Benefits of Gymnastics
Benefits of Gymnastics
Extended participation in gymnastics classes provides children with many physical, cognitive and psychological benefits. Skills children gain from participation in gymnastics will continue benefiting them throughout their lives.
Physical Benefits
- An increase in muscular strength, flexibility and endurance
- The ability to relax
- Correct body alignment while walking, standing, jumping, etc.
- The knowledge of how to fall and roll safely
- Increased agility and coordination
Cognitive Benefits
- Awareness of the body
- Awareness of space and where the body is in it
- Awareness of relationships: body parts to each other and the apparatus
- Awareness of relationships with others
Psychological Benefits
- The joy of movement mastery
- Discipline and self-control
- The exercise habit as a pleasurable daily occurrence
- A confident self image and a positive attitude towards their bodies
- Trust in one's own abilities: move from a world of "I can't" to "I can!"
Boys Gymnastics
Why is gymnastics the perfect sport for boys?
Gymnastics is a tremendous sport in its own right, but gymnastics also happens to be the best building block for enhanced skill development and participation in any sport for boys. Participating in the sport of gymnastics can promote positive effects in the following areas:
- Coordination
- Strength - particularly upper-body strength
- Kinesthetic awareness - the ability to know where the body is in relation to space and motion (situation awareness)
- Flexibility - which aids in skill development and injury prevention
- Self-confidence
Did you know that...
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Men's Fitness Magazine (March 1996) declared men's gymnastics the world's toughest sport. The magazine ranked gymnastics first among 40 different sports using seven different evaluation criteria such as the fitness, skills and the brains required for success.
- Men's gymnastics was the most watched television sport of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta
- Elite male gymnasts are way off the scale compared to other athletes in overall fitness.
- There are approximately 3,000 clubs in the United States that offer lessons in men's gymnastics. This is in addition to programs offered by Parks and Rec Departments, school systems, and organizations such as the YMCA or Boys Club of America.
- Boys can enroll in gymnastics classes as young as age 2 or 3.