Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Sam Coleman, Co-Founder
FACT CHECKED
Gymnastics is one of the most impressive sports in the world, maybe the most impressive, depending on who you ask. Their god-like levels of strength combined with insane flexibility, coordination, and body awareness will humble anyone that looks onto their routines full of flips, twists and strength mixed with elegance.
Watching one of these athletes may even inspire you to train like a gymnast! We’ll tell you right now that while they may make it look easy, becoming a top-level gymnast takes years. Even decades.
So, to be a gymnast, you must start somewhere. This article is going to give an awesome gymnastic routine for beginner results.
What Exactly Is Gymnastics?
Let’s begin by understanding the comprehensive nature of gymnastics. It's a sport that demands athletes to execute various skilled movements, requiring high levels of strength, coordination, balance, flexibility, and agility.
These movements, which include jumps, flips, and turns, are not just about grace and agility, but also about displays of strength as athletes hold themselves in isometric positions. This comprehensive understanding will prepare you for the journey ahead.
The actual sport will consist of different events depending on if you're male or female. Males compete in 6 events including;
- Floor exercise
- Pommel horse
- Rings
- Vault
- Parallel bars
- High bar
On the other hand, females compete in just 4 events, some of which overlap with the men. These 4 gymnastic events for females include;
- Vault
- Uneven bars
- Balance beam
- Floor
Being a male or female can affect what your training will look like. However, this is more true for the more advanced athletes. In the beginning phase, all gymnasts need the same skills.
What Do You Need To Be A Gymnast?
Being a successful gymnast requires quite a few different performance variables. We’ll go over some of the main ones.
a. Ultra-Strong Back
Let’s be honest. A gymnast needs to be ultra-strong in everything. However, the back stands out due to the sheer amount of hanging and pulling a gymnast does. Whether on rings or uneven bars, gymnasts are constantly swinging around and pulling themselves up, which requires ultra-high levels of back strength.
b. Bullet-Proof Shoulders
In addition to your back, your shoulders need to be able to take a beating while producing large amounts of force. Gymnasts often perform various flips, such as the back handspring, which requires them to support their body on their shoulders and then propel themselves as well.
c. Powerful Legs
When it comes to your lower body, it's not just about strength, it's about power. You need to be able to propel your body through the air, making leg strength a key aspect of gymnastics.
The upper body holds your body as you fly through the air.
In comparison, your legs are primarily used for things like jumping. They also need to be strong enough to handle landings, which are highly dependent on landing technique.
d. Awesome Grip Strength
Have you ever seen gymnasts spin around on bars only to fly to another bar and catch themselves? This requires high levels of grip strength, a fundamental requirement in gymnastics that cannot be overlooked.
e. An Iron Core
Another crucial component you must have as a gymnast is an iron core. Every gymnast's movement requires extreme core stabilization to perform their movements safely. Whether holding tucks or an L-sit, a gymnast must have high levels of core strength to perform most movements. More importantly, you’ll need a strong core to prevent injury.
And, of course, gymnasts have some of the most impressive physiques in the entire world of athletics. In other words, you’re going to look awesome as well.
f. High Levels Of Anaerobic Endurance (Muscle Endurance)
Not only do you need high levels of strength, you’ll need to be able to perform for an extended period. There’s a major difference between pulling a 600+lb deadlift and performing pull-ups for 60 seconds!
This means you can’t only be concerned with increasing your 1 rep max. Rather, you should be more concerned about increasing your muscular endurance. Specifically, you should aim to increase your relative strength. This is your level of strength compared to how much you weigh.
Gymnastics Routine(s) For Beginner Adults
We’re now going to lay out a gymnastic routine for beginner adults. To keep things simple, we will separate this into two different routines. The first is going to be strength training that will have a direct transfer to gymnastics. This will include more traditional exercises to improve body strength.
Your first goal as a beginner gymnast is to build up your foundational strength and skills. You won’t fly around on bars right away but this routine will help you get there. Too often, people will jump right into complex gymnastic movements with little to no strength training. We understand people want to start doing flips right away but neglecting to build a base level of strength can result in injuries.
Secondly, we will lay out specific gym skills you can begin working on. These will be a mix of simple gymnastic movements as well as various exercises that have direct transfer to gymnastics.
Beginner Gymnastics Routine To Build Strength
We will go over the best movements to increase the necessary body strength. These will be included in the routine to follow.
1. Pull-Ups
You can’t ever do too many pull-ups when training to be a gymnast. This is easily one of the most important exercises you can do as you begin training for gymnastics.
Keep in mind that you need to train the pull-up on two fronts: absolute strength and endurance. Therefore, use rep schemes on both ends of the spectrum.
