Get the Legs Plus or Swing Workouts books to learn workouts that will help you get fit, lose weight, and gain strength. And while you’re on Amazon, be sure to also check out the children’s and gymnastics books by Karen Goeller, CSCS.
Books are nice gifts… Check out Karen Goeller’s sports, fitness, and children’s books. And be sure to check out the book on her life story after a cancer diagnosis, Sentenced to Life in Bed, but I Escaped.
Titles include Gymnastics Drills and Conditioning, Handstand Drills and Conditioning, Gymnastics Journal, Gymnastics Coloring Book, Fitness Journal, Strength Training Journal, Fitness on a Swing Set, Swing Set Workouts, Legs Plus Workouts, Lymphedema: Sentenced to Life in Bed, Missy’s Voice, and More.
Pronation is the action of the foot as it roles inward upon foot contact with the ground. This action acts as a shock absorber for the foot and rest of the body. Over pronation occurs when a person’s foot rolls inward and their arch flattens while performing weight bearing tasks. The foot may appear normal while sitting, with a noticeable arch under the foot, but over pronation becomes evident when a person stands or walks. Even people with normal foot structure can develop over pronation as a result of excessive foot stress and improper arch support.
There are many possible causes for over pronation including walking on hard surfaces for extended periods of time – either barefoot or with flat shoes, heredity, obesity, an imbalance between the posterior and anterior leg muscles, or tight gastrocnemius and soleus muscles among other causes.
Since over pronation causes the person to walk along the inner portion of the foot, this poor alignment may lead to injury in the foot and ankle among many other areas of the body. Problems such as heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, knee pain, back pain, and other medical issues can be the result of over pronation.
Gymnasts are at risk of over pronation because they train barefoot and often do not use proper landing mechanics. The over pronation becomes more of a problem when gymnasts either tumble or land with their feet in the over pronated position. If a gymnast is accustomed to standing or walking in the over pronated position, she will land from dismounts with the same poor foot alignment. The gymnast lands from some skills with a force of up to 16 times her body weight. Landing with such an immense force in an over pronated position, especially when it is on a daily basis, may cause severe damage to the gymnast’s body, ending her career.
There are various methods used to identify over pronation. One method is to look at a person’s shoes. If the shoes are more worn on the inside of the sole, then over pronation may be a problem. Another indicator would be to make a footprint by wetting the foot and stepping onto a towel or any surface where a print can clearly be seen. If there is no dry spot to specify the arch there may be a need for special foot care. The footprint may also be performed in a gymnastics facility by using chalk on the foot and stepping onto a clean mat.
One recommended form of treatment for over pronation is to wear supportive shoes, but the alignment problem should still be corrected for long term foot health. Because a gymnast trains barefoot, corrective exercises may be the best treatment besides wearing supportive shoes while not in the gym. There are many exercises that can help strengthen the foot and improve lower body alignment. Here is one simple conditioning exercise for the feet that can be performed with a towel.
Towel Pull: Place a towel flat on the floor. Keep the heels on the floor and place the toes on the edge of the towel. Next, pull the towel towards the body with the toes so that the towel gathers under the feet. Make sure the foot remains on floor as the toes pull the towel. This exercise may also be performed while sitting in a chair, but gymnasts will be able to relate the standing exercise to landing technique faster than the seated version of this exercise. Once the gymnast is able to perform several repetitions of this exercise, a small weight such as one pound may be placed on the towel.
It is imperative that coaches assign safe and effective exercises and teach proper landing mechanics in an attempt to prevent some injuries. Coaches must watch their gymnast’s feet, knees, hips, and posture closely during each landing performed, whether the landing is from a simple jump on floor or a dismount from bars. It is important to encourage gymnasts to keep their knees in line with their middle toes (where the shoe laces would be if they were wearing shoes) and hips upon foot contact with the mat.
One simple drill for landing mechanics and alignment involves the use of a mirror. The gymnast should stand in front of a mirror with her feet parallel to one another. The gymnast should then slightly shift her weight towards the inner and then outer portions of the feet while watching her knees shift laterally. This should only be a slight shift, but it will be the difference between a safe landing and an injury. This mirror drill will show the gymnast how the foot alignment greatly affects the entire lower body. The gymnast will see and feel the difference between proper and poor alignment. The ankles, knees, and hips must be in line with one another.
Another method of teaching proper alignment is a common exercise used in the fitness world, the Squat Exercise. The gymnast should perform the squat exercise without weights to learn the proper form before she uses light dumbbells. This exercise will help bring awareness of proper landing mechanics and once weights are used it will help her with lower body strength.
