Building a Foundation for Gymnastics
Compared to the early days of CrossFit, the average athlete in the sport is now expected to perform a wider array of gymnastic movements at ridiculously high volumes. It’s amazing to watch and it’s even cooler to sit back and think about how far these athletes have come in such a short period of time. But with expectations and demands still increasing, I have found myself wondering if we have forgotten the value that a strong foundation has on improving performance and preserving the athlete.
I want to explain why building a foundation for gymnastics is so important for continued success in CrossFit and, of course, a blueprint for how to do it.
To me, having a solid foundation means that the body has the mobility and strength, both of the connective tissues and muscles, to support the unique demands of any given movement. With gymnastics movements specifically, I sometimes feel that we let momentum/speed and general athleticism trick us into thinking we have the required strength to perform these skills at high volumes. For the lower level athlete, this may result in injury as their bodies just are not ready to handle all that added stress. For the higher level athlete, this may be the difference between twenty and thirty Ring-Muscle-Ups. For either, you can keep hammering the movements directly and maybe see some progress OR we can break the movements down and work on the individual positions where we have trouble in order to see improvement. I’ll always advocate for the latter as it ensures that we are building a solid framework that can support the workload that is required in the sport of CrossFit.
Creating a Plan:
Reminder: Skills should be worked from simple to complex. Things that can affect complexity are coordination, speed, stability, and strength. Be mindful of this when prescribing/progressing drills for you or your athletes.
Strength:
The first step for most athletes is to incorporate isometrics to help build positional strength as well as to build resiliency of the working structures. I tend to work these in at end ranges but will often include shorter holds in any position I find the athlete weakest. To keep it simple think of things like Hollow Holds, Arch Holds, Pull-Up Holds, Dip Support Holds, Handstand Holds… to name a few.
Next, I look to be more dynamic. I will take the positions we worked on isometrically and incorporate movement in more challenging environments. Taking Hollow Holds and Arch Holds as an example, I can have an athlete progress over to the Bars and work on moving between those two positions in an unsupported environment. This raises the complexity, challenges the athlete in a manner more specific to the skill, and helps to create more context around the validity/value of the drills. From there I can add more speed, I can layer in another movement or increase the volume of work. Ultimately, it will be specific to the individual, their needs, and the skill itself.
Finally, we have the often-forgotten strict versions of all these movements. The obvious being Pull-Ups, Dips and Handstand Push-Ups….but don’t forget Strict Toes to Bar and Strict Bar/Ring Muscle Ups. We all preach to the newer athlete the importance of completing a Strict Pull-Ups before kipping, but what about Toes to Bar or Strict Muscle Ups? And for the higher level athlete, as the volume increases, shouldn’t we increase the amount of strict work so they are strong enough to manage the added workload?
At a finer level, there is a lot of value in including exercises that directly target the areas like the shoulder girdle, hip flexors, and back extensors. Strength in these areas can either make or break our ability to efficiently perform higher level skills over a long period of time. It doesn’t take much to see a difference, so try to sprinkle these things in as often as you can.
Technique:
Another component of building a strong foundation is technique. The better technique we have the less work we have to do to complete a given task. There are a myriad of drills that break down gymnastic movements into their individual parts, but to make best use of your time, you need to identify where in these movements you are having the most difficulty. Then you can select drills that target that weakness. Couple this with the strength work from above and you will see weak points slowly disappear.
In summary, the biggest mistake an athlete can make is thinking that they are perfect. We all have some areas that are not up to par, especially with skillful movements like those found in gymnastics. Although it may not be incredibly sexy, the work outlined above would help any athlete to improve their capacity and performance, as well as ward off potential injuries. If all the above is done and curated to match your, or your client’s specific needs, I guarantee that you will not only be able to perform bigger sets, but you’ll feel better when doing them.