The most common injuries in rhythmic gymnastics. The world champion's doctors missed a fracture of the navicular bone of the foot

17.05.2024

In rhythmic gymnastics, chronic injuries occur more often than acute ones. According to the results of one of them, acute injuries amounted to 21.4%, chronic - 51.4%. Most often, acute injuries to rhythmic gymnasts are localized in the lower extremities - the foot and ankle joint accounted for 38% of injuries, the lower leg and knee joint - 19%, the thigh and hip joint - 15% (72% in total). In third place in the number of injuries were back injuries (17%). This high percentage of lower extremity injuries is associated with a large number of difficult jumps, which can result in a gymnast landing poorly. Acute foot injuries are quite common in gymnasts due to repeated landings and include subtalar foot dislocation, Lisfranc fracture-dislocation, and other fractures and ligament injuries of the metatarsals and toes. Dermatological problems often arise. It is believed that pain in the lumbar spine is one of the main traumatological problems in rhythmic gymnastics. Among the causes leading to pain in the lumbar region are excessive extension of the spine in the lumbar region. Achieving maximum amplitudes in movement can lead to acute injury. Repetitive excessive extension, flexion and twisting of the lumbar spine can cause micro- and macro-trauma to the vertebrae and intervertebral discs. The most common lumbar spine problems in gymnasts include spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, compression fractures, damage to the vertebral body endplates and intervertebral discs. Flexibility, which is one of the main qualities of gymnasts, is developed through stretching exercises on the corresponding muscles, ligaments and tendons. Therefore, injuries caused by excessive stretching are inevitable in rhythmic gymnastics. Most often, the posterior thigh muscles and the muscles of the groin area are injured in rhythmic gymnastics. The inguinal muscles are several muscles on the medial (inner) side of the thigh, located in several layers. The main task of these muscles is hip adduction (leg adduction). The hamstring muscle group consists of the semitendinosus muscle, which attaches to the medial side of the knee joint, the biceps femoris muscle, which attaches to the lateral side of the knee joint, and the semimembranosus muscle. The main functions of these muscles are flexion of the lower leg and extension of the thigh. Most knee injuries among rhythmic gymnasts were diagnosed as tendinitis. The most common tendonitis in the knee area is patellar tendinitis, also called “jumper's knee,” which occurs as a result of prolonged training, numerous jumps and landings, which lead to microtrauma to the structure of the patellar ligament. Since training occurs too often, microtraumas do not have time to heal and accumulate. All this ultimately leads to inflammation and degeneration of the ligament tissue. Symptoms of patellar tendinitis include pain at the bottom of the patella, especially with weight bearing (jumping, landing) and bending the knee. Among acute injuries in rhythmic gymnastics, injuries to the ankle and foot occupy first place. Most often these are sprains due to inversion of the foot, however, injuries to the posterior tibial tendon, rupture of the Achilles tendon, damage to the peroneal tendon and synovial sheath, and fractures in the ankle area are possible.

Prevention of injuries in rhythmic gymnastics

The following measures are suggested to prevent injuries in rhythmic gymnastics:

1. The duration of training for elite athletes should not exceed 30 hours per week, for sub-elite athletes - 20 hours per week;
2. Stretching exercises should be performed for at least 40 minutes a day;
3. General physical training should not take gymnasts more than 5-6 hours a week.

In order to prevent pain in the lower back, you should carefully monitor the correct technique of the athlete and prevent the development of incorrect skills that can lead to such pain. Also, you should not force the development of flexibility in young athletes and force them to perform movements with a range for which they are not yet ready. Athletes should undergo ongoing medical evaluation for stress fractures in the lower back, leg, ankle, and foot. It is necessary to carefully monitor the nutrition and body weight of young gymnasts, to prevent and eliminate dysmenorrhea, potentially leading to early osteoporosis.

Injuries in artistic gymnastics are not uncommon. And this is due to the fact that this sport includes a number of fairly complex exercises on gymnastic apparatus, as well as floor exercises and, accordingly, vaults.

