some naturally flexible gymnasts have a bony alignment where the hip socket is not as deep. This end range compression and increase in capsular laxity over time may predispose shoulder instability, subacromial impingement of the rotator cuff or biceps tendon, and labral damage. Due to these reasons and the research I have read about the human body, there will likely be a very limited long-term change in flexibility that change gymnastics skills. This finding isnt inherently dangerous, or good as research always has its internal issues. Approaching this goes back to the chapter on why an interdisciplinary approach to the future of gymnastics is needed. The bones themselves, and the shape/fit of these bones is often referred to as the first layer of the shoulder joint. It goes into much more depth than I will in this blog post. Moving past all this background information, its time to talk about what actually causes a gymnasts arms not to go overhead in a handstand, a gymnasts legs to not go into a full split, or a gymnasts arms to not go behind their body for pommel horse swings. Even worse, if the underlying cause of limited flexibility is not found, we could be causing more problems to come up down the road regarding injury. Second Edition, 2009. 3556). Theankle joint is very far from the hip socket. Other methods of stretching like active flexibility, and PNF stretching, are certainly effective for increasing range of motion. By understanding these concepts, people in the gymnastics community can save a significant amount of time while also reducing the risk of injury during flexibility training. flexibility exercises designed to enhance split flexibility. Take them to a qualified medical professional for an assessment. Hold this position without touching your legs for as long as you can. 10 Minute Gymnastics Flexibility Circuits, Download SHIFT's Free Gymnastics Pre-Hab Guide, I usually start any discussion that I have with coaches or gymnasts related to flexibility on some basic anatomy. Second, most times there are a lack of pre and post-tests (line splits, checking objective shoulder flexibility screen against a wall) to see if what is being used for exercises is effective. Exercise selection, strength program balance, and athlete individuality also have a significant impact on limited progress in flexibility. That same drill may cause significant pain and limited motion in another gymnast who has very retroverted or less shallow hip joints. I think that daily soft tissue care is one important piece of the puzzle. While puberty can make a big negative impact on flexibility, I feel that the cultural norm of gymnasts just automatically getting tighter as they age is overexaggerated. (7-9, 17). If better flexibility, strength, and soft tissue care was used, I feel a lot of this could be avoided. What About Static Stretching? If these joints are subject to ongoing stretching past their normal end ranges of motion, it can significantly increase the risk of injury. Draovitch P, Edelstein J, Kelly BT. Naturally, fast kids may do well in soccer or track and field. These issues are commonly overlooked as culprits to why a gymnast struggles in this area of gymnastics. Its very important that both coaches, gymnasts, and medical providers understand this research to not see negative results from these tools, or worse cause unintended damage. Champagne, IL: Human Kinetics. Instead of just jumping to pushing down the knees of gymnast to get better lines or fix bent knees, I strongly suggest that people take time to figure out why the gymnast has bent knees to start with. Zollner AM., et al. They often struggle quite a bit to lift their legs even against gravity alone. Warm ups and cool downs are another common topic that comes up when discussing flexibility. The traditional model of gymnastics typically involves twenty to thirty-minute time periods where static stretches are held, active flexibility drills are done, or specific exercises are repeatedly done in high volume to gain range of motion. Keep this position for a couple of seconds and do the same for the other arm. I hope that this guide can be a place for everyone in gymnastics to find some useful information without feeling so frustrated and overwhelmed. Another typical example related to hip flexibility has to do with how arched a gymnasts lower back is during hip flexor or quadriceps muscle stretching. For example: I do not mention this long list to make people feel uneducated. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingston. Traditional forms of these stretches may contribute to the development of an injury. Recently many gymnasts are reporting to have hip flexor strains that they push through. Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine 2014:5 13-24, Edwards SL, Bell JE, Bigliani LU. Similar to the shoulder, when you look at the anatomical and biomechanical science of the hip joint, hip ligaments, hip flexor and quadriceps muscle (5, 8-12, 17) the more the lower back is arched, or hips are tilted forward, the less these muscles may be biased in this stretching alignment. Mobility tends to refer to the amount of motion someone can actively show on their own. I find many gymnasts who have shoulder injuries or are struggling with flexibility display significant strength deficits within their upper back and scapular area. Both skills allow the spine, shoulders and hips to bend while the body is in continual motion. I view it as a tool to open the door for gymnasts to then perform strength, technique, and control work for gymnastics skills. Ive seen hundreds of them and had plenty myself during my years of gymnastics. 30-60 seconds per targeted muscle group, no more than 5/10 discomfort level. Many gymnasts may be limited by their bony alignment, differently shaped hips, or less mobile capsule/ ligaments. Some studies have correlated a higher Beightons score with increased capsular laxity, including this research study linking a Beighton score over 4 to hip capsular laxity (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5400218/) and this study that discusses the links between shoulder capsular laxity and a high Beightons score (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4295707/). For example, this research study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26944667) recently looked at x-rays from professional ballet dancers during full straddle splits. Increasing muscle extensibility: a matter of increasing length or modifying sensation? I will say take these research studies with a grain of salt due to their methods, smaller sizes, and sometimes using cadavers as subjects. There may be a lot of variation on exact exercises/stretches included in your athletes' warm-up, but do try to include ALL of the following components: North Am J Sports Phys Ther 1(1):1631, 2006. Please consult with medical providers for proper understanding and implementation of this information. The down portion or plantar flexion is what makes up a toe point. We want to make sure we are not over-stretching or overstressing passive structures like the shoulder ligaments and capsules. So I know this has been an absolute beast of an article. Being able to achieve a full over split, or even a regular full split for that matter requires many things to be going well from a movement point of view. JOSPT November 2014. Through very sophisticated mathematical models, they did show evidence of, a mechanistic multiscale model for stretch-induced sarcomereogenesis, in which chronic muscle lengthening is characterized through a scalar valued internal variable, the serious sarcomere number.. Tumbl Trak Athlete Wellness and Recovery Kit, Front splits, straddle splits, handstands and pommel horse/parallel bar flexibility, Downloadable checklists to use at practice, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4295707/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6322373/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945046/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26944667, https://shiftmovementscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Book-Cover.jpg, The Ultimate Gymnastics Flexibility Guide, Tom Meadows on Developing Elite Male Gymnasts and His Best Coaching Advice, Helping Gymnastics Coaches Stay Happy In The Gym and Change Their Cultures. Other more naturally stiff individuals who excel in other sports may have a tighter shirt sleeve. Examination, treatment, intervention, and rehabilitation for athletes should only be performed by a licensed medical professional. This means the hip bone was slightly migrating out of the hip socket to reach such large ranges of motion. Dynamic flexibility is often the focus during warm-up exercises. Ensure you are warmed up correctly The hip is a bit opposite of this, having a deeper socket with more joint congruency. If you are more curious about learning the medical side of hip injuries in hyper-flexible athletes, I highly recommend reading these articles. For 12 Weeks, 2 days a week and 90 min. In the most basic sense, I dont think oversplits are inherently bad for gymnasts. I think the more accurate way to describe them is that over splits may be bad for a particular gymnast at that moment in time. 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