Gymnasts work intensely hard to perform these techniques flawlessly. While complex strength training exercises are significant game-changers, all gymnasts build their foundation on simple gymnastic exercises. If you’re an aspiring gymnast who is new to the field, learning gymnastics moves for beginners can help. Continue reading this piece to learn what gymnastics exercises you should know as a beginner.
Simply put, learning basic gymnastics moves for beginners is all about establishing a solid foundation and building core strength. These gymnastics exercises make an essential component of complex maneuvers that gymnasts need to perform.
However, the ‘term’ easy is entirely subjective. For example, performing a handstand may be ridiculously easy for someone, whereas beginners may struggle with it. That said, practicing is the key to learning gymnastics moves.
Prep Your Body for Gymnastics
As a gymnast, you should not overlook basic gymnastics exercises. However, a gymnast can only master complicated gymnastic core exercises by prepping their body first.
Gymnasts must practice these essential fitness and gymnastics exercises for the long-term development of their body.
Plank
Plank is one of the most basic gymnast exercises that helps prepare your body for more advanced gymnastics core exercises. It helps improves strength in your arms, quads, and core.
Besides, it is also an excellent exercise to improve your posture, as well as improve your balance and stability. Once you can master the plank, you can have improve flexibility in your hamstrings, feet, and shoulder muscles.
To start, lay on the floor with your elbows directly under your shoulders.
Keep your hands pressed flat against the floor, engaging your core
With your knees and arms touching the floor, slowly raise your body upwards
Hold your body in a straight line and squeeze your glutes
Hold this position
Wall-Sit
Wall sits help gymnasts improve their posture, which is incredibly important for them to do their gymnastic exercises correctly. Not to mention, this simple gymnast exercise also tones and strengthens your muscles.
Start in a neutral standing position with your back pressed against a wall
Engaging your core and abdominal muscles, slowly slide your body downwards
Stop when your thighs are parallel to the floor (sitting position)
Hold this position for twenty to sixty seconds
Rope-Jumping
Most gymnastic core exercises that gymnasts perform are not easy and require a lot of stamina and core strength. Rope-jumping is one of those gymnastic exercises that will help strengthen your entire body, increasing your stamina. Moreover, it is also beneficial for improved coordination and healthy bone density.
Here are some tips for doing this fun and fit gymnastics exercise correctly:
Make sure you keep your feet and knees close together when jumping a rope
Lift your feet at least one to two inches when rope-jumping
Have a soft-landing surface to minimize the risk of bone or joint damage
Flamingo Stand
This gymnastics exercise helps reduce a gymnast’s risk of injury when performing gymnastic flexibility exercises and gymnastics core exercises. Additionally, you will learn to improve your balance while the gymnast exercise also increases your strength in the calf and ankles muscles.
Gymnastic Moves for Beginners
Mastering basic gymnast moves are critical for every beginner gymnast. Why? Well, basic skills appear throughout a gymnast’s gymnastic development and across performances across various gymnastic apparatuses.
If you’re new to gymnastics, learning, practicing, and mastering these gymnastics exercises will significantly help in the long haul.
Forward Roll
The forward roll is one of the most vital safety movements and gymnast exercises. With a forward roll, you can protect yourself from injury in many instances. It teaches you the right way to tuck your head, a critical safety movement in gymnastics.
For example, you can repeat this movement when you lose balance when performing a handstand or headstand. Additionally, this gymnast exercise also helps improve stability and control.
Typically, a forward roll involves inverted locomotion where you rotate your entire body along the floor's surface.
Get in a neutral standing position
Crouch down to place your hands on the floor or mat, keeping them shoulder-width apart
Lean forward on your toes with your head tucked
Lift your lower back and hips and begin rolling
Rolling: roll on the upper back and shoulders into and through a seated position
Keep rolling forward and get back in the standing position with your over your head
Backward Roll
Before you can learn this energy fitness and gymnastics exercise, you must know how to do the forward roll correctly. Building on the prior knowledge from a forward roll helps beginners struggling to learn basic gymnastic moves.
Not to mention, these gymnastic moves for a beginner gymnast are more challenging than a forward roll. Backward roll involves a reverse motion that typically takes longer to master. That said, this gymnastics exercise allows you to become more comfortable performing movements involving backward locomotion. In other words, you will be more confident doing movements that require beginning without looking at the floor behind you.
Start in a standing position and crouch down
Keep your feet close to the gymnastics seat and tuck your knees in
Place the backside of your hands on the shoulders
Begin rolling on your back and don’t stop until your hands and back touch the mat
Press on the mat with your hands and tuck your chin inwards to the chest
Raise your feet up and over your head, followed by your lower body or hips
End the roll in the tucked position and return to the standing neutral
Bridge
The bridge is one of the more advanced gymnastic moves for beginners. So, be prepared to struggle a bit more when learning how to do this gymnastic exercise.
Nonetheless, the bridge makes for one of the most critical fundamental gymnastic core exercises in many advanced gymnastics movements. It is also a great gymnastics flexibility exercise for improving the flexibility and strength of your arms and back.
Lay on your back and place your hands beside your ears on either side
Your palms should touch the mat
Bend your knees and elbows, so they point toward the ceiling
From this inverted C position, push and straighten your legs and arms to graduate into a bridge
Bottom Line
Beginner gymnastic moves are bound to show up in your gymnastics flexibility exercises, and gymnastics core exercises some time or another. So, you can master simple gymnastics moves for beginners to perform better in advanced gymnastics later on.