On your strength day, you can work up to performing sternum pull-ups. These are pull-ups where you bring the bottom of your chest up to the bar. Essentially, these are progression on your way to a muscle up which is a mandatory skill for any gymnast.
Further, if you have rings, train ring pull-ups as well. These are more challenging but will provide better adaptations for gymnastics.
2. Dips
Dips are another crucial calisthenics movement for improving your gymnastics ability. They will strengthen your chest, shoulders, and triceps and improve your ability to support your body on your arms. This is crucial in movements such as rings or parallel bars.
Like pull-ups, you will want to train these at both ends of the spectrum; absolute strength and increasing muscle endurance. Similar to pull-ups, you want to eventually train these on rings if you have access.
If you do have rings, you can also get in the top position of a dip. Next, begin to let the rings go out to the side as if you’re going to do an iron cross. The iron cross is very challenging but once you build some strength, you can begin throwing in some practice.
These are going to be crucial to help support your body on events such as rings or pommel horse.
3. Farmer Carry & Suitcase Carry
Carries will benefit you in two ways. The first is grip strength. Farmer carries and suitcase carries are some of the best exercises for increasing grip strength and grip endurance.
At the same time, these movements will help build a solid core and overall body strength. Walking under these loads will build strength in not only your muscles but also your joints, both of which will prepare your body for the demands of gymnastics.
4. Push Press
The push press is an awesome exercise for increasing power throughout the body and improving strength in the shoulders. One benefit is that you can use leg drive to push a heavier load over your head. You can then hold it above your head in the lockout to build strength in your shoulders.
On your last rep, keep it locked out over your head for as long as you can.
5. Walking Lunges
Walking lunges are going to increase the strength of your entire lower body. Still, lunges stand out as they require you to move under a load. More importantly, they’re going to strengthen your joints and improve balance.
6. Z-Press
The Z-press is an underutilized exercise that’s more than just a shoulder exercise. These will strengthen your entire shoulder girdle and increase stability. Further, they will greatly improve the mobility of your entire posterior chain and thoracic spine.
7. Depth Jumps
Depth jumps are a type of plyometric that has you step off from a height (choose height appropriate for your level of fitness) and then immediately propel yourself as high as you can immediately upon landing.
These are great to increase your power production and something known as the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC). When you stretch a muscle, it will also stretch the ligaments which act like a rubber band. As the ligaments stretch, they store energy. When you quickly reverse the action this power is released and increases power production.
Think about when you jump. You don’t just push off with your feet. Rather, you take a little dip first and propel yourself. Mastering this ability is essential for a gymnast as many routines require the rapid repetition of jumps and flips.
Further, this can help build eccentric strength and teach you landing mechanics.
8. Barbell Rollout
The barbell rollout is the single best exercise to strengthen your core. They require you to completely lay out while maintaining a solid core in an isometric fashion; this is the same demand you’ll find in gymnastics.
9. Squat Jump
The squat jump is a great exercise to strengthen the leg and increase power production. We like training these with a trap bar as they tend to be easier handled and are easier to perform.
Use a small amount of reps for these as each rep needs to be done with 100% effort so you want to minimize fatigue.
10. Bentover Row
Another exercise to improve that back strength. You could swap this out for other row variations if you prefer.
Here’s how these exercises may be split up into a 3-day split.
Session 1:
- Farmer Carry 5X:30
- Pull-Ups 5X4-6
- Depth Jump 5X3
- Push-Press 3X8-12
- Dips 3-5X10-15
Session 2:
- Squat Jumps 5X3
- Push-Press 5X5
- Bentover Rows 3-5X6-8
- Barbell Rollout 5X5
Session 3:
- Suitcase Carry 5X:30
- Dips 5X4-6
- Walking Lunges 3-5X10
- Z-Press 3X10-15
- Pull-Ups 3X10-15
Beginner Gymnastics Routine To Build Skills
These are some gymnastic skills you can start working on now. These will lay the foundation for your gymnastic career and are the first part of your journey in gymnastics. Mastering these movements will provide you with some of the specific performance variables you’ll need.
Keep in mind these are gymnastic skills you can practice on your own. Once you start to venture onto more difficult movements, you’ll need to find a specialized coach in gymnastics.
1. L-Sit
The L-Sit may look simple, but it is extremely challenging. Ideally, you have a pair of parallel bars. If not, you can make two stacks of equal height using weight plates (bumper plates work awesome).
Sit (or stand if your bars are high) in between the bars. Place your hand on the bars and extend your arms so your body is off the ground. From here, you will attempt an L-Sit.
Ideally, you can lift your legs until they’re sticking straight out with your torso perfectly extended, making a 90-degree angle at your hips. However, these are tough. Here are some progressions.
