injury – Gym Rats

This upcoming Sunday, November 1st is the day – we re-launch Gym Rats Toe Jam! I am so proud to offer this valuable and realistic book series that teaches important life lessons!

Here are some things going on leading up to and through Launch Week:

The matching Notebook for Toe Jam is available on Amazon. (Now there are two – one to match Basic Training, and one to match Toe Jam!) It’s a great way for gymnasts to share their motivation for the sport with their BFF in the gym. Of course, the Notebook can also be used to write down goals and quotes for any gymnast’s personal use!
Volume 1, Issue 4 of the Gym Rats Magazine will be out on Saturday! Get your annual subscription now!
I will be hosting a LIVE Facebook reading on Sunday!
There is a new program to help gyms earn some extra money. It’s so simple – just sign up on the website, and direct your parents to purchase the series here. IrisBlu Publishing takes care of the shipping and taxes. We will ship the copies to your gym, and all you have to do is hand them out! All orders in before December 1st will be there for Christmas!
Gym Rats Toe Jam will be FREE on Amazon to download the all-new Kindle edition starting on Sunday, November 1st! Be sure to download your copy and post an honest review!

I am so excited to be re-launching my book series. I truly believe that these books are great ways to help motivate your gymnast, help guide her, and help reinforce the important life lessons that our great sport of gymnastics has to offer!

USAIGC‘s “About” page states, “Training Times were created. The USAIGC believes a child must NOT give up their childhood for any sport.”

There are many reasons why the USAIGC limits training hours for gymnasts in each competitive level. One important reason is that they believe that children should remain children. Just as the USAIGC says, “a child must not give up their childhood for any sport.” There should be time for other things: school, friends, family, music, other sports. Do we really need to pigeonhole a child to one sport when she’s seven? Six? Five?

Another important reason why the USAIGC limits training time is to level the competitive playing field. Every gym must limit skill training hours to a certain number per week, depending on each competitive level. This is important in competition in a sport where some coaches require anywhere from five to 30 hours of training per week. Under USAG, there are no limits on training hours; some teams in the same level compete against one another with their training hours varying by more than double the time. This does not lead to fair competition. Arguably, the child training more hours will have the competitive advantage… until she cannot train anymore, which leads us to perhaps the most important reason to limit training hours.

The USAIGC limits training hours to naturally slow the skill-building process so that the toll our sport takes on the growing body is kept at bay. According to Dr. Tommy John, “What we’re looking at is an across-the-board, all-sport, injury epidemic, with kids today finding themselves needing medical intervention at younger and younger ages when surgery and rehab shouldn’t be words in their vocabulary—because times have changed.” Keeping training hours lower naturally helps major injuries from occurring and allows time for important injury prevention exercises.

The USAIGC’s intelligent and responsible training rules help keep children safe and well-balanced throughout a childhood in gymnastics. Participating in gymnastics doesn’t have to require a gymnast to give up everything for the opportunity to be competitive. Rather, by limiting training hours, gymnasts have time to be kids, play fair, and keep their bodies intact so that they can enjoy their sport longer.

Life lesson #3 – kids should be kids!

Tag: injury

Gym Rats Toe Jam – All New Kindle Edition Launches on Sunday!

Life Lesson #3 – Kids should be kids