tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
From Dug North:
… The automaton, when cranked, shows Santa working out on the parallel bars.
Going up and down many millions of chimneys requires some very strong triceps. …
Thanks Straight to the Bar for forwarding this photo and for all the fantastic information they’ve posted on physical training over the past year. Merry Christmas.
Hey … where are Santa’s pants?
unique gymnastics ornaments will look great on your Christmas tree …
I like these too:
Prakash lal Shrestha, Gymnastics Chief Coach in Kathmandu, Nepal reads this blog and sends his warmest wishes.
The internet is a great way to share information.
Yet another pre-season ranking list.
Check out Stanford well up the list at #2. Good call.
And Utah dropping to #5. (The arrival of Canadian Olympian Gael Mackie may keep them in the top 4. We will see.)
1 Georgia
2 Stanford
3 Alabama
4 UCLA
5 Utah
6 Florida
But Florida down #6 ??
They were the best team last season. Something seems wrong there.
… One (to us) surprising artifact of our method was Stanford showing up at number two and Utah showing up at number five. No matter how many variables we added, this relationship between the Utes and the Cardinal remained the same. It seems that, despite Utah’s strong showing at the 2007 Championships in Salt Lake City, their less than stellar 7th place ‘Final RQS Ranking’ hurt their ranking in our poll. At the same time, Stanford not only ended up in 4th place in the RQS standing, but they, like Georgia, return 24 of 24 starting routines from the 2007 Championships. …
And Georgia the second toughest Women’s 2008 University schedule.
According to College Gym Fans:
… Coach Yoculan (Georgia) seems determined to subject her team to the ultimate test in 2008, scheduling number 3, Utah; number 5, Stanford; and number 2, Florida in AWAY MEETS for the first three meets of the season. …
Valentin Uzunov posted his latest technical newsletter for gymnastics coaches in PDF format. (Easy to print.)
This issue features:
Valentin also reformatted my old article on Understanding and Teaching Gymnastics Skills. It looks great:
I’ve subscribed and linked to the new blog: TheGymPress.net which has links to tall the back issues. Highly recommended.
Or you can download the most recent issue here in PDF file format
The Art of Juxtaposition: a set of objects, people and/or animals behaving normally independently can take on a new life entirely when properly juxtaposed in a picture. What might seem like very ordinary behavior, from grabbing a magazine to stretching for a job, can take on a new and strange meaning when captured on film from just the right angle.
A couple of examples from the collection:
Sawse – Stir it Up! » Blog Archive » 20 Photographs Taken at the Exact Right Angle
Katrina from Westwinds Gymnastics recommends her kids do series of stair runs alternating with specific conditioning:
It would be a good idea to keep up with some of your conditioning and flexibility over the break (especially the girls attending Trials to AWG). Here is a short easy program you can do at home EVERYDAY to make the first day back a little bit easier:
– 3x stair runs (up and down is 1)
– 30 sec Samson/split stretch
– 3x stair runs
– 10x sit ups
– 3x stair runs
– 10x back extensions (or superman lifts)
– 3x stair runs
– 10x squats
– 3x stair runs
– 10x modified dips on the edge of your bed
– 3x stair runs
– 10x push ups
– 3x stair runs
– 10x V-snaps
– 3x stair runs
– 10x burpeesThen… 2 minutes of splits each way. If you are in Group B, take the cushion off your couch and use that for 2 minutes of over split front and back leg.
I’ve been hitting the stairs myself of late, sometimes carrying my bike. Good exercise for those of us who used to be has-beens.
Gregory Joujon-Roche – Hit the Stairs to boost your Booty
Gymnastics Coaching.com 