Gymnastics in Reality

Often, people think of gymnasts as little girls who flip around in pretty pink leos. In reality, this is not the case at all. Gymnastics, in my opinion, is the hardest sport out there. It takes a lot of time, energy, muscle, and broken bones for someone to become a decent gymnast. Also, gymnastics can be very mentally draining. Imagine someone having to practice back hand springs over and over again on a four inch wide beam, knowing the next back hand spring might be their last. Sometimes, gymnasts will get something called mental blocks. This is when an individual will suddenly get scared and not do something they intended to do. It takes a lot of mental concentration when someone is in practice mode. Another major thing with being a gymnast is the conditioning. Conditioning is required if one wants to become a good gymnast. Usually, this takes up a good chunk of practice. The conditioning itself consists of running for a few miles every day, crunches, push-ups, pull-ups, various stomach exercises, and so on. There are gymnastic exercises someone may have never heard or thought of. Sometimes the coaches will make up exercises when they think it will benefit the team. No matter what, the best part of conditioning is waking up the next few mornings after the first few practices to an immovable, sore body. It is even better having to practice the same day when one’s body is already stiff and unbendable. After a while the soreness will go away, but soon to follow are bruises all over the body and the rips on the hands from practicing on the bars. The rips are like the jewelry to an outfit. After being bruised and tired, the rips are what top of the practice. When practicing on bars for a while, an individual may notice painfully torn up skin on their hand. This is called a rip. If the coach is a real coach, she or he will tell the gymnast to just tape up their hand and keep going until the rip begins to bleed; then they can stop. One may ask if all of this is worth it in the end. As for me, I say yes because gymnasts learn a lot more than how to do tricks on a beam. Not only can gymnasts beat football players at push-up contests, they figure out how to overcome their fears, gain endurance and persistence, work as a team, and much more. Overall these are the important things one can learn in life.