Benefits of Gymnastics

Courtesy of Apnews

Courtesy of Apnews

Maddie Pawlak

Gymnastics is a Sport that benefits ALL sports. The sport started in ancient Greece, where young men underwent intense physical and mental training for warfare. Gymnastics provides a great foundation for ALL sports. Gymnastics develops strength, flexibility, balance, agility and coordination…all skills needed for sports like soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball, volleyball, dance, and football. 

There are 4 Olympic events. Men compete on six events: Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and Horizontal Bar, while women compete on four: Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, and Floor Exercise.There are tons of people who enjoy gymnastics because it is basically life lessons. It teaches you patience, time management, never to give up, keep dreaming, to be brave and confident, trust, teamwork, and love.

 The most popular event is the Floor Exercise. When gymnasts compete in Floor Exercise they must use a variety of dance and tumbling that reflects her personality. Many call the beam the most difficult event in women’s gymnastics, one that requires all the skills a top gymnast needs: grace, power, control, rhythm, flexibility and  most important mental focus. Gymnastics is popular all over the world, but the U.S. is ranked first by the main international governing body for the sport. Competitive gymnastics classes cost about $200-$400 per month and vary based on the level the athlete is training as well as the number of hours the athlete is training each week. According to Kennedy Werts her favorite event is bars.  Kennedy enjoys gymnastics because she likes the feeling of accomplishing something that she’s been struggling on. She also loves the feeling of winning and doing her best to get better.  

Courtesy of Olympics.com