Gymnastics Strength, Timing & Range of Motion
Written by Travis Ewart
When learning the movement pattern for any kipping gymnastics movement, it’s best to take the approach of the greater range of motion, which just happens to be the way the skills are taught in the Invictus Gymnastics online program. The skills in the program require less base strength, so you can start kipping safely, and the larger movement pattern is much easier to learn and fix (as body positions are much easier to discern when they are larger and slower movements).
When it comes to kipping movements in CrossFit, there are many ways to do the skills (correctly), and that includes movement patterns of different sizes, but at the expense of energy (in certain cases). Once you have the base strength requirement to safely perform a kipping skill, you can slowly build up that strength to perform the same skill, but with a shorter movement pattern for faster reps.
This concept should be taken into consideration when approaching a workout.
Larger Range of Motion
Workouts with more reps might be approached with a larger range of motion in order to perform larger sets unbroken, or if the sets are smaller and the workout needs to be faster, you can shorten the range of motion of the kipping skill, but that will cost you energy.
Shorter Range Motion
Over time it is important to learn the larger and shorter range of motion if you are at all interested at all in being competitive in CrossFit. The more experience you have with making the adjustments to the range of motion for your kipping gymnastics skills, the more consistency you will see in your placement if all workouts.
What are the benefits to the slower reps?
We already discussed that learning the reps with a greater range of motion is easier because you can see body positions more clearly, thus making them easier to fix and adjust, but performing reps in continuity with a greater range of motion also gives your body a certain amount of extra time between reps that provides you with more rest time and will allow you to put more reps together unbroken before having to get off the equipment and take a break.
What is the benefit of faster reps?
The question is self explanatory. Faster reps means that you will finish an unbroken set earlier than if you performed slower reps, and it’s CrossFit, so if you can afford to use up the extra energy needed to perform faster reps with shorter ROM, then you will be finished with that portion of the workout sooner.
How do I improve my skills, and how do I know if my movement pattern is making my work harder or easier?
Join the Invictus Gymnastics online program. Sure, I’m selling you the product because I’m a coach in the business, but I’m also the coach that understands your needs. This program will start you with movement patterns that are larger, and through the coaching Facebook group (where you post videos for me to watch) I can coach you from the greater ROM to the shorter ROM safely and help you maximize your time in the gym and your potential. It takes work, but if you want to be good at anything you need the right guide and be willing to invest your time.
Please click the link for more information on the Invictus Gymnastics program, follow us on Instagram @invictus_gymnastics, and if you have any other questions feel free to email me at travis@crossfitinvictus.com.
