Easy at Home Workouts for Beginning Tumblers

Both backward and forward rolls require a lot of core strength to do properly. When core strength is lacking in forward rolls, kids are unable to stand up without having to use their hands or put their knee down. When core strength is lacking in backward rolls, kids are unable to get their hips over their head. This is why we often give our athletes core exercises for homework and do core workouts in class.

A great way you can help your athlete build their core strength is by assisting them with crunches on a soft surface.

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Have them place their feet together and lay on their back

Ø  Hold their feet securely to the ground

Ø  Tell them to squeeze their core muscles to sit up until their shoulders are over their knees

Ø  10-15 a day will greatly improve their forward rolls.

Ø  If traditional crunches are too easy, tell your athlete to squeeze their arms to their ears and try to stand up out of the crunch. 

The movement of a backward roll is different than a forward roll, therefore different muscles are engaged. A slightly different crunch will help your athlete build the core muscle required to do proper backwards rolls.

   Ø  Have your athlete lay flat on a soft surface with their arms flat to their sides

   Ø  Have your athlete try and bring your knees to their shoulders.

   Ø  10-15 a day will greatly improve your athlete’s backward rolls.

Arm and shoulder strength is very important for backward rolls, handstands, and cartwheels. There are many exercises that will build arm and shoulder strength. A great workout that targets the upper body and core is the pushup. A variation of the push up that is especially good for tumbling skills is the shoulders push up.

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Have your athlete get into the push up position with their hips in the air and their arms by their ears.

   Ø  From there your athlete bends their arms and touches their nose to the floor, and then extends their arms back to the starting position

   Ø  This variation may be too difficult for your athlete at first. They can start with regular push-ups or pushups from their knees. It’s just important that they keep their body in a straight line.

   Ø  10-15 a day will greatly improve their tumbling skills

These simple workouts are easy to accomplish at home and require no equipment. Taking a few minutes every day to work on these exercises will help your beginning tumblers progress faster through their skills.