Gymnastics is a sport on which not only certain technical skills of a person depend, but also the training of flexibility, endurance, coordination of movements and a sense of balance.

As a rule, gymnastic exercises are included in the training program for athletes involved in various sports. For both women and men, floor exercises are considered the most dangerous. They are the most common cause of injuries in gymnastics.

types of injuries

Injuries in artistic gymnastics occur:

when performing a jump at the moment of landing;
during exercises on the balance beam, rings or uneven bars;
while performing a vault.

Most often in men, knee and ankle joints are injured in gymnastics. Female athletes are more susceptible to ankle and elbow injuries that occur when performing exercises on the uneven bars at different heights. In addition, gymnasts experience knee and ankle injuries on other apparatus.

Injuries in artistic gymnastics in men most often occur when performing exercises on the rings. Immediately after the rings, according to the degree of injury, are the parallel bars, then the horizontal bar, vault and pommel horse.

consequences of injuries

Injuries received as a result of gymnastics are the main reason for athletes leaving professional sports and ending their careers.

Statistics show that out of 100% of athletes who retire from sports, approximately 1 person and 7 women end their careers due to the following types of injuries:

rotator cuff injury, located in the shoulder joint
scaphoid fracture
cruciate anterior ligament rupture;
tear of the medial or lateral meniscus;
osteochondrosis of the elbow joint
arthremfit of the ankle joint
primary hip dislocation;
fracture of the lower extremities;
severe spinal injury.

Deaths often occur due to injuries sustained during gymnastics. The most famous of them are the injuries that occurred to the Chinese gymnast San Lan, the Ukrainian athlete Elena Mukhina, and the American Julissa Gomez. All these cases served as the basis for the world to start talking about injuries in artistic gymnastics and the fact that this sport is the most dangerous of all existing ones.

You shouldn’t deny yourself your dream if it is to do gymnastics. The main thing is to be extremely careful and careful, and if you get injured, immediately consult a doctor. Remember: your health is in your hands!

Rhythmic gymnastics is a difficult coordination sport. Children who dream of becoming professional “artists” and already established gymnasts must have perfect control of their body, feel, as they say, from the inside the specifics of the body’s motor system. Without such a sense of self, a gymnast will never achieve success. Of course, it is possible to develop the human motor system to perfection, but the life of such athletes will be short-lived: the scale of injuries will outweigh the scale of hard work. The situation is different with athletes who are given by nature to be flexible and graceful: it is these girls who will take from the coach the most important skills of working on themselves to develop their bodies and will achieve high results. However, even natural gymnasts are not immune to injury.

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As training practice shows, most injuries in rhythmic gymnastics are chronic. Acute injuries are less common. This situation is easily explained: the athlete endures chronic pain for years, continuing to train hard so as not to stop at the achieved result. They are caused by repeated repetition of the same movement. Such behavior leads to serious and, in fact, irreversible consequences. As an example, let us remember Laysan Utyasheva, who, with multiple fractures of the navicular bone of one leg and divergence of the foot bones of the other leg, continued to train and compete in various competitions.

Acute injuries are quick response injuries (sprains, bruises, dislocations of varying degrees of complexity, and so on). They are easier to diagnose, which means they can be treated in a timely manner. These injuries are also unpleasant in terms of pain, but they allow trainers and doctors to structure the training process in such a way as to prevent the possibility of relapses. After a rehabilitation course, gymnasts quickly regain their athletic shape and easily join the competitive life.

According to statistics, the lower extremities, which bear the majority of the load, are most often injured; then come the torso and back (in particular, the lumbar region); upper limbs and cervical region.

Most injuries are associated either with undeveloped technique for performing individual elements, or with incorrect teaching methods by coaches of young gymnasts. A third option is also possible, when girls come to rhythmic gymnastics who, for medical reasons, cannot engage in this most difficult sport. Unfortunately, cases of such children ending up in sports schools are not uncommon: many parents bring their daughters to classes in order to make their unfulfilled dreams come true or to restore the child’s weakened health. However, we should not forget that doing rhythmic gymnastics will in no way help in solving such problems. This is a very specific sport that requires, in addition to natural abilities for this particular discipline, good health. Moreover, good health means not only a good immune system, but also the absence of such ailments as myopia of all degrees of severity, scoliosis, flat feet and some other diseases.

