Gymnastic Stretches

Hamstrings and lower back:

For the first stretch, sit with your legs stretched in front of you. Keep your back straight, and reach with your hands towards your toes to grab them. While holding onto your toes, hold for thirty seconds. If it's too painful, pull back. 

Side Muscles:

As you continue to sit, stretch your legs out to each side, until you feel a gentle stretch in the front of your legs. Reach up towards the ceiling with your left hand, and reach toward your right foot. You do not need to touch your foot in order to feel a stretch on your side. Hold this stretch for thirty seconds. When you're done, return to the center and repeat to the other side. This stretch focuses on your quadratus lumborum and your latissimus dorsi. 

Hips:

To begin this stretch, you would start on your hands and knees. You will then bring your right knee up to your hands, followed by your right foot toward your left hand. Slide your left leg back, bringing your chest up. Hold it for thirty seconds, while you feel a stretch in the front of your hip. After thirty seconds, you walk your hands out front, which will help you feel a stretch on your right buttock. This stretches out your piriformis. Alternate between these stretches, two to three times. These stretches are very important to keep your hips flexible.

Wrist:

To stretch out your wrists, extend your arm straight out. You're going to take your other hand, pull your other fingers down towards the ground. You should feel a stretch in here, and once again, hold for thirty seconds. After thirty seconds, flip your hand around with your palm up, take your fingers, pull them down to the ground again. You can now feel a stretch in this area. You would want to do two to three times on each arm.

Transcript

Hello, my name is Heidi Wulff Plumb Graham and I'm a physical therapist and clinic director for ATI Physical Therapy in Norridge. Today I'm going to be sharing with you four stretches that are important for every gymnast. As a gymnast, you need to have a strong yet flexible body in order to safely perform gymnastic moves. Stretching helps prepare your body for this, and decreases your risk for injury.

The first stretch I'm going to show you is for your hamstrings and your low back. Your hamstrings run down the back of your leg, they start at your hip and run down towards your knee. These muscles are important to be flexible to allow you to do your jumps, leaps and tumbling moves safely. In order to do this stretch, you're going to sit with your legs stretched out like this, keeping your back and your knees straight you're going to reach out towards your toes. If you're able to reach your toes, great, if it's painful, back off.

The next stretch I'm going to show you is to focus on the muscles on the side of your body, here. Specifically your quadratus lumborum and your latissimus dorsi. From this position, you're going to want your feet out from the side, until you feel a gentle stretch in the front of your legs here. You're going to reach up towards the ceiling with your left hand, and reach towards your right foot. If you can reach your foot, great, you should feel a stretch from this side, as well in the front of your leg here. With any stretch, you can hold it for thirty seconds. When you're done, return to the center and simply repeat to the other side.
 
Gymnasts put a lot of stress through their wrists during their exercises, so we want to make sure those are nice and flexible. In order to stretch out your wrists, you're going to extend your arm straight out. You're going to take your other hand, pull your other fingers down towards the ground. At this point, you should feel a stretch in here. Remember you want to hold this for thirty seconds. After thirty seconds, you're just going to flip your hand around, with your palm up, take your fingers, pull them down to the ground again. You will now feel a stretch in this area. You would want to do two to three times on each arm.

Performing these simple stretches, before and after each gymnastics practice and competition, will help improve your muscles flexibility and decrease your risk of injury, allowing you to continue to participate in gymnastics. If you do happen to get injured, please stop by one of our ATI clinics for a complimentary injury screening.