Author: Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.

conditioning for piked Stalder

Only about 1/100 gymnasts should even consider these skills. The flexibility required is rare.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

female gymnasts using P Bars

Training Rings is ideal for the female gymnast. Good for swing. GREAT for general upper body strength.

Parallel Bars are good too. But keep them low so if a girl falls — and she will — there’s no chance of injury.

Click PLAY or watch support strength training on Facebook.

Tamara O’Brien’s story

In fall 2017, after returning from a competition in Spain, O’Brien was diagnosed with cancer. Her surgeon subsequently removed 23 lymph nodes, four of them showing signs of melanoma. She has since undergone a variety of treatments but, last spring, a new CT scan showed signs of cancer in her groin, liver, ribs and spine. Her new diagnosis: Stage 4. …

Prognosis looks very, very bad. ☹️

But the Forward Foundation sent Tamara and a friend to Trampoline & Tumbling Worlds in Russia. She wanted to say goodbye to the sport. And her many friends.

There, O’Brien was called to the front of the gathering by two-time Olympic gold medalist Rosie McLennan, who thanked her for coming to support the team and assured her the trampoline community would always be with her. Then, McLennan handed O’Brien a small wooden box. In it was a bronze medal McLennan and the rest of Team Canada had won in the team competition, the first time such an event had been contested at the world championships. The team had decided O’Brien, had she been healthy, would have helped the team earn that medal, and McLennan had volunteered to give up hers. …

Coquitlam gymnast says goodbye to her sport, but not so long

why we love Alex McMurtry

Click PLAY or watch her on Twitter.