The requirement for absolute health among potential and established gymnasts is also due to the fact that due to the fairly serious loads endured by athletes from a very early age (from three to four years old), the above ailments may not only not go away, but also worsen.

The high level of injuries is directly related to such features of this type as the development of jumping ability, flexibility and rotational training. From the outside, these are very impressive elements, performed by gymnasts with such airy ease that no one really thinks about what tedious, mechanical and, most importantly, long work was done to achieve absolute freedom of gymnastic movement.

To prevent injuries during the training process, the following techniques are used:
- bending and deep bending, various turns and rotations (often using weights or direct assistance from a coach or teammate) in preparing the intervertebral joints for the upcoming load;
- jumps and movements on the arms in a lying position, rotational movements of the hand (using woolen cuffs and gloves) to prepare the wrist joint;
- exercises with a tennis ball and dumbbells, as well as rotating a roller with weights to develop the muscles that fix the wrist joint;
- rotational and jerking movements, flexion and extension of the arms using gymnastic sticks and weights to develop the elbow and shoulder joints;
- rotational movements with and without resistance, lifting on toes to a height of about 5 cm, walking on the toes in pointe shoes, balancing on different supports and other exercises to prepare the ankle joint.

If there are no preparatory exercises in the training process, damage to the skin of the palms, sores, calluses, sprains, cracks, bruises, dislocations, fractures, injuries to the menisci and intervertebral discs, etc. are possible.

The most common injuries in rhythmic gymnastics are muscle, ligament and tendon sprains. The most commonly injured muscles are the groin and hamstring muscles.

To prevent or reduce injuries of this kind (even if all the rules are followed, no one is immune from sprains), it is recommended to increase the daily time allocated for stretching in the training process. Well-trained muscles are less susceptible to injury, even in cases where the gymnast makes an awkward movement.

Injuries to the knee joints are associated, first of all, with the development of jumping ability in female athletes. Demonstration of explosive power, available mainly only to male dancers (for example, in the Georgian national dance, spectacular landings on knees are found), is becoming the norm for almost all gymnasts. However, we should not forget that such jumping ability is not every girl’s talent. And if Alina Kabaeva performed this element with absolute ease, this does not mean that the same ease is characteristic of all other gymnasts.

In addition, injuries to the knee joints occur when performing an element such as the “grand jeté”. The valgus stress on the knee that occurs when landing from this element on the leg leads to a classic ACL injury situation. Athletes and dancers who receive such an injury undergo surgery, and not everyone can subsequently continue their career.

Prevention of this injury consists in concentrating the athlete’s attention at the moment of the jump and minimizing the rotational elements after it is completed.

Ankle injuries are associated with inward inversion of the foot. This is a fairly common injury. Treatment involves absolute rest and the application of fixing bandages to relieve pain and swelling at the site of injury. The danger of ankle sprains is associated with a high likelihood of relapses.

Along with acute ankle injuries, there are also chronic diseases, for example, tendinitis (tendon tissue degeneration accompanied by secondary inflammation) and fatigue fracture (microcracks in the ankle caused by constant stress).

Foot injuries are associated with repeated landings from “jumping” elements and are often accompanied by dermatological problems.

To prevent injury, female athletes should devote sufficient time to stretching exercises that prepare all muscle groups to perform complex elements. It is also necessary to observe a temporary training regime: do not overwork, as this leads to general fatigue of the body, decreased concentration, and, as a result, an increase in the number of injuries received.