And finally, after the Squat Exercise is mastered, gymnasts should perform the “Stick Drill.” This drill involves dropping down from a spotting block or mat stack and landing in the proper squat position. Start with a low stack until gymnasts master the proper position. For best results, gymnasts should practice ¼, ½, and parallel squats. A gymnast must be able to stop the force somewhere between the ¼ and the parallel squat positions.
For safety and success, gymnasts must learn proper foot alignment and perform appropriate strength and sport specific conditioning exercises. And keep in mind that injuries are NOT necessarily part of the sport. Many aches, pains, and injuries may be prevented when the training program is carefully constructed and the athletes are carefully monitored.
One more important note: The gymnast should not perform these or any other drills, exercises, or skills if they feel pain, are ill or injured, or are being treated by a medical professional.
In this interview with Mindy Sheier of Gamut Management, Karen and Mindy discuss how working in the film industry with a disability is very challenging, books, health, sports coaching, and other topics.
Karen is a signed Actor/Model with Gamut Management. She is available for film, tv, photo-shoots, book signings, consulting, and more. Here’s the interview, https://youtu.be/oVitWpxhmN8
Contact Mindy at Gamut for film, tv, and modeling projects. www.gamutmanagement.com. Click on the Contact tab. Contact Karen for book signings and consulting work.
How many have you seen? There are about 20 books available through bookstores by Karen Goeller, CSCS. Check them out here, www.amazon.com/author/karengoeller.
I hope that you and your family are remaining healthy. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is anything I can do for you. I’m still offering zoom calls at no charge for any athletes who have worked with me within the past year and at a very low cost for everyone else.
Some advice for our athletes…
Try to make strength and flexibility goals for yourself now – for your return to the gym.
Do activities that build strength (bike riding, stair climbing, swing set fitness, swimming, etc)
Do activities that improve speed (sprints, sprints downhill, mountain climbers, flutters in pike and hollow shape)
Try to keep up with body tightness and rebounding (bouncing, jump rope, hopping type drills, push up shape hops)
Keep up with agility (do your pre-workout warm-up daily, playing tag with siblings)
Try to have fun outdoors.
Set a goal for the first week you return to the gym.
Set a goal for two months after you return to the gym.
Set a goal for the next state meet you compete in which would be next year.
Always keep safety in mind when exercising at home and in the gym. You and your parents are responsible for your personal safety at home.
Conditioning List, perform each exercise for 45-60 seconds non-stop or 25 repetitions non-stop. This is very little work compared to a four-hour workout.
1/2 Hollow Up
Hollow Rocks
Arch Ups
Arch Rock
Hip-Thrusts/Baby Candlestick
Reverse Leg-Lifts, Single Leg-Lower-Lift
Alternating Superman
Arch-Legs Only
Pike-Sit Leg-Lifts (Both legs straight and together)
Pike-Sit-Flutters
Straddle-Sit-Leg-Lifts (Both legs at the same time.)
Straddle-Sit Leg Circles (Both legs at the same time.)
V-Ups
Alternating V-Ups
Side Lifts
Side Rocks
Hollow-Arch (Both Sides)
Hollow-Tilt Side to Side
Arch Tilt Side to Side
Plank
Plank-Leg Extension (Lower-Lift Knees)
Plank-Low Back Kicks
Plank-Shrugs (Flat back-round back)
Plank-Forward-Back (Planche-Back)
Side Plank
Side Plank-Lower-Lift Hips
Side Plank-Small Side Kicks
Plank-Side-Plank
Walking or In-Place Lunges (Keep knees in line with middle toes!)
Goeller Laundry Bag Exercises… If you want to workout and do not have weights, use whatever you have! Working out with a laundry bag is definitely unique, effective, and fun. This is a full-body workout with exercises for every major muscle group. If you follow along, Karen only does a few reps of each exercise. Do the entire workout to learn the exercises and then repeat it with a higher number of reps so that you are getting more reps in than what is shown here. Exercises for legs, back, chest, arms, shoulders, and core. For more of Karen Goeller’s unique exercise methods check out www.LegsPlus.com and www.SwingWorkouts.com.
