7 Reasons Why Children Should Take Gymnastics

By Dr. Robyn J.A. Silverman, PhD

USA Gymnastics, Guide to Gymnastics, May 2009
As educated adults in today's world, most of us already know the importance of physical activity in a child's life. It's not only recommended by the Center for Disease Control, the American Heart Association and other knowledgeable governing bodies, it is downright necessary for healthy living.

As we have become more and more award of the need for physical activity, schools have cut back on physical education due to budgetary constraints and mandated testing requirements. The end result is still in progress. The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics clearly shows that children are becoming more overweight and our population as a whole is becoming more obese. These trends coupled with an ever more techno-savvy yet sedentary lifestyle has lead to more TV watching and not surprisingly, more health issues among our young people.

Luckily, we have options. We can seek out a gymnastics academy that can provide a great physical program to help our children create a healthy lifestyle. But just as important, we can seek out a club that provides our children with a place that stimulates their brains, exercises their social skills, encourages personal development, and fosters a sense of well-being all at the same time.

Physical Benefits
Gymnastics can endow children with great physical benefits. From muscle strength and balance to healthy bones and flexibility, gymnastics provides an exciting option for parents who know the value of a full body work. Every part of the body is used when doing gymnastics!

* Muscle Strength: Opportunities to gain muscle strength through tumbling, jumping, static flexing, and holding one's own body weight in various positions help children develop strong and powerful bodies. Muscle is built through resistance training which allows children to use their body's resistance as their own personal weight machine! Over time, these gymnasts get stronger which aids in the development of lean, toned muscles, improved balance and perhaps even improvements in posture.

* Healthy Bones: These same types of movements assist children with developing strong healthy bones since gymnastics is a weight-bearing activity. Weight-bearing activities, according to the CDC, are activities in which the child's body works against gravity. This means that a child's legs, feet or arms are actually supporting or carrying his or her own body weight.

* Flexibility: Flexibility is also a helpful by-product of gymnastics. Flexibility is simply put, the ability move the muscles through their full range of motion. Because gymnasts aim to achieve a variety of positions in order to perform skills on each apparatus, flexibility is important. It also has great use in everyday life such that it reduces tension, helps coordination, develops body awareness and promotes circulation.

Because gymnastics provides fun skills that children can practice at home, they will be more likely to engage in physical activity even between gymnastics classes. As we can all agree, the more we can get children up and off the couch and moving, the healthier they will become.

Non-Physical Benefits
A great gymnastics club that provides stimulating, age-appropriate curriculum and terrific instructors who care about their students, can help children yield other important non-physical benefits from gymnastics. Cognitive, social, and psycho-social benefits might not be as obvious as a toned muscle, but there is no question that they are there.

* Cognitive Benefits: When children are engaging in gymnastics, they are exercising their brains as well as their bodies. New research suggests that there is a strong correlation between physically fit children and academic achievement. This means that everytime you send your child to gymnastics class, they're getting an opportunity to engage in physical exercise that encourages healthy brain function. Nerve cells multiply and connections in the brain are strengthened. It is not surprising that children who are engaging in consistent physical activity like gymnastics are more likely to get better grades than their inactive peers.

* Social skills: Children can also benefit socially from engaging in gymnastics. Aside from simply interacting in a general way with other children in the class, some gymnastics clubs also encourage teamwork and partner drills in their classes. The more children can interact with different types of children both in school and in after-school programming, the more they will learn how to handle conflict and positively relate to others.

* Reduced Risky Behavior: Gymnastics clubs can provide a stable, reliable physical activity source for both children and teens. Young people who are consistently physically active are much less likely to engage in using tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs. When children can find positive, active ways to keep busy in a place that you can trust, they will not have to make up ways to occupy their time that could lead to poor or risky choices.

* Confidence: When gymnastics clubs use a supportive, mastery-oriented approach rather than one that pressures children to excel at all costs, instructors can help their budding athletes develop a wonderful sense of confidence. While physical activity tends to reduce feelings of depression and anxiety, with the right instructors, children develop and "I can" attitude that can give them that intangible high of knowing that they can count on themselves to succeed.

Gymnastics can be a wonderful activity for children to enjoy. It can clearly benefit young people in several ways. Fortunately, there are many great clubs from which to choose! So if your child asks you "can I please try gymnastics?" you can confidently answer "yes," knowing that with your encouragement and the right club, he/she can focus on enjoying himself/herself and getting the most out of every class.