Resistance Band Exercises

In the old days, every male gymnast I know had his own surgical tubing for ring strength work and inlocate-dislocate shoulder strengthening and rehab.  Nowadays, there are so many companies that have marketed different types of resistance bands and bungees, adding handles and such.




I love the hollow-arch corbetting exercises starting at around 2:30, both prone and supine:





I had played around with a similar station using the men's cross machine (pulley system on rings), but it was a bit too complex and cumbersome to set up (plus, the boys don't like to be kicked off their own equipment).  This version looks like an excellent setup.

At 3:46 in, Thea and Evan both talked to me about having seen this during their Regional clinic a couple of years ago, and tried it out.  They described it as best they could and mentioned how these thick bands allowed them to do pirouetting skills.

It looks neat and fun; but could definitely act as a "bad spotter", giving false weight-transfer and not discourage bad shapes and form- that would be up to the coach and gymnast to be diligent on staying mentally and physically disciplined.  Looks great for strengthening assist, though.

I did my detective work and eventually found a video and website for the manufacturer peddling the wares, a while back.

Landing Technique and Safety

I caught a few minutes of this (and have not had time yet to study the whole thing) from National Congress when it was live-streaming on Saturday morning.  I couldn't watch it at the time, due to heading off for work.  Glad it is made available:



In addition, you can get the lecture notes here (you'll be required to provide an email address).  And also view more on landing and jumping technique for gymnasts on Dr. Eldridge's website.  Don't forget to also go here:  Beginning Core, Landing, and Jumping Technique for Gymnasts

Wade used to talk about landing with toes slightly turned in with the knees knocked together as one stable unit; I believe he made mention that the landing technique he favored was pooled from aerial ski jumpers- who have to have fantastic landing technique.

But from what I saw of the video lecture, current thinking seems to suggest that this technique appears to be harsh on the knees.  Shoulder width apart with toes facing forward is encouraged.

From Dr. Eldridge's lecture overview at National Congress

Quite simply put:  Men and women are built differently:

Read more »

Life of a Gymnast

This....is just......simply......A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

SUU's Michaela Chernoch:



Parker Walbeck:

I have spent the last few months capturing Michaela's final year of her gymnastic career. This video represents a lifetime of dedication and hard work towards a lifelong passion. Aside from her talent, Michaela is one of the sweetest, most amazing people I've ever met in my life and I'm so glad to have been a part of her last year of gymnastics. Hope you enjoy :)

Shot over the past 5 months with a Canon T3i, Mark II, Mark III with:

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto

Also shot by her parents Wally and Debra Chernoch over the years

It makes me kind of want to purchase equipment and be a professional filmmaker.....just for the fun of it.  *Drool* and  *more drool*

Part of what I find inspiring in this video, is that the home movie footage clearly shows that she wasn't trained with a perfect foundation of muscle-memory shaping and technique before being allowed to move on, and "chuck" less-than-perfect skills.  And yet she still managed to "clean it up" and develop into a solid, collegiate gymnast.



I'm now a fan of both Chernoch and Walbeck....actually, I think Walbeck's converted me to now cheer for SUU!




And I just figured out, that I filmed her unique vault; and either she or her parents swiped my video!


I'm flattered!



*UPDATE* 8/8/2013 06:38

I guess I passed this over when Rick posted this video back in June.  

Club Promotion in the Age of the Internet

Thinking about this Twistars package, I wondered how many other gym clubs out there are actively taking full advantage of the internet and video-hosting sites like YouTube to help promote their clubs and generate some excitement.  Most gymnastics websites are dull and often not user-navigation-friendly.

When I was in college, we had nothing like the video packages they have nowadays for collegiate teams:

UCLA Gymnastics 2012 Introduction Video
Cal Gymnastics promo 2013
Stanford Women's Gymnastics 12/1/2008 Pre-season video 

Check out this promo for Southern Utah University Gymnastics who hired cinematographer Parker Walbeck to film and document their last season:


Now that is the kind of video that generates excitement and gets fans pumped up!

Christy Linder (who had a floor pass last year to professionally photograph the Bruin meets) has a boyfriend who is a musician and put together footage he filmed to his music for the Bruins.


Many clubs have dull promos; while a few understand how to inject life and excitement.

You don't need big-production budgets like the colleges to put together a nice video promo package.  Today's home computer technology makes it sooooo easy! 

And clubs should probably have several promos, hitting different target audiences, for different purposes.  Some promos should be a quick 30-60 seconds in length.  Enough to draw interest, without detailed, over-explanation.  Then for those with piqued interest and longer attention span, perhaps a more in-depth profile of the gym, with details on specific programs offered. 

I filmed and edited this unofficial LASG video:


Read more »

Exercising Her 2nd Amendment Rights

Hat tip:  Victory Gymnastics Academy