Women's college gymnastics

[Dave Paton]

I was watching women's college gymnastics last night of 2 ranked women's teams. The gymnastics feats they were doing were quite impressive, but i have to admit their body composition was really poor. These girls looked extremely "soft"--especially in the legs--and not athletic at all. Remember, I said "looked" and not "performed". I don't want to bash them because of this, but that was the overall impression I took from watching it. Can anyone shed light into this? Steven?

[Garrett Smith]

From what I've seen of UA gymnasts, they do like to party hard, just like other college ladies.

I do know that Reifkind has lamented the general lack of strength in women gymnasts...http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/320/...while he mentions upper body strength specifically here, I can't see why the leg strength situation would be any different (and maybe worse).

This is even worse for female gymnasts where upper body strengthening seems to have been forgotten altogether.

I have worked with gymnasts for 30 plus years and I can’t tell you how many Elite level girls can’t do handstand pushups or hold a really solid handstand. Many clubs have also abandoned real flexibility training, or left it up to the girls themselves (same thing as abandoning it) and the results are horrific.

I definitely am not trying to bash here, I go to every single women's gymnastics meet here at the UA, every year since I first met my (now) wife ~10 years ago. And yes, they are soft.

I think it's mainly from eating like crap, though. The usual suspect.

[Steven Low]

College gymnastics does not require the level of skills they did when they were competitive so basically they can 'underperform' now and still score really high.

The partying thing is probably right combined with college 'food' on campus which is obviously not so great... just adding on the weight.

[Sam Cannons]

At the club I go to the girls there seem pretty strong. I have seen them do high rep rope climbs and heaps of handstand work.

[Steven Low]

Originally Posted by Sam Cannons

At the club I go to the girls there seem pretty strong. I have seen them do high rep rope climbs and heaps of handstand work.

Depends on the club generally. People that know what they're doing vs the people who don't know what they're doing exist in pretty much every sport.

[Blair Lowe]

Posting a bit late, but by college most of these gals are very high in skill. What seems what would take a lot of strength for many is not necessary due to the quality of skill execution and efficient muscle memory. Strength can be high, yet strength to weight ratio can run the gamut.

That and the fact that most of these gals also have to do it on a college budget ( even if on a scholarship ) and the fact they are no longer pre-pubescent. Their bodies and hips have grown and they are mature and by that age, nature wins unless they are going down the road of malnutrition or eating disorders.