Well, every coach will say conditioning and stretching. I agree. Maintaining strength and flexibility is very important. The skills will be there if the gymnast continues to perform general strength and sport-specific conditioning through this difficult time. Nearly all gymnasts remember most of the conditioning they do in the gym, but they all have favorite exercises. It is important to perform a variety of exercises. If they have space, they should perform their entire pre-workout warm-up to help stay in shape. A good warm-up with stretching and shaping is at least 45 minutes.
Many gymnasts will need a higher than the desired volume of hip flexor conditioning. I bet many will grow during this time. The hip flexors play an important role in the gymnast’s training. They not only allow the gymnast to lift her leg very high, but they help with posture. And when the hip flexors are weak or tight, the gymnast may feel low back pain. That is because they basically connect the spine and femur. When the hip flexors are tight they actually pull on the spine into a lordosis position. And when they are weak they become stressed when the gymnast lifts her legs such as in a glide kip, kick, or leap. As a coach, I can tell when a gymnast has tight hip flexors by her posture; there is a slight bend at the hip while standing. A well-conditioned, well-stretched gymnast usually stands with no angle and the front of the hip.
To keep the hip flexors conditioned I recommend the pike-sitting leg lifts. The gymnast will sit in a pike position, place her hands next to her knees on the floor and then lift both legs. And for the stretch, I recommend the quad-psoas stretch. Kneeling lunge with one foot out front and hips pressed forward. The gymnast should also do this with the back leg bent and that foot facing the ceiling.
But there are other things that will be helpful. For example, balance drills and visualization. For balance, the gymnast can do simple exercises such as RDL and slow-motion needle kicks with and without light dumbbells. They can also perform arm routines with their eyes closed. The gymnast would stand in place and perform her beam routine with just her arm and head movements. That is for both visualization and balance. When that becomes simple, the gymnast can perform it in a passé leg position, one foot touching the inner side of the knee. The gymnast should do this drill with each leg because most gymnasts have a sharper sense of balance on one side. When this becomes simple, the gymnast can add very light ankle/writs weights to the wrists or hold 1lb dumbbells in each hand. And to bring it up one step as far as challenge, the gymnast can do this standing on a softer surface such as a Bosu or balance disc.
And finally, for a change maybe they can do the Legs Plus or Swing Set Fitness workouts. Many of the exercises in my swing workouts were actually gymnastics conditioning exercises my gymnasts have done using a barrel mat. The Legs Plus workouts are really good general fitness as well as dismount-landing and bars conditioning. My gymnastics drills and conditioning book is useful to all gymnasts as well.
So gymnasts should try really hard to stay in shape and keep their sanity. Athletes can use this time to get stronger and heal any aches and pains they may have had.
Just a quick note to say enjoy I hope your holiday season…
Spend time with friends and family, enjoy the colorful lights and decorations, or just relax with your time off from work. No matter how you choose to spend this time, I hope you enjoy it.
Yes, I do have many products and services that would be nice gifts. Here are some links in case you are looking for gifts.
www.LegsPlus.com (legs Plus workouts, exercise every major muscle group within a quick, effective workout.)
www.SwingSetFitness.com (Exercise outdoors with a playground swing. Quick and very effective.)
www.SwingWorkouts.com (Workouts using a playground swing. Have a blastr getting in shape!)
www.LymphedemaBook.com (You’ll be inspired when you see how I went from bed-ridden cancer patient to who I am now. A cancer diagnosis and life afterwards.)
In this interview with Mindy Sheier of Gamut Management, Karen and Mindy discuss how working in the film industry with a disability is very challenging, books, health, sports coaching, and other topics.
I hope that you and your family are remaining healthy. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is anything I can do for you. I’m still offering zoom calls at no charge for any athletes who have worked with me within the past year and at a very low cost for everyone else.
Well, every coach will say conditioning and stretching. I agree. Maintaining strength and flexibility is very important. The skills will be there if the gymnast continues to perform general strength and sport-specific conditioning through this difficult time. Nearly all gymnasts remember most of the conditioning they do in the gym, but they all have favorite exercises. It is important to perform a variety of exercises. If they have space, they should perform their entire pre-workout warm-up to help stay in shape. A good warm-up with stretching and shaping is at least 45 minutes.
To keep the hip flexors conditioned I recommend the pike-sitting leg lifts. The gymnast will sit in a pike position, place her hands next to her knees on the floor and then lift both legs. And for the stretch, I recommend the quad-psoas stretch. Kneeling lunge with one foot out front and hips pressed forward. The gymnast should also do this with the back leg bent and that foot facing the ceiling.
Podcasts, Click Title to Listen
You must be logged in to post a comment.