Young gymnasts

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

In pursuit of an identity: A qualitative exploration of retirement from women's artistic gymnastics

David Lavallee, Hannah K. Robinson, In pursuit of an identity: A qualitative exploration of retirement from women's artistic gymnastics, Psychology of Sport and ExerciseVolume 8, Issue 1, , January 2007, Pages 119-141. RAE2008

Bone properties and skeletal maturity in adolescent males, as assessed by quantitative ultrasound

ABSTRACT Background: Previous studies have implied that weight-bearing, intense and prolonged physical activities optimize bone accretion during the grow^ing years. The majority of past inquiries have used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to examine bone strength and hand-wrist radiography to determine skeletal maturity in children. Recently, quantitative ultrasound (QUS) technologies have been developed to examine bone properties and skeletal maturity in a safe, noninvasive and cost-effective manner. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare bone properties and skeletal maturity in competitive male child and adolescent athletes with minimallyactive, age-matched controls, using QUS technology. >. Methods: In total, 224 males were included in the study. The 115 pre-pubertal boys aged 10-12 years consisted of control, minimally-active children (n=34), soccer players (n=26), gymnasts (n=25) and hockey players (n=30). In addition, the 109 late-pubertal boys aged 14-16 years consisted of control, minimally-active adolescents (n=31), soccer players (n=30), gymnasts (n=17) and hockey players (n=31). The athletic groups were elite level players that predominantly trained year-round. Physical activity, nutrition and sports participation were assessed with various questionnaires. Anthropometries, such as height, weight and relative body fat percentage (BF%) were assessed using standard measures. Skeletal strength and age were evaluated using bone QUS. Lastly, salivary testosterone (sT) concentration was measured using Radioimmunoassay (RIA). Results: Within each age group, there were no significant differences between the activity groups in age and pubertal stage. An age effect was apparent in all variables, as expected. A sport effect was noted in all physical characteristics: the child and adolescent gymnasts were shorter and lighter than other sports groups. Adiposity was greater in the controls and in the hockey players. All child subjects were pubertal stage (fanner) I or II, while adolescent subjects were pubertal stage IV or V. There were no differences in daily energy and mineral intakes between sports groups. In both age groups, gymnasts had a higher training volume than other athletic groups. Bone speed of sound (50s) was higher in adolescents compared with the children. Gymnasts had signifieantly higher radial 50S than controls, hockey and soccer players in both age cohorts. Hockey athletes also had higher radial 50S than controls and soccer players in the child and adolescent groups, respectiyely. Child gymnasts and soccer players had greater tibial 50S compared with the hockey players and control groups. Likewise, adolescent gymnasts and soccer players had higher tibial SoS compared with the control group. No interaction was apparent between age and type of activity in any of the bone measures. » Lastly, maturity as assessed by sT and secondary sex characteristics (Tanner stage) was not different between sports group within each age group. Despite the similarity in chronological age, androgen levels and sexual maturity, differences between activity groups were noted in skeletal maturity. In the younger group, hockey players had the highest bone age while the soccer players had the lowest bone age. In the adolescent group, gymnasts and hockey players were characterized by higher skeletal maturity compared with controls. An interaction between the age and sport type effects was apparent in skeletal maturity, reflecting the fact that among the children, the soccer players were significantly less mature than the rest of the groups, while in the adolescents, the controls were the least skeletally mature. Summary and Conclusions: In summary, radial and tibial SOS are enhanced by the unique loading pattern in each sport (i.e, upper and lower extremities in gymnastics, lower extremities in soccer), with no cumulative effect between childhood and adolescence. That is, the effect of sport participation on bone SOS was apparent already among the young athletes. Enhanced bone properties among athletes of specific sports suggest that participation in these sports can improve bone strength and potential bone health.