There have been very few epidemiological studies of acute injuries in rhythmic gymnastics. Given the specifics of this sport, a low level of injuries among its participants should be expected. Italian researcher Adamasco Cupistu and his colleagues studied acute injuries to female athletes in rhythmic gymnastics and compared them with injuries to girls of the same age who did not engage in sports (control group). The group of female athletes included 73 gymnasts aged 13-19 years from 19 Italian rhythmic gymnastics sports clubs. The control group consisted of 72 girls who did not engage in any sports. At the end of each week, participants were given a questionnaire in which they indicated all the injuries received over the past 7 days. The injuries were recorded during an 8-month training period, during which the gymnasts spent a total of 32,358 hours training. In the control group, the amount of leisure physical activity was 6,150 hours. During the entire study period, gymnasts received more injuries (49 injuries) than girls from the control group (34 injuries). However, the injury rate calculated for every 1000 hours of practice in rhythmic gymnastics was lower (1.08 injuries per 1000 hours of practice) than in the control group (1.79 injuries/1000 hours). Thus, the authors conclude that girls involved in rhythmic gymnastics suffer more injuries than non-athletes, mainly due to more physical training. At the same time, the level of injuries in rhythmic gymnastics in this study was 1.08 injuries/1000 hours, which, according to various sources, is 1.3 - 3.4 times less than in artistic gymnastics. This allows us to assert that rhythmic gymnastics is quite safe in regarding acute injuries. In a joint work of Spanish, Canadian and American researchers, injuries to the national rhythmic gymnastics team received over 1 year of sports activity were retrospectively studied. The study involved all 20 gymnasts of the national team, who received a total of 108 injuries over the course of the year, 74 of which were minor and did not lead to missed training. At the same time, 13 (65%) of 20 gymnasts received injuries that forced them to miss training, 4 of them (20%) received serious injuries that forced them to miss more than 7 days of training. On average, girls trained 26.2 hours per week (SD=7.5; range, 14 to 36 hours).
In another paper, Mark R. Hutchinson studied the injuries of elite athletes on the US rhythmic gymnastics team. His work consisted of two parts. In the first part, a prospective study was conducted - during a 7-week period, any injuries received during training were recorded among 7 gymnasts of the national team. During this period, the athletes conducted 490 training sessions, 34 hours a week, during which 474 complaints were registered. On average, there was 1 complaint from each gymnast per training session, which is much more than in the Cupisti study, since recalculation per 1000 hours gives a huge value (34 hours per week * 7 weeks * 7 gymnasts = 1666 hours of training; / 1666 hours of training = 284.5 injuries per 1000 hours of training). Perhaps such a strong difference depends on the conditions for recording injuries. In this study, absolutely all complaints were recorded at the end of each day, 80% of which were minor (severity 1-3 on a 10-point scale). In the retrospective part of the same study, the medical records of 11 gymnasts of the US national rhythmic gymnastics team were analyzed, covering a 10-month period of sports activity. As a result of the analysis, 46 musculoskeletal injuries were found.

In rhythmic gymnastics, not only acute, but also chronic injuries occur due to frequent and repeated repetitions of the same movements and loads. According to several studies, chronic injuries occur more often than acute injuries in rhythmic gymnastics. According to the results of one of them, acute injuries amounted to 21.4%, chronic - 51.4%. The Cupisti study showed that most often acute injuries to rhythmic gymnasts are localized in the lower extremities - the foot and ankle joint accounted for 38% of injuries, the lower leg and knee joint - 19%, the thigh and hip joint - 15% (72% in total - Fig. 1). In third place in the number of injuries were back injuries (17%). The authors associate such a high percentage of lower extremity injuries with a large number of difficult jumps, as a result of which the gymnast can land unsuccessfully.

Reducing the risk of injury in rhythmic gymnastics

Factors such as duration of practice and time spent stretching are closely related to the rate of injury to the muscles and tendons of gymnasts. Each additional hour of calisthenics has been shown to increase the risk of such injuries by 29%. Those who did not receive such injuries worked out on average 18.7 hours per week, and those who did - 27.5. It has also been shown that every additional minute of stretching per day reduces the risk of injury by 11%. Figure 1 shows the relationship between the amount of time you stretch per day and the likelihood of suffering a muscle-tendon strain.

Rice. 1- Dependence of injury risk on

duration of stretching per day

It follows from the graph that you should not rely on prophylactic protection from stretching if its duration is less than 40 minutes per day. Stretching more than 40 minutes a day dramatically reduces the likelihood of muscle and tendon injuries.

