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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to let my 5 yo do 5.5 hours of gymnastics a week

91 replies

princessparty · 16/12/2010 20:16

plus daily conditioning at home.have had a lecture from my GPs who think I have brainwashed her into it.They say it is too much, she should be enjoying a wider range of interests and that it will ruin her little joints.
She has been doing it for 2 years and wants to do it more and more .She tries other activities and is soon bored with them

OP posts:
overmydeadbody · 17/12/2010 11:53

how many chin ups can she do in one go?

Original poster
princessparty · 17/12/2010 11:57

the conditioning is just 10 minutes a day,but she doesn't want to sit still at home she wants to go, go, go all the time.We went to a playground the other day and instead of playing on the swings she spent the whole time running round the perimeter of the field it was on. She does concentrate on her work at school but just seems to hav eso much energy

OP posts:
overmydeadbody · 17/12/2010 11:59

Don't all really good professional gymnasts start very young and do hours of training?

It might not be for all children, but for the few who have a telent I'm sure it's worth the hours of dedication and training. If you win a Gold medal at the olympics in gymnastics at the age of 17 it's probably worth any potential health problems in the future.

Life contains risks, we all take different risks, but it's all relative.

If she trains this much and then nothing comes of it, and she doesn't even continue with it when she's older and abandons all sport for a boring desk job then it won't be worth it. But if the jymnastics gets her places in life she would never otherwise get, then it is worth it.

overmydeadbody · 17/12/2010 12:00

Yeah but how many chin ups can she do? I am interested, that's all! Grin As my DS is obsessed with doing them.

curlymama · 17/12/2010 12:01

When mine were toddlers we used to go to a session at the gym, and we would sometimes see older children doing stretches etc.

The way that the trainers streched the childrens muscles appaled me, and my friend who is a physiothereapist came with me once and was appalled at the damage that was being done to these growing children in the name of flexibility.

For that reason, I would never let a child of mine do gymnastics at a competative level.

InPraiseOfBacchus · 17/12/2010 12:03

Any hobby that requires that much attention and serves no real purpose to help anyone except you and your daughter is ridiculous IMO. I want to a girls school and saw chicks who'd been coached to do ballet/gym/acting/swimming suffer eating disorders, disrupted schoolwork and physical injuries.

time to take your little trophy child out of the display cabinet and let her be a human being.

Original poster
princessparty · 17/12/2010 12:03

Can't remember which are chin ups and which are pull ups.
Palms facing to her about 12-15.Palms facing away only about 6 or 7.

OP posts:
MissFit · 17/12/2010 12:07

I think it's fine. I did gymnastics as a child, and by the time I was 10 was doing about 10 hours a week, plus exercises at home.

I loved it, and it was totally my choice - my mum thought it was expensive and hated having to drop me off and pick me up 4 times a week so I had to pester her to let me.

I have no health problems due to gymnastics - quite the opposite in fact I was extremely fit, healthy and slim, the exercise I did benefited me for years afterwards.

seeker · 17/12/2010 12:08

Too much.

upahill · 17/12/2010 12:15

I suppose if she is having some rest days to give her body chance to recover it would be ok. If it is 5.5 hours spread over 7 days it is not bad.

It's great she has a passion for something.

SpikyBinkle · 17/12/2010 12:20

I did it from 7 and I think I did ruin my joints but then I had a few injuries.

GetOrfMoiLand · 17/12/2010 12:20

This is too much. Plus violin and swimming. When do you actually permit your child to be a child.

Ridiculous and borderline cruel imo.

seeker · 17/12/2010 12:25

So 5 hours of gym. Presumably an hour or so of swimming including the getting ready and dressed afterwards. 30 minutes violin lesson and 10 minutes a day practice and 10 minutes a day conditioning. That's 8 hours 20 minutes organized activity every week. A big chunk of her out of school time. Too much.

Original poster
princessparty · 17/12/2010 12:48

Am a bit Hmm at the cruel bit! If I was pushing her to do it you might have a point

OP posts:
Original poster
princessparty · 17/12/2010 12:56

'The way that the trainers streched the childrens muscles appaled me, and my friend who is a physiothereapist came with me once and was appalled at the damage that was being done to these growing children in the name of flexibility.'

This is interesting.What were the coaches doing and what did your physio friend think the problem was?Have to say my heart sometimes does a little flip when I see the coach pin down DD's hip and leg while she pushes the other leg up and DD looks up with her big ,wide eyes.It does look a bit like torture!!

OP posts:
curlymama · 17/12/2010 13:09

I saw them do things like you have just described, they would also do simelar to the other muscles in the legs. So to do the quads the child would be lying on their tummy with one knee bent and the coach would lift their leg.

She didn't explain the technicalities to me, but pushing a joint and muscles to that extent can weaken ligaments I think. Also,if she ever stops doing that amount of conditioning, it could mean her muscles get tighter and become more prone to injury. I may be talking rubbish though.

Butterbur · 17/12/2010 13:10

I am a trained gym coach (at a low level), and 5 hours a week at age 5 seems quite normal. She is lucky to be offered so much. Most girls, of any age, only get an hour a week, and spend the rest of their time in futile dreaming of being the next British hopeful. She must have some talent.

When so many girls do not enough sport, and are incredibly unfit, it seems a shame not to nurture her interest in a sport she loves.

Coaches can't get girls to do anything they really don't want to, whether it's stretching, or conditioning, or a back somersault off the beam, and she will soon let let you know if she's stopped enjoying it.

Oh, and DD has been doing 9 hours a week for the last 5 years. She adores it.

amberleaf · 17/12/2010 13:18

My friend did this for many years and now her back is totally fucked and she suffers greatly.

so she started aged 3? that is clearly her doing something YOU wanted her to do-god i hate pushy parents Hmm

No child aged 3 knows that they want to do something that much.

so yes its waaay too much

LetThereBeRock · 17/12/2010 13:25

It's too much.

Original poster
princessparty · 17/12/2010 13:29

She started soon after her 4th b'day and is nearly 6, so just shy of 2 yrs.She started off 1.5 hours a week .I don't really think that is being 'pushy'

OP posts:
LaWeaselMys · 17/12/2010 13:37

My ex-gymnast friend has screwed knees.

She can't even run now at 23 (she also loved marathons) imagine how painful that is for somebody who loves to be active?

LaWeaselMys · 17/12/2010 13:41

I'd forgotten but actually I have another friend who was an ice-skater but had to give it up in teens due to damaged joints.

She's a kinesiologist now. And very very keen on not recommending athletes keep going on any injuries. So I will pass on that advice dutifully.

It's up to you and your DD if she does this. But don't let it be her only plan. If something goes wrong she needs something else to turn to and say, well I'm still good at maths/strategy whatever.

classydiva · 17/12/2010 13:42

Your doctor has told you something you need to heed their advice not dismiss it.

amberleaf · 17/12/2010 13:44

4 or 4...its still pushy and still too much.

amberleaf · 17/12/2010 13:45

*3 or 4

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