Spondylolisthésis, morphologie et orientation sacro-pelviennes chez une population de jeunes gymnastes

De multiples études ont rapporté une prévalence augmentée de spondylolyse et de spondylolisthésis chez certains groupes d’athlètes, en particulier les gymnastes, pouvant atteindre jusqu’à 40 à 50%. À cela s’ajoute le fait que plusieurs études récentes ont démontré une association entre le spondylolisthésis et une morphologie et orientation sacro-pelviennes déviante de la normale. La morphologie et l’orientation sacro-pelviennes chez les gymnastes ainsi que leur relation avec le spondylolisthésis n’ont jamais été analysées. L’objectif de cette étude était donc d’évaluer la prévalence du spondylolithésis au sein d’une cohorte de gymnastes ainsi que les caractéristiques démographiques et paramètres de morphologie et orientation sacro-pelviennes associés. Afin d’atteindre cet objectif, une évaluation des caractéristiques démographiques et des paramètres radiologiques d’une cohorte de 92 jeunes gymnastes a été menée. Les deux études présentées ont démontré une prévalence de spondylolisthésis chez les jeunes gymnastes de 6.5%, similaire à celle retrouvée dans la population générale. Le nombre d’heures d’entraînement hebdomadaire a été le seul facteur statistiquement différents entre les gymnastes avec et ceux sans spondylolisthésis. Nos résultats ont aussi démontré que les gymnastes atteints d’un spondylolisthésis présentent une morphologie et une orientation sacro-pelviennes sagittales différentes, en terme d’incidence pelvienne (p = 0.02) et d’angle de table sacrée (p = 0.036), de celles des gymnastes sans spondylolisthésis. Nos observations supportent donc l’importance du rôle de la morphologie et de l’orientation sacro-pelviennes dans le développement du spondylolisthésis.

Lanseringen och etableringen av ett socialt problem : En analys av debatten om ledarkulturen inom svensk landslagsgymnastik i Dagens Nyheter 2012–2013

The launching and establishment of a social problem: An analysis of the debate on Swedish national level gymnastics in Dagens Nyheter 2012-2013 In 2012 Sweden’s largest daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, published a number of articles on the state of affairs in Swedish national level gymnastics. In these articles, ex-gymnasts, coaches, parents and physicians stepped forward and testified about recurrent wrongdoings and abuse against young (particularly) female gymnasts. In response to the criticism, the accused coaches and representatives of the Swedish Gymnastics Federation downsized or dismissed the criticism as inaccurate. This being said, and using discursive psychology and a qualitative design, this article sheds light upon this debate – by viewing it as a struggle between a hegemonic discourse of ”the goodness” of sports, on the one hand, a number of unfavorable and negative testimonies of the state of affairs in Swedish national level gymnastics on the other. More concretely, this struggle has been analyzed with regard to the discursive and rhetoric resources the involved parties’ used to pursue their claims about the state of affairs in Swedish national level gymnastics and the impact these resources had for their credibility and legitimacy. Questions were: Who is entitled ”to spell out” their view on the state of affairs within Swedish national level gymnastics? What is mediated and how? How are descriptions and accounts about reality constructed as credible and factual? It is concluded that social problems are launched via co-production; in this process, the gymnastics community, the research community, single individuals, and the media – were co-actors. 

Lesões desportivas na ginástica artística: estudo a partir de morbidade referida

INTRODUÇÃO: Os níveis de exigência biomecânica devidos ao alto grau de dificuldade na realização de gestos fazem da ginástica artística (GA) uma modalidade com elevado risco de lesões. Assim, é necessário que os aspectos a elas relacionados sejam controlados. OBJETIVO: Analisar a ocorrência de lesões na Ginástica Artística, associando-as a fatores de risco específicos da modalidade e do atleta, a partir de inquérito de morbidade referida. MÉTODOS: Foram entrevistados 54 ginastas, recrutados ao acaso, classificados segundo o nível competitivo em duas categorias: regional e nacional. Utilizou-se o inquérito de morbidade referida (IMR) com a finalidade de reunir dados sobre a natureza da lesão, região corporal e aparelho ginástico. Os dados foram organizados e apresentados sob a forma de distribuição de freqüências e as variáveis, analisadas segundo nível de associação a partir do teste de Goodman para contrastes entre populações multinomiais, considerando significante o valor P < 0,05. RESULTADOS: Presença de lesão durante a temporada foi relatada por 39 (71,70%) atletas, sendo 22 (56,41%) mulheres e 17 (43,59%) homens. Nas categorias regional masculino e feminino e nacional feminino, a maior ocorrência de lesões foi de origem articular, correspondendo a 55,56%, 50% e 45,45% do total, respectivamente. Para o sexo feminino nacional, os membros inferiores foram os mais referidos (68,18%) e, em ambas as categorias, as lesões ocorreram nos aparelhos de saltos (79,41%), enquanto que no sexo masculino nacional o maior número de agravos foi verificado nos aparelhos de apoio e suspensão (72%). CONCLUSÕES: Há elevada freqüência de lesões, acometendo principalmente articulações e membros inferiores, sendo os aparelhos de saltos os mais referidos quanto à ocorrência de acometimentos. Foi observado também que, quanto maiores as exigências de desempenho técnico, maior a freqüência de lesões.