Factors such as duration of exercise, stretching, and general physical fitness (GPP) were significant predictors of fractures. The likelihood of a fracture increases by 1% with each additional minute of general physical training (Fig. 2), and increases by 32% with each additional hour of rhythmic gymnastics training per week. At the same time, the risk of fracture decreases by 19% with each additional minute of stretching per day - Figure 4 shows that with daily stretching for at least 40 minutes a day, the likelihood of fractures tends to zero.

Rice. 2- Relationship between probability
fracture and the amount of total
physical training (GPP)

Figure 2 shows that the likelihood of a fracture increases sharply if the duration of general physical exercise exceeds 6 hours per week.

Rhythmic gymnasts are subject to strict requirements for a slim figure and body weight. The mass fraction of fat deposits in rhythmic gymnasts should not exceed 5-10%. Various studies have found that the percentage of body fat in female athletes in this sport ranges from 13 to 16%. One study found that rhythmic gymnasts tend to consume only 80% of their daily calories. Munoz et al reported that rhythmic gymnasts consumed 1828 ± 500 kcal per day, which is below the recommended level. According to various sources, the body mass index of gymnasts ranges from 16 to 18 kg/m². According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), a person with a body mass index below 18.5 kg/m² is underweight. In girls, being underweight can lead to menstrual irregularities - dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea can manifest as late onset of menarche (first menstruation), primary amenorrhea (no menarche by age 16), secondary amenorrhea (cessation of menstruation after menarche), and oligomenorrhea (irregular menstruation or an increase in the menstrual cycle by more than 36 days). A study by Klentrou and Plyley showed that 79% of 14-year-old Greek gymnasts and 34% of 14-15-year-old Canadian gymnasts had not yet reached menarche. The average age of menarche for all gymnasts was 13.8±0.3 years, which is much higher than in the control group - 12.5±0.1 years. Rhythmic gymnastics has not escaped the problem of doping drugs. To achieve the required body weight, athletes sometimes resort to the help of diuretics - diuretics, which are on the prohibited list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The resulting dehydration, as well as improper weight loss techniques, can cause increased fatigue and muscle cramps, which is also an additional risk factor for injury.

Risk factors for injuries in rhythmic gymnastics also include improper technique and training methods (rapidly increasing the intensity and frequency of training), a hard surface for training, and an imbalance between the antagonist muscles of the lower extremities.

Measures to prevent injuries in rhythmic gymnastics:

The duration of training for elite athletes should not exceed 30 hours per week, sub-elite - 20 hours per week
Stretching exercises should be performed for at least 40 minutes a day
General physical training should not take gymnasts more than 5-6 hours a week
In order to prevent pain in the lower back, you should carefully monitor the correct technique of the athlete and prevent the development of incorrect skills that can lead to such pain.
Also, you should not force the development of flexibility in young athletes and force them to perform movements with a range for which they are not yet ready.
Athletes must constantly undergo medical examination for detection in the lower back, as well as the lower leg, ankle and foot.
It is necessary to carefully monitor the nutrition and body weight of young gymnasts, to prevent and eliminate dysmenorrhea, potentially leading to early.

Types of child stretching:

I. Leg-split.

There are several types of twines: right, left, transverse and vertical. The vertical one is a more complex element and here, in addition to stretching, you also need to be able to maintain balance on one leg. Stretching is very important for a future gymnast. Therefore, the element needs to be given a lot of attention, especially to the correct execution. Before doing stretching or flexibility elements, you must first “warm up” the child. Jump a little, run with him, do squats, squat (like ducks) so that the child’s muscles are elastic and easier to stretch. Remember - never pull on an unheated (“cold”) child; in addition to pain, you can also damage the baby’s ligaments. Do not do anything abruptly, only with smooth movements and springing several times.

