Flexibility Drills for Gymnastics
This post will describe how a *brain-based approach* to flexibility drills for gymnastics can accelerate change and help gymnasts remove obstacles to better range or motion.
While there are hundreds (more likely thousands) of articles on flexibility drills for gymnastics, this is likely the only one that will put the brain first. Why do that? Because muscle tone and muscle activation is driven by the brain, your body’s CEO.
How do we know this? Through neuroscience research —specifically imaging and lesion studies — over the past couple of decades, we know that certain areas of the brain facilitate muscles for flexion (like a bicep curl or leg lift) and others facilitate extension (in general muscles on the back side of the body - lats, glutes, hamstrings).
So let’s take advantage of that!
First, Assess & Reassess
As with all of the neuroperformance drills I teach, it’s useful to first run through a process called Assess & Re-assess. Here’s the gist:
To help with athlete buy-in and to best experience the speed of change that’s possible with neuroperformance drills:
Assess something: Test a bridge - they can do bridge rocks to help warm it up, or splits, or a pike stretch. Choose something that’s important.
Do one of the drills below
Then reassess exactly the same thing you did initially and notice if you feel a difference.
One of My Favorite Shoulder Flexibility Drills for Gymnastics
Toss and Catch
Get something that gymnasts can catch - a foam block, playground ball, grip bag. Gymnasts have such great abilities but are notoriously bad at catching moving objects, so make sure it’s something they can reliably catch.
With a partner, throw it back and forth, making sure to catch it overhead. Catch with both hands or alternate one then the other.
10 catches per person
What’s happening? Visually guided reaching combined with watching something come towards you stimulates a part of the brain that’s heavily involved in shoulder movements.
It’s like turning the lights to make it easier to move - activating specific neurons alter the signals on the pathway between the brain and shoulder, changing the recruitment pattern and specific muscles. And when muscles change, range of motion changes.
General Flexibility Drill for Gymnastics
Gymnasts can use this one for spinal flexibility, or for hamstrings or shoulders. Just assess the before and after the movement they want to improve.
Get a visual target to track - it can be your thumbnail or the eraser on a pencil.
Draw a line up and down with the target and follow it with your head. Keep your head still, only move your eyes.
You can choose different stances - two feet together, single leg, or a tandem stance (one foot directly in front of the other)
What’s happening? This drill is activating the cerebellum, which, among many other things, regulates tone of your spinal muscles, glutes, hamstrings, and extensor muscles in your shoulders (like posterior deltoid, rotator cuff muscles and lats).
Because it can affect all of these areas, it’s a good general drill to try to find more flexibility.
Follow the Leader (VOR-Cancellation)
Imagine a string between the bridge of your nose and your thumbnail.
Do your best to smoothly turn your head (not your eyes) at exactly the same rate and direction as your hand
Do 8 reps on each side.
What’s happening? When you coordinate movement of the eyes, head and neck together, the vestibular system sends signals to the cervical and thoracic extensors and can change the tone of those muscles. (It’s taking advantage of something called the vestibulocollic reflex.)
Thoracic extension (backwards bending of the upper spine) is a crucial and often overlooked piece of improving flexibility for bridges, and it’s a movement that many gymnasts lack.
The Next Step in Brain-based Flexibility Drills for Gymnastics
Seal in the new range of motion by doing something active.
4-Way Isometrics
This is different from the kind of drill usually called ‘active flexibility,’ which often use momentum vs focusing on precision and control.
Do the drill with shoulders at FULL RANGE OF MOTION - the gymnast lying down should bring their arms back as far as possible, *then* start the isometrics.
Instructions from the coach or gymnast providing resistance: “Don’t let me move you.” OR “Try to move me.”
Keep the level of effort around 3/10
5 seconds in each position
2 sets during flex or rotation warm-up; 1 if you’re doing it as a return station
What’s Happening? This shoulder flexibility drill helps seal in changes, and can also increase range of motion. Why? The brain will limit range of motion when it doesn’t trust that the gymnast has control - can she get into that position AND out safely?
The multi-plane activation improves the brain’s contractile ‘map’ of the shoulder in this position, usually the weakest and most vulnerable position. By contracting muscles in multiple directions this drill helps demonstrate to the brain that she does have control. Drills that rely on momentum or someone passively holding the range for you aren’t enough. I would do spend much more time on multi-planar isometrics and much less on momentum-based flexibility drills.
You can do this exact same drill for hip range of motion. Stand up, and have a teammate hold the other’s leg as high as she can get it while maintaining good posture and alignment. Then do isometrics in 4 directions in that position. You’ll probably notice that your kicks, leaps or jumps will be more split!
RECAP: A brain-based approach to flexibility drills for gymnastics
The brain regulates muscle tone; we can accelerate change and remove obstacles by going directly to the source
Use Toss & Catch, Target Tracking and Follow the Leader to find new ground and improve range of motion
Use 4-way Isometrics on its own, or to help seal in the changes from the drills above
And 4) As a brain-based practitioner, and someone who helps gymnasts and other athletes find more flexibility every day, I would spend only about 20% of your time doing static stretching or passive partner holds where one gymnast holds another’s shoulders open for 30 seconds at a time or more.
With the drills above, you’ll see more change more quickly, and as an added benefit, gymnasts with flexibility limitations (or even all of them) won’t dread the rotation as much!
Check out these related posts:
GET MY FREE E-BOOK: FIND FLEXIBILITY FASTER
Unlock new ranges of motion, and do it in less time. In this e-book, you'll get 3 easy-to-follow drills (with demo videos) that can improve flexibility in as little as 20 seconds. Discover change at the speed of the nervous system.