- Alternate lifting one leg at a time as high as you can and come back down.
- Lift one leg at a time for as long as you can.
- Lift both legs up as high as possible, then come back down.
- Hold one leg up and perform reps with the other leg.
- Hold both legs up together as long as you can.
If your bars are high enough, you can add a transition by lifting your knees and holding.
Once you become more advanced, attempt to perform these using a set of rings.
2. Crow-Pose
The crow pose comes from yoga but is an awesome move for improving balance in a partially inverted position. Further, it will begin to build strength in your arms and shoulders as you must support your body with extended arms.
This is not a movement used in gymnastics but a good exercise to learn as you progress to more difficult movements.
3. Front Bar Dip
The front bar dip involves performing a dip with the bar in front of you, similar to the second part of a muscle-up. These are very challenging, and when you first begin, you will probably just be able to hold yourself in the top position. This is where you should start.
Get on a straight bar and hold your body up in an extended position. Attempt to hold yourself up here with extended arms and gradually extend your body out. You will naturally want to lean over the bar, so you will slowly begin to extend your body.
4. Parallel Bar Hand Walks
Parallel bar hand walks are an awesome beginner exercise for upper body strength and mobility. They are performed by getting into the up position of a dip on a set of parallel bars. Keeping your arms locked out, you will walk down the bars using your hands.
This will increase the strength of your triceps and shoulders with your elbow in a locked out position. You’ll need this strength to perform on the pommel horse, rings or any of the bars.
5. Bar-Hang
The bar-hang is exactly as it sounds. It can be done as a warm-up to your exercises, but you will hang from a bar. The goal is to increase your grip strength to hold your body weight.
Once you can hold for at least 60 seconds in one set, you can begin to add weight and improve your endurance.
You could also begin to use these as a warm-up exercise as well.
6. Handstand
Another movement you need to start working on right away is the handstand. You’re going to need this movement for a variety of gymnastic movements. In addition, it will further help your body awareness and orientation.
Maintaining balance while fully inverted is very difficult. It requires high levels of strength, balance, and basic orientation. Your body is completely inverted, making it very challenging to gain control when you first start. As you’ll eventually be performing flips and twists, you’ll need to have these high levels of orientation.
The best way to start learning the handstand is by performing it on a wall, ideally with a partner. To perform these, you’ll need to have the shoulder strength to support your body in the air.
One way to get into the position, and easiest version, is something called a wall walk. Face the wall, get on the ground and place your feet on the wall. You’ll then walk your feet up the wall as you simultaneously walk your hands towards the wall. Do this until you get your body vertical. From here, you can gradually take your feet of the wall as you improve your balance.
7. Tumbling And Kart-Wheels
Now’s a good time to also start working on your tumbling skills. This includes movements such as front rolls, back rolls and kart-wheels.
You can also mess around with performing flips on the rings or bars, if you have them. Or, you could hang upside down in an inverted position. These are simply to improve your strength as well as body awareness.
Gymnastics Routine 1:
- Front Bar Dip
- Bar Hang
- Handstand
- L-Sit
- Tumbling
Gymnastics Routine 2:
- Parallel Bar Walks
- Crow-Pose
- L-Sit
- Tumbling
For these movements, it’s tough to give a rep scheme as they’re skill based and you probably won’t even be able to perform them. Therefore, when you’re just starting out, it’s more appropriate to simply divide your time among them.
Full 4-Day Gymnastic Routine For Beginner
Now, maybe you wanted to combine the gymnastics training with your strength training. Here’s how that might look in a 4-day split.
|
Session 1 |
Session 2 |
Session 3 |
Session 4 |
|
Farmer Carry 5X:30 |
Squat Jumps 5X3 |
Suitcase Carry 5X:30 |
Push-Press 5X5 |
|
Pull-Ups 5X4-6 |
Push-Press 3X8-10 |
Dips 5X4-6 |
Depth Jump 5X3 |
|
Dips 3-5X10-15 |
Bentover Rows 3X6-8 |
Z-Press 3X10-15 |
Walking Lunges 3-5X10 |
|
Barbell Rollout 5X5 |
Pull-Ups 3X10-15 |
||
Training To Be A Gymnast
If you want to become a gymnast, be prepared to put in a lot of time. Top gymnasts have been training since an early age and train year-round. It is not an easy sport and is arguably one the most difficult to excel in due to the huge demands in strength and complexity of the movements.
However, you can still train one even if you do not intend to compete. Along with its difficulty comes great pride when you succeed. So, if you want to be a gymnast, start training today! Again, building these basic components are crucial before moving on to higher levels.
Try the Simone Biles Workout Routine if you're up for a challenge!
Garett Reid
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