Gymnastics is a sport that demands perfection in every move, every routine and every performance. Being one of the most competitive sports in the world, gymnasts are trained to perform flawlessly.

The world watches in awe while athletes involved in gymnastics flip, twist, and turn at an unbelievable pace. However, what the world doesn’t see is the strenuous and sometimes detrimental routine that corrodes gymnastics.

Training without proper rest

Gymnastics requires an immense amount of practice, many hours a day, and multiple times a week. In most cases, gymnasts train six days a week, with each training session lasting a minimum of 4 hours.

The training routines are so intense that gymnasts often push their bodies to the limit, regardless of any signs of fatigue. These long hours of training and repeated stunts without adequate rest can lead to injuries, including muscle strains, joint pain, and even serious conditions like stress fractures and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Not Enough Nutritious Food

Another detrimental routine that often corrodes gymnastics is the insufficient consumption of nutritious food. Gymnasts need to eat a balanced diet that includes plenty of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

They need these nutrients for their muscles to recover from the intense workouts and for their bodies to have enough energy to keep up. Unfortunately, many gymnasts are under strict diets to maintain lean, slender figures. This deprivation of essential nutrients can lead to fatigue, malnutrition, and, in more severe cases, anemia, weakened immune systems, and hormonal imbalances.

Over-exertion in the gymnasium

Gymnastics is an exhausting sport that requires the use of multiple muscle groups. Gymnasts need to have an incredible amount of strength, flexibility, and coordination to perform the acrobatics required.

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However, sometimes gymnasts push themselves too hard in the gymnasium, focusing more on achieving results instead of quality of training, leading to injuries. Gymnasts often undergo severe illnesses or even die due to rhabdomyolysis, a muscle condition that occurs when muscles break down and release harmful chemicals into the bloodstream.

Pressure to please coach and team

Gymnastics is a sport in which the gymnasts are under constant pressure to perform, excel, and win medals for their coaches, teams, and even countries.

This need to please leads to a demanding environment where coaches and team members overlook the welfare of the athletes. In many cases, the physical and emotional wellbeing of the gymnast is not considered as important as team goals. As a result, gymnasts may push through injuries, ignore mental health issues, or even conceal them to achieve team success.

Child Exploitation in Gymnastics

Gymnastics attracts young children, and often, they start training from a very early age. The pursuit of perfection and being the best begins at this tender age, which leads to an unsuitable environment for the children to grow and develop.

The sport sometimes lacks emotional, physical and psychological support required to nurture and protect the youth athletes. The pressure to excel and win often leads to child exploitation, including mental and emotional abuse by coaches and team officials.

Conclusion

Training in gymnastics requires meticulous planning to ensure that the gymnasts’ wellbeing is not overlooked. Athletes must have adequate nutrition, plenty of rest and recovery, and a supportive environment to shine and excel.

The detrimental routine corroding gymnastics has to stop, where coaches and teams need to emphasize the importance of wellbeing and growth alongside the pursuit of success.