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Periodization for Gymnastics: How to Plan the Whole Competitive Year and Peak When It Counts

Here's the thing most coaches feel but rarely say out loud: a great competitive season is usually decided months before the first meet. Not by talent, and not by how hard anyone trains in the moment — but by the plan. Periodization is that…

The 5 Pillars of Athlete Development: Why Culture Has to Come First

Let me start with the shift that reframes everything: the old idea that "gymnasts peak at 16" is gone. Athletes are now competing well into their twenties, and the moment you plan for a career that runs past 22, how you treat the 10-to-14-year-old…
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Gymnastics Core Training: The Hybrid Model That Builds an Elite Base

Core training might be the noisiest discussion in all of gymnastics. What exercises? How many reps and sets? Is this one dangerous? Will that one actually help skills? After a decade of digging through the research and testing it in the gym,…

Helping The Injured Gymnast – A Coaches Guide

I want to start with something I don't say often enough. The overwhelming majority of gyms I work with are full of people doing this beautifully. I have coaches who text me at 9pm on a Tuesday to ask whether a kid can start rope climbs…
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Overhead Shoulder Flexibility for Gymnasts: Beyond Passive Stretching

Here's the thing most coaches miss about overhead flexibility: you can stretch the shoulder every single day and still watch a handstand line not improve. That's because full overhead motion is a kinetic chain, with many possible issues,…
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Best Drills, Worst Culture, Still a Loss: Why Culture Decides Your Season

Let me say the quiet part out loud: without culture, everything else falls apart. You can have the best drills, the best equipment, and the best skill progressions in the region — pair them with a bad culture and the result is still a…

Better Than Plyo Line Cardio: The Science of Building Off-Season Conditioning for Gymnasts

Let me start with a mistake I made for years: long running workouts and panel-mat plyo lines as "off-season cardio." It felt like hard work, so it felt productive. But there's a principle underneath this — the SAID principle (Specific Adaptation…

Why the Off-Season Is the Only Strength Window You Have

Here's the thing most coaches miss about the off-season: it isn't a break from the real work. It is the real work. Once the competitive season starts, you are maintaining what you built — not building. That's not a motivational line; it's…

How to Actually Increase Split Flexibility in the Off-Season: Science-Based Circuits for the Gym

Here's the exciting part: bigger splits, better leaps, and higher scores next season are absolutely within reach — and they come from working smarter, not just stretching harder. The off-season is your window to give your gymnasts real,…

What I Tell Every Gymnastics Coach When Their Season Ends

Every spring I get a wave of DMs, emails, and consulting calls from coaches who had a frustrating season. Injuries they didn't see coming. Floor cardio that wasn't there in February when they needed it. Skills that stalled out right before nationals.…
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