5 Leg Exercises to Build Explosive Power for Gymnastics
Explosive lower body power and the ability to dissipate high force are both crucial factors for gymnastics success. On the women's side, 3 of the events are primarily leg driven with substantial benefit given to those athletes that express and…
Treating Gymnasts with “Chronic Hip Flexor Strains” – From Clinic To Practice #6b
Last week in Part 1 of this article, I went over the background and current research concepts for a lot of gymnasts I have been treating with micro instability based hip injuries. This week I wanted to talk about one more contributive factor, and…
From Clinic To Practice 6: Chronic “Hip Flexor Strains” in Gymnasts
One of the areas I have spent the most time researching, treating, and brainstorming on is hip pain in gymnastics. When first starting to treat many gymnasts, I couldn't quite seem to wrap my head around why so many athletes suffered from chronic,…
Video Quick Tip! Side Plank 1 Arm Rows
Today I wanted to quickly share one of my new favorite exercises I got from the strength coaches at Champion PT and Performance. As I've talked about before, it's really important that we are training all aspects of the core equally. As a whole,…
Does Having Good Form Make A Gymnast’s Squat Worse?
It's known to the gymnastics world that having good form in all skills is pretty much essential to success. You can throw all the craziest skills in the world, but if they are very sloppy the aesthetics look pretty bad, and judges likely break…
Double Box Jumps To Develop Explosive Leg Power: Video Quick Tip
Although many people are in the post season looking to get into strength cycles, I wanted to share one of my favorite drills for developing leg power and explosive quickness. Many gymnasts I work do a ton of leg strength and plyometric…
“Hip Flexor Tightness” in Gymnasts and The Most Common Error In Stretching
A topic that comes up frequently in my flexibility lectures and when treating gymnastics patients is hyper mobile athletes who feel "hip flexor tightness" or experience ongoing "hip flexor strains". This issue plagues many gymnasts leading…
3 Of My Favorite Squat Mobility Drills
There are about a hundred reasons why a good squat is beneficial. From a mother picking up her small child, to an Olympic Weight Lifter catching heavy cleans, to a gymnast trying to absorb a landing, good squat mobility is essential. Many times…
Video Quick Tip! Suitcase Carries for Lateral Core Work
I'm a big fan of suitcase carries as they can take a more traditional side plank and turn it into an upright, reactive, and more challenging exercise. Although we do a lot of side plank variations also, suitcase carries create a very unique…
Applying Hip Strength Drills For Reduced Pain and Increased Flexibility
Over the last year, I have shared a lot of my thoughts related to how I have drastically changed my approaches to hip and shoulder flexibility training. The "Gymnastics, Please Stop These Stretches" series I wrote (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) were…