Over on FasterSkier.com, they have a message board where someone posted this video. It is a video of a 40 year old skiing Olympic Champion named Thomas Alsgaard doing gymnastics. This video is amazing, just amazing. Take 3 1/2 minutes and watch it. Even though he does a lot of advanced strength stuff, the basics is what the kids learned in gymnastics all year. (And just reading that Norwegian newspaper makes me want to move to Scandinavia so badly...)
The article is in Norwegian, but a google translate gives you this quote from Alsgaard.
"I've learned incredibly much new stuff about strength. [...] you become thoroughly fit in a different way. You get an inner strength and a foundation you won't get through other strength training. It's an awesome addition".
That is so true. Even in just six weeks of training, the kids that attended gymnastics made huge gains in strength, flexibility, and most importantly, confidence. Gymnastics is so well-suited to track and field, and I have a feeling that we are going to see some pretty impressive results from those six kids this spring on Saturdays.
SEP
P.S. Alpha Gymnastics has open gym on Sundays, from 11:30-1:00. I encourage all athletes to check it out. Gymnastics on Sunday after a big day of racing on Saturday ia a perfect recovery workout!
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