There are several ways to stretch for splits:

1. Place the child on your knees with his back to you. He wraps his arms around your legs. Next, the baby lifts one leg, you take it with your hands (you can take it under the knee, you can take it by the foot) and pull it towards you. Be sure to ensure that the “pelvic bones” are on the same line (not skewed). Do 15-20 springs for each leg (look, of course, at the child - you can do 5 springs and repeat after 5 minutes). Don't forget to stretch both legs, otherwise the baby will be stretched one-sidedly.

2. If you have a wall bars, then the child throws one leg onto the wall bars (the higher, the better), and you slowly press the supporting leg against the wall bars (spring), in no case sharply. We do this exercise on the right and left legs, as well as put the child sideways against the wall bars and raise the leg to the side (cross-split stretch). This is preparation for the vertical split; the child learns to balance on one leg.

3. Sitting on the butt with legs apart, two arms raised up, the back flat, we bend one by one to the right leg, to the left leg (we reach for the heels with our hands) and lie down in front on our tummy, with our arms in front of us. This exercise is good to do together with mom (dad) - sit opposite each other and bend over. Then, in the same position, we make circular movements from the right leg to the left (the tummy is as close to the floor as possible).

4. Sitting on the floor, we make a lotus, with our hands we press our knees to the floor (you can use springs, or you can slowly direct your knees to the floor). Ideally, when your knees are on the floor, then you can move on to more complex exercises.

5. We do an exercise similar to the lotus, only the child lies on his stomach, and the legs at the back are bent at the knees, the “toad” or “lotus on the stomach” position. You need to try to press the child’s butt to the floor.

6. The child lies on his back, two legs up (the legs are straight, extended, the back lies flat) - and you begin to slowly spread the legs to the sides, make small spring movements, trying to bring the legs closer to the floor. Ideal when the legs reach the floor.
7. Place a children’s high chair or stool in front of the child (something low - see 50-60 in height, you can use a sofa) and put one leg on the chair, and the second leg moves apart into a split. And slowly spring your butt towards the floor. Try to keep your child's hips and shoulders in line. This exercise is suitable for stretching the right, left and cross splits.

Properly executed twine:

right or left split: the child sits on the split, shoulders and hips are in line, the back is straight, knees and toes are stretched;
- cross split: stand on the side and see if the legs are on the same line, the knees and toes are tense, then the child is sitting correctly. If there is no line (i.e. a corner instead of a line), then it is not a split, but legs apart)).

If you want to achieve results in stretching, then it is advisable to do the exercises daily, then the muscles will become more elastic. And of course, the sooner you start doing it, the better.
Another important element for twine is the fold.

II. Fold.

A fold is when a child sits on his butt, legs together in front of him, and his tummy lies completely on his legs, his hands clasped his heels, his knees are stretched like “strings.”

Exercises to help prepare for the fold:

1. The child sits on his butt - his legs lie together in front of him on a small chair and we bend forward (put the tummy on the legs) trying to grab the heels.
2. The child sits on his butt, legs in front of him - we do exercises with both feet together: towards ourselves - pull towards the floor (20-30 times), knees stretched. Then we fixed our feet towards ourselves and leaned towards the legs, trying to reach the feet and grab them.
3. Standing position: legs together, knees extended, bend forward - you need to put your palms completely on the floor, then try to hug your legs. This exercise can also be performed in motion: we take small steps with our legs together with a forward bend and reach the floor with our hands (or place our palms on the floor), the tummy should lie on the walking leg.
4. We stand facing the wall bars - we throw one leg onto the wall bars at the level of the hips (hips and shoulders on the same line) - and bend towards the leg (to the right and to the left).

Your baby will be better able to do these exercises - if you are an example for him! Do these exercises opposite each other and point out your baby’s mistakes. Be a positive example for him!
What the fold exercise does is stretch the hamstrings, which play a big role when stretching into splits.

