Mancino MAT-ters

The Benefits of Involving a Child in Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a fabulous sport! Because of all the benefits that go hand-in-hand with the sport, I would recommend enrolling a child into a program to any parent. I’ve taken a few moments to list various reasons why.

Overall Physical Fitness

One of the most important benefits associated with gymnastics is the physical fitness aspect. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reported that 16% of children from the ages 6-19, are overweight or obese…that’s over 9 million kids! By introducing your child to a sport filled with various physical activities at such a young age will stress the importance of a healthy fitness program. Gymnastics will also increase one’s flexibility and strength. Having good flexibility is necessity for both young and old. “It increases blood supply and nutrients to joint structures, which in turn increases circulation, leading to greater elasticity of surrounding tissues.” (Salzmann, 2005) Strength development automatically occurs when participating in gymnastics. The nature of the skills, events and conditioning naturally builds up muscle mass. Due to this consistent strength enhancement, it’s proven to slow bone loss, decrease your risk for injury, burn calories, improve brain function and increase bone density. With the balanced workout that gymnastics provides, your child will be physically fit.

The Hard Road with Benefits

Another beneficial quality of the sport is the discipline it instills in its athletes. Every facility has a certain set of rules that they enforce and the gymnasts must follow those rules to ensure a safe, controlled environment. The combination of the structure and the lesson plans also results in determination, great work ethic and learning the importance of setting goals. Gymnastics is an incredibly tough sport and this is learned by all in the very beginning. Each new skill will not be attained without all of the above mentioned characteristics. Not only is this a fantastic lesson to learn in the gym, but it’s a great lesson for life in general. Set goals, work with undying discipline and determination and the end result will satisfy you.

Team Work and Social Skills

By entering your child into gymnastics classes, you are automatically assisting them in their social skills development. With younger children, it will teach them to listen to authority figures, follow directions, share with others, wait their turn and many other advantageous skills. For competitive athletes, working together and bonding with a team proves to be an invaluable experience.

Coordination and its Impact on Growth

Gymnastics also improves coordination. Body awareness comes naturally to some gymnasts; others have to work at it. However, even if the child leaves the sport of gymnastics, the coordination and body awareness skills will apply nicely to all sports. It has been reported that these two benefits have also been applied to areas outside of sports. “Studies show that children learn cognitive skills more effectively in an environment that includes the body as well as the mind. (Barrett, 1998) Gymnastics and early childhood movement education is directly attributed to developing neurological pathways in students and promoting reading readiness. While the preschool gymnastics teacher runs about and plays with the little kids in her class, she is preparing her students for successful experiences in school; children who have participated in movement education activities have longer attention spans, increased communication skills, general problem solving skills and improved self-esteem.” (Taylor, 2003)

Instilling Confidence

Finally, this wonderful sport teaches the athlete to be self-confident and responsible. The fact that these children have to overcome big-time fears every day, makes them nothing but confident when it is finally overcome. The accomplishment of a new skill, a new routine, a high score, all because they worked their hardest makes an athlete confident in themselves and they know they were responsible for the outcome.

I know there are many additional benefits to the sport of gymnastics, but in my opinion, these are the basics. Doesn’t it make you want to sign your child up today?

3 Comments to The Benefits of Involving a Child in Gymnastics

1. 

   I don’t have children, but if I did; this article makes me want to join them up immediately. I have always loved to watch gymnasts perform but have never really given it much though about the other mental benefits that come with the sport. Thanks for writing such a great article.
Shawn on January 4th, 2010
2. 

   What a great article. I included a link to this on our website.
Michael Pedicini on January 18th, 2010
3. 

   Thanks! That’s fantastic. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Julie on January 27th, 2010

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