Gymnastics Facts That Will Leave You Speechless, Must Read!

Gymnastics is a perfect way to remain fit and even better for winning awards.

Gymnastics in its different forms has always been an interesting field for many. Fitness components like flexibility, agility, posture, strength, endurance, balance, and coordination are all required in order for gymnasts to succeed in their sport.

Gymnastics empowers the muscles in the arms, legs, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and the whole body, and can be considered the best way of exercising.

There are many levels and types to choose from, like competitive athletes, young children, and recreational level athletes. There are many competitions held worldwide in which gymnastic athletes can participate, and the international body governing gymnastics is the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG).

Gymnastics, is a type of sport, an art form, and a type of exercise, but where did it come from? How exactly do we define gymnastics?

Are there any records worth remembering? Is gymnastics safe for kids? Many such questions which might pop into your mind, are all answered in this informational write-up.

If you are also interested in gymnastics or are planning to take part in this recreational activity, then this is the information that you will need. So, let us have a look at some key facts related to the physical strength required for high jumping in international events.

What is Gymnastics?

Here are some interesting facts related to professional gymnastics and gymnastic events that will surely intrigue you:

Gymnastics is a sport that involves many physical skills like endurance, strength, flexibility, agility, postural correction, balance, and coordination. Depending on what type of gymnastics a person is practicing, it can help in strengthening muscles of the abdomen, back, arm, legs, back, and shoulders.

Many people like to consider it more of an art than a sport. If the origin is considered then gymnasts have risen from the ancient Greeks.

The word in itself is made up of a Greek word that can be translated as 'to exercise naked'. This is meaning is true as at that time the men in Greece exercised naked in the gymnasiums.

Gymnastics is a disciplinary exercise that can be done by both men and women. It has many categories differentiated with different people practicing it.

Also, the programs and competitions that are held are of different levels, like the ones held by clubs, schools, universities, and then the prestigious ones are held nationally and internationally through various organizations. While some of the gymnastics exercises are restricted to the kids, some are gender-specific.

Artistic gymnastics is divided into men's and women's gymnastics. Women compete in four events including the vault, floor exercise, uneven bar, and balance beam, while men normally compete in six events including the balance beam, floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars, and the horizontal bar.

The body that governs gymnastics at the international level is the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique which was formed on July 23, 1881, headquartered at Lausanne in Switzerland.

It is the oldest international sports body that is in existence even today. Gymnastics, as we know it today, has gone through many transitions from the time of ancient Greeks from where it was first originated.

There are broadly seven types of gymnastics performed by the gymnasts, they are women’s artistic gymnastics, men’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline, tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics, and group gymnastics.

Fantastic Gymnastics Facts For Kids

Here are some fantastic gymnastics facts for the kids.

For a kid to start gymnastics they should at least be four to six years of age.

Rhythmic gymnastics is as injurious as any other sport like soccer, hockey, or any other.

A child can have some fruits, cereal, or a light sandwich before they perform.

No perfect score of 10 exists now. It was during 2006 when this system was changed.

Professional gymnasts are the ones who started their careers at a very early stage.

Both the males and females practice different routines.

Female gymnasts and male gymnasts perform skillful routines using uneven bars that are two bars that are not parallel to build their strength.

When aerobic gymnastics began it was dominated by males, but now the females dominate this sport.

There are a lot of advantages to practicing gymnastics especially if you are an early gymnast. People can be professional gymnasts if they are really passionate about the sport.

It's more about fun for kids than about fitness and sportsmanship while performing gymnastics, where else will they be allowed to jump and roll around so freely?

There are different artistic events for women that feature the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor artistic events, and for men, the events include floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and the horizontal bar.

Gymnastics Records

When it comes to history, gymnastics or rather ancient gymnastics originated from ancient Greece and were amongst the first sports to have mixed pairs events. But in ancient Greece, floor exercises, gymnast swings horizontal bar, as well as other exercises, were performed in nude.

Who doesn't want to get inked in history? While most of us love this idea, there are very few who are actually able to achieve it, here are some of the most prominent personalities of the world of rhythmic gymnastics who practiced gymnastics for years and their achievements are records set in history. These are:

Nadia Comaneci: The first to score a perfect 10 score. This was during the Montreal Olympics and before the open-ended scoring system that came in 2006. The uneven bars became the first of the categories that witnessed this massive record after which a total of seven perfect scores of 10s.

Olga Korbut: This girl’s performance in the Munich Olympics was what left the world spellbound. This 17-year old girl entered the sports acrobatics gymnastics when it was dominated by the lithe young women. But she let out her raw emotions and presented a beautiful performance. She also did a backflip while standing to catch bars, which became legendary.

Larisa Latynina: Another name that had held a record for many years for achieving a total of 18 medals in which nine are of gold, five of silver, and four bronze in international competitions.

Why do kids love gymnastics?

Here are some interesting gymnastics facts for kid gymnasts who want to compete in men or women events.

Gymnastics can be a beneficial activity for kids. Kids love to be exposed to different fields and activities, and most of them just fall in love with gymnastics as soon as they join it.

While this can be a great way to keep kids fit and healthy it can also be something that will turn into a profession as they grow up. Let us look into why kids love this sport and what are the benefits of getting enrolled into women's or men's gymnastics.

It's super fun. Yes, the exercises involving jumping, tumbling, rolling, swinging, and many more make the children happy and excited. Most kids enjoy jumping and tumbling around.

Gymnastics gives them a sense of strength: While kids are developing, it is important for them to build their strength and even have the realization of their strength. Thus gymnastics acts as the perfect way to strengthen them, at the same time it gives direction to their strength so that they do not misuse it.

Co-ordination development: Again, the exercises practiced in men's gymnastics and women's gymnastics require a lot of coordination. This coordination is important for the day-to-day life of kids.

Flexibility to flex: Flexibility and agility are again some contributions of practicing gymnastics. Not only does flexibility help in avoiding injuries but it is also a contribution to being good at other sports.

Confidence and self-esteem: Building confidence and self-esteem in the early phase of life is really important. If kids do not feel confident about themselves and do not have positive self-esteem, it can affect them negatively throughout their lives. Hence, gymnastics can be the answer to this as it can help them build their confidence.

Social interaction: While some kids are introverts, everyone loves to have some sort of social circle, thus making kids join gymnastics classes gives them more people to interact with and will give them the opportunity to work with other children as part of a team.

Goal Orientation: At times we all get confused about what we want, and that is OK. But gymnastics can help develop the quality of goal orientation while trying every possible method to reach them. Hence goal orientation will be the next important part of gymnastics.