III. Bridge.

Your little one has probably tried to stand on the bridge on his own more than once. Even when they are very small, they often bend over, making their first funny parodies of the bridge. How to make bridges correctly?
The correct bridge is when the fingers are as close as possible to the heels of the feet (touching is desirable), the feet are shoulder-width apart (a little wider is possible). The bridge turns out to be beautiful and high.
Exercises to develop flexibility and pump up the back muscles of a child:

1. While kneeling, we bend backwards and place our hands on the floor. We repeat the exercise 10 - 15 times.
2. Lying on your stomach, take your feet with your hands, bent at the knees, and make a “basket” or “rocker”. We pull our legs and arms up and “swing” like a swing. If a child can’t swing, help him a little.
3. The child lies on his tummy, legs together. You hold his legs a little near the feet. The baby tries to raise his back, arms either behind his head, bent at the elbows, or extended in front, and when bending, press his arms to his ears. This exercise can be repeated until the baby gets tired (10 - 20 times), it not only improves flexibility, but also strengthens the back muscles. This exercise can also be done near the wall bars: lying on your stomach, with your back to the wall, secure your feet under the lowest bar and do the backbend exercise, and you can take a ball in your (outstretched) hands - this will make the exercise even more difficult.
4. The child lies on his tummy, legs together and bends back. First, you spring a little by the shoulders, tilt the back towards your legs, and then take his hands (at the same time hold his legs so that they do not move apart) and pull them towards his legs (very carefully).
5. The child, lying on his tummy, tilts his back and bends his legs at the knees, his legs touching the baby’s head.
6. The child is in a standing position near the wall bars, at a distance of 50 - 60 cm from it. He places his hands on the wall bars and bends his back.
7. Positions - hanging on a wall bars (facing the wall), we tear our legs off the wall. Repeat the exercise 10 - 15 times. The more your legs come off the wall bars, the more your back muscles are involved in the work, the greater the effect.
8. Exercise “boat” - the child lies on his tummy and simultaneously raises his arms and legs. Repeat this exercise 10 - 15 times. This is a good exercise for pumping up your back muscles.
9. The child stands facing you, feet shoulder-width apart - you take him under the back, the baby tilts back - and you make springs - lowering and slightly raising his back. Do 5 - 10 springs and raise the back completely to a vertical position. Repeat this exercise 3 - 4 times, this is a kind of warm-up exercise for the back.
10. A very useful exercise for flexibility at a very early age is the cat exercise. Standing on your knees on all fours (hands on the floor), bend your back downwards (your head reaches towards your butt) - “good cat”, then bend your back upwards (your head reaches towards your tummy, a kind of tubercle is formed) - “evil cat”. In a playful form, this is an exercise - the exercise goes off with a bang even with the smallest decks who can only crawl.

When the child’s back is already a little prepared, it’s time to start teaching him how to make a bridge “from the top,” i.e. bridge from a high position. First, it is better to lay something soft on the floor (so as not to hit your head), since the child’s arms are still weak and will creep to the sides, and of course, do this exercise at first only with mom (dad) nearby. Then you should take the correct stance: feet shoulder-width apart, hands at the top near the ears, eyes raised up and looking at the tips of the fingers. Then hold the child under the back (it’s better for you to take a position on the side of the child and he will, as it were, lie on your hand), the baby little by little (slowly) begins to tilt back. When the deflection is so good (the eyes see the floor), then you can lower your hands to the floor. You can also hold the child by the swimsuit (T-shirt, blouse) while standing in front of him. Each time, reduce the degree of your participation in the process of standing on the bridge. When you are sure that the child will not fall on his head, try to have the child make the bridge on his own.
And one more very useful exercise that will help your baby learn to do a “bridge from above”:
- the child stands with his back to the wall (preferably a Swedish wall) at a short distance from it, bends and begins to gradually move the handles to the very bottom of the wall and then, moving his hands to the floor itself (if it is a Swedish wall, then he intercepts the sticks alternately with the right and left hand).

Gymnastics is a wonderful sport that makes children, teenagers, young men and adults strong individuals who overcome mind-boggling challenges during their training. But any professional sport has a side that little is talked about - these are dangers and possible problems. Behind the beautiful cover are calluses, tears, sweat and a lot of trauma. Going into adulthood, gymnasts receive, in addition to the profession acquired in childhood, many questions that they will have to answer. Of course, children can and should be sent to gymnastics, professional athletes are needed, but parents and children must know what they are getting into and what they may encounter.

