Gymnastics is a sport that involves performing a series of movements in different devices. In each organ, there is a series of different movements. It combines strength, flexibility, speed and dexterity.
Gymnastics is a great combination of exercise and artistic movements.
The rhythmic flow of various exercise patterns makes gymnastics more of a sport that has been performed by both girls and boys for many years. also, there is no true age to start as a gymnast! It is an unforgettable experience that very few hobbies can provide. and many hobbyists continue with the activity and become competitive in it.
History of Gymnastics:
The ancient Greeks believed gymnastics to be the perfect symmetry between mind and body’s modern gymnastics evolved at the end of the 19th century.
The term “artistic gymnastics” emerged in the early 1800s to characterize free-flowing styles from techniques used in military training. Also Gymnastic competitions began to flourish in schools and athletic clubs across Europe and made a fitting return when the Olympic Games were revived in Athens in 1896.
What are the different types of Gymnastics?
Types of gymnastics
1- Artistic gymnastics
Men’s Artistic gymnastics
Men’s gymnastics is a popular form of gymnastics and the oldest form, which started in the first Olympic Games.
Males compete individually and in teams for 6 different activities:
- floor exercises,
- Pommel Horse,
- vaults,
- rings,
- high bars, and
- parallel bars.
Women’s Artistic gymnastics:
This is the best common of gymnastics with the largest number of participants.
Women compete for individual and team titles in four different races:
uneven parallel bars,
vault, and
floor exercises.
In fact, female gymnastics is often considered a perfect combination of strength, flexibility, and elegance.
2- Rhythmic gymnastics:
This type for women only which gymnasts performed on a floor with”
– a rope
– hoop,
– ball,
– clubs or ribbon,
3- Acrobatic gymnastics:
It is a competitive gymnastic discipline where partnerships of gymnasts work together and perform figures consisting of acrobatic moves, dance and tumbling, set to music.
There are three types of routines; a ‘balance’ routine where the focus is on strength, poise and flexibility; a ‘dynamic’ routine which includes throws,
somersaults and catches, and ‘combined’ routine which involve elements from both balance and dynamic
4- Trampoline:
It is a quite new kind of gymnastics, recognized as the Olympics Games that began in 2000. also In this type ,and the gymnast uses a double mini trampoline to perform tricks, so in synchronous events, 2 athletes perform 2 varied trampolines simultaneously. so this type both women and men can participate in this type of gymnastics.
5- Power tumbling:
Power tumbling is performed on a sprung tumbling track, where gymnasts do an explosive series of flips and twists, also tumbling pass consists of a series of 8 elements which is more complex and require high skills.
Benefit of Gymnastic:
1- Improves Flexibility:
Even if the thought of touching your toes is something you don’t think you’ll ever be able to achieve, don’t worry because being flexible isn’t a requirement to start training – thankfully! You’re probably wondering how you’re going to manage any of the exercises if you’re not already flexible, but training in gymnastics will help to improve your flexibility as you go along.
2- Bone Health:
Weight-bearing exercise benefits your bones because it helps them stay in shape and prevents brittleness. Women in particular experience a loss of bone mass as they get older, so engaging in weight-bearing moves from a young age can help preserve bone density and keep women from developing the bone disorders that sometimes come with age.
3- Get Stronger:
Because you have to use your muscles to such a large degree while doing it, gymnastic will definitely make you stronger. You will notice that your muscles begin to gain more definition and tone and that you find it easier and easier to do moves that were hard when you were just starting out.
This strength benefits other parts of your life as it makes you strong enough to carry large bags of groceries, your kids and other heavy things.
4- Teaches Listening and Learning Skills:
For a gymnast, following instructions is vital to help prevent injury. Secretly, we all want to magically smash out some amazing moves in our first class, but realistically the majority of gymnastics moves take quite some time to master. It’s much better to listen to the coach and learn the correct technique rather than just taking a risk and going for it, which could potentially result in injury.
5- Improve Social Interaction with Peers:
If you love the social side of it, then you’ll thrive on the communication within classes (because communication is one of the key things in learning new moves). Alternately, if you’re relatively shy then learning gymnastics will help to improve your social skills. You’ll be talking to your peers and classmates while learning new things.
