Youth training

These notes combine advice from 25 reviewed passages across 16 workouts.

Overview

Youth training centers on starting gymnastics and movement fundamentals at an early age. Beginning gymnastics around ages four to six is recommended, and becoming a gymnast generally requires starting around age three or four. Early training emphasizes fundamentals and a limited number of apparatus rather than all six. [1] [7] [11]

The approach relies on bodyweight work, and adults take part and model the movements for children. [8] [15] [16] [20]

Starting age and fundamentals

Coach’s claim

Gymnastics generally begins around three and a half to four years. Younger children may not yet have the concept of object permanence, which limits their ability to reliably hold or perform tasks, so structured gymnastics starts later than the earliest movement play. [5]

From about four or five up to ten, children are responsible for two apparatus rather than all six, so early training stays focused on fundamentals. [11]

With children, contrasting labels like “ugly foot” and “beautiful foot” are used from age four to teach foot position, while adults use flex and point. [3]

Highly refined form has to be developed from a young age. Street workout may reach that form only up to a point and then move on, because new forms are more important to it. [17]

Coaching children

Children are more likely to try activities when they see adults doing them rather than being told to do them. Introduce exercise early and practice it yourself, and the child will follow by watching. [8] [16]

Adults should take part in exercise with children rather than merely telling them to exercise. [15]

Guide children toward activities that interest them, beginning around ages six or seven. [8]

When coaching children, repeat instructions consistently because they may forget them. [24]

Physical education should be more than simply giving students a ball and telling them to play football. [9]

Strength and weight training

Coach’s claim

Weight training is not recommended before age sixteen because it may affect physical development during a period when the muscles are lengthening. [19]

Weightlifting commonly begins around age fourteen, though some start at twelve or thirteen. [21]

Bodyweight exercise is a reason calisthenics may be recommended for children. [20]

Coach’s claim

From about the first year, introduce small, gradual holds for the arms and legs, and let children hang from bars; starting young develops strength quickly. [18]

Progression systems should account for age and sex, with different starting points for women and separate treatment for children whose muscles are still developing. [22]

Individual strength should not be inferred solely from sex. Among younger trainees around thirteen or fourteen, strength is nearly equal, and some female students are even stronger. [23]

Coach’s claim

Adult-assisted hand-walking is useful for children, and children around ages three to four are trained this way. Children who practice this kind of supported movement progress much faster. [12] [14]

Hold a child by the legs and walk them slowly on their hands from around age two or three; it becomes a game and is fun for them. [13]

Health considerations

Coach’s claim

Children have much higher energy and more flexible muscles and bones, while adults have greater endurance. [2]

Coach’s claim

Childhood training toward extreme flexibility, as in rhythmic gymnastics, may be harmful. [10]

Coach’s experience

In his own training with a young child, he has the child hang from a pull-up bar and do leg stretching. At about one and a half, the child lightly jumps from elevated surfaces and begins lightly hanging from a bar, which he considers good to start at that age. [4]

With his sibling, he held the child by the leg and lowered them lightly, and helped them climb somewhere, come down, and rise up, so the muscles learn gradually. [6]

His grandfather used to hold his legs and walk him on his hands. [13]

Related pages

• Coaching and feedback: Supports
• Progressions, regressions, and scaling: Related to
• Flexibility training: Often discussed together

Sources

1. 2024-01-11, 3043.5-3046.4s

Workout: workout:2024-01-11

Passage: passage:2024-01-11:001245-001246

2. 2024-01-25, 724.8-741.2s

Workout: workout:2024-01-25

Passage: passage:2024-01-25:000232-000239

3. 2024-01-25, 5946.1-5965.3s

Workout: workout:2024-01-25

Passage: passage:2024-01-25:002001-002009

4. 2024-02-07, 5422.9-5441.1s

Workout: workout:2024-02-07

Passage: passage:2024-02-07:001969-001976

5. 2024-02-07, 5444.7-5457.7s

Workout: workout:2024-02-07

Passage: passage:2024-02-07:001978-001980

6. 2024-02-07, 5486.2-5506.3s

Workout: workout:2024-02-07

Passage: passage:2024-02-07:001992-002000

7. 2024-02-19, 2515.6-2521.7s

Workout: workout:2024-02-19

Passage: passage:2024-02-19:000889-000890

8. 2024-03-01, 7220.3-7242.0s

Workout: workout:2024-03-01

Passage: passage:2024-03-01:002596-002606

9. 2024-03-12, 4293.7-4297.8s

Workout: workout:2024-03-12

Passage: passage:2024-03-12:001577-001579

10. 2024-04-05, 4061.9-4081.9s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:001403-001410

11. 2024-04-25, 6125.6-6140.2s

Workout: workout:2024-04-25

Passage: passage:2024-04-25:002312-002318

12. 2024-07-09, 1715.8-1722.8s

Workout: workout:2024-07-09

Passage: passage:2024-07-09:000602-000605

13. 2024-07-09, 1731.4-1743.8s

Workout: workout:2024-07-09

Passage: passage:2024-07-09:000610-000615

14. 2024-07-09, 1753.2-1755.2s

Workout: workout:2024-07-09

Passage: passage:2024-07-09:000619-000619

15. 2024-09-24, 660.0-667.2s

Workout: workout:2024-09-24

Passage: passage:2024-09-24:000218-000223

16. 2024-10-17, 1828.0-1844.9s

Workout: workout:2024-10-17-steel-grip

Passage: passage:2024-10-17-steel-grip:000652-000658

17. 2024-12-03, 4485.3-4493.2s

Workout: workout:2024-12-03

Passage: passage:2024-12-03:001523-001525

18. 2024-12-31, 559.4-578.5s

Workout: workout:2024-12-31

Passage: passage:2024-12-31:000203-000209

19. 2024-12-31, 579.1-601.1s

Workout: workout:2024-12-31

Passage: passage:2024-12-31:000210-000216

20. 2024-12-31, 615.0-620.6s

Workout: workout:2024-12-31

Passage: passage:2024-12-31:000221-000224

21. 2024-12-31, 628.6-632.0s

Workout: workout:2024-12-31

Passage: passage:2024-12-31:000228-000229

22. 2025-06-15, 4019.5-4045.0s

Workout: workout:2025-06-15

Passage: passage:2025-06-15:001404-001410

23. 2025-06-15, 4169.1-4188.3s

Workout: workout:2025-06-15

Passage: passage:2025-06-15:001454-001458

24. 2025-08-15, 2006.7-2031.8s

Workout: workout:2025-08-15

Passage: passage:2025-08-15:000480-000486