Back

Gymnasts are as slender as anyone. Back diseases mainly affect those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, and not athletes, because the spine is bent due to weakening of the spinal muscles. But sometimes damage and unnatural curvature can occur from excessive loads, for example, the arch of the spine is bent and spondylolysis occurs, or one vertebra can slip off another, spondylolisthesis is diagnosed.

But in this regard, a lot depends on the strength of the body - if the body “gives up”, you need to think about the advisability of further exercise, because if the spine is not treated for diseases, protrusion or even a hernia is possible at such an early age.

Rhythmic gymnastics often requires unnatural bends, which lead to severe lumbar curvature (hyperlordosis) as well as scoliosis. Fortunately, the age at which such diseases occur is about seven years old; if you pay attention to the child’s posture at an early age, it can be quite easily corrected with additional exercises. The main thing is not to bring the problem to adulthood, when it is no longer possible (or very difficult) to solve with therapeutic exercises.

In professional gymnastics, most gymnasts have problems with their backs and spine, but coaches often do not pay attention to the health of their charges - they can work with a sick athlete until the parents insist on the necessary treatment. So everything is in the hands of caring parents.

Spinal injuries from falls from heights and impacts from projectiles are especially dangerous. Fractures of the cervical vertebrae after an unsuccessful fall on the head are especially cause for concern, and even better luck occurs when the athlete simply leaves the sport. But there are also disabilities and even injuries that are incompatible with life. Moreover, accidents happen even when falling into a hole with foam rubber or a foam rubber mat, because this soft material tends to become compacted with a sharp impact. In rhythmic gymnastics, serious injuries practically never happen.

Pain, sprains and tears

Pain in gymnastics occurs mainly from sprains. Of course, intense stretching of muscles and ligaments is a painful process. After all, to reduce time, trainers stretch children, often loading them with their own weight. But sports teachers often understand that if you do the loads smoothly, gradually, then, despite the pain, there will be no harm. Therefore, such strength training methods, unfortunately, are sometimes justified (in the sports sense, in ordinary life such executions should not be used).

The usual picture is when the coach stands over the athletes, and their eyes are filled with horror, everyone is in tears, the children are screaming, and the coach can still hit the limb that is not listening enough. Despite all the horror of this execution, children often voluntarily make such sacrifices, because they understand that it is difficult to achieve success without such difficulties.

Injuries usually occur not during static training, but during floor exercises or performing tricks on apparatus. Poorly warmed muscles and ligaments can become stretched or even torn during sudden movements or under the influence of overloads after jumping, which can cause severe pain and even long sick leave.

If you exercise moderately, you can avoid problems with joints and bones. But such activities are a theory far from reality. After all, according to sanitary standards, children can study no more than three hours a day, and in a certain mode. The guys sometimes train for five to six hours, and in the mode that the coach wishes. And a responsible coach wants to train athletes who will take prizes.

Most often, in adolescence, gymnasts develop a mild form of osteochondropathy, in which pain is felt, but it is ignored by wrapping the joints with an elastic bandage. But there are also arthrosis of the deforming type, people develop chondromalacia, and the capsular-ligamentous apparatus is damaged.

In artistic gymnastics, the knee joint (somersaults and runts), the ankle joint (especially the heels due to work on the balance beam), and the elbow joint (stresses on the arms during somersaults and uneven bars) are more often affected. In rhythmic gymnastics, vulnerable places are the ankle, knee, foot, where the meniscus and knee ligaments suffer, tendon ruptures and muscle damage often occur.

In artistic gymnastics there are fractures, including open ones, and not necessarily from a gross violation of safety regulations. A foot that is placed incorrectly is imperceptibly placed or an arm may not be able to withstand the loads that increase several times from jumping from a height and sudden accelerations. Thus, a 50-kilogram athlete during a somersault on a deck can experience a 300-kilogram load on her leg, and even more during vaults. The safety margin and children's plasticity, which persists until the age of 18, saves.