Condições dos treinamentos de ginastas brasileiras participantes de jogos olímpicos (1980-2004)

Este artigo tem como objetivo registrar e analisar as condições de infraestrutura dos treinamentos de ginastas brasileiras participantes de Jogos Olímpicos (1980-2004), na busca de reflexões para a modalidade de Ginástica Artística Feminina. Para tal, foi desenvolvida uma pesquisa qualitativa, que se utilizou do método de História Oral. A partir de uma análise cruzada dos depoimentos das dez ginastas colaboradoras desta pesquisa foi possível perceber que houve um aperfeiçoamento nas condições de infraestrutura a partir do início da década de 90. Este aperfeiçoamento é novamente impulsionado no final da década de 90, com a contratação de técnicos ucranianos, o estabelecimento de uma seleção brasileira permanente e investimentos nas condições de infraestrutura de equipamentos e ginásio. Porém mesmo com a transformação positiva da modalidade nos últimos anos, todas as ginastas do estudo relataram ter passado, em algum momento, por condições não adequadas de treinamento relativas às condições de infraestrutura.

Medição da descarga de peso de indivíduos hemiplégicos e não hemiplégicos utilizando uma nova plataforma de força

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEIS

Composição corporal, gasto energético, ingestão e comportamento alimentar em adolescentes atletas de ginástica rítmica da cidade de Ribeirão Preto – SP

Pós-graduação em Alimentos e Nutrição - FCFAR

Panorama da ginástica artística feminina brasileira de alto rendimento esportivo: progressão, realidade e necessidades

The Brazilian Women's Artistic Gymnastics results in international championships are refl ecting the high level of the athletes in the modality and expressing the evolution of this sport in Brazil in the last 10 years. Therefore, this article has the goal to present data about such evolution since the fi rst participation of the Brazilian gymnasts in the Olympic Games (1980), and to refl ect the development of the modality in Brazil. The data have been collected through a bibliographic and documental research. The data analysis showed a unstructured and immature process of the development of this sport in Brazil, revealing a very different reality from what has been exposed in the media.

Características das lesões desportivas e fatores associados com lesão em iniciantes de ginástica artística do sexo feminino

The artistic gymnastics is a modality that associates arts with biomechanical gestures, and it has been prominent among children and adolescents. Its practice can lead to sports injuries; therefore, it is important to know the factors inherent to trauma for the formulation of preventive models. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize sports injuries and to verify factors associated with injury in people practicing artistic gymnastics with different levels of competitiveness. Forty-six gymnasts were interviewed with mean age of 10.1±2.0 years for female participants, who were classified in two competitive levels, i.e, initiation and training. We used the morbidity questionnaire adapted to sports characteristics to collect personal, training, and injury data. It was observed that injury risk was 0.3 injuries per athlete and 1.4 injuries per injured athlete, in which the gymnasts of the training category showed a higher frequency of the injury (83.3%; n=10) compared with the ones in the initiation category (10.5%; n=4). For both levels of competitiveness, training moment and light severity were the most reported variables. In the mechanism, contactless was more prevalent in the training category (90%; n=9) and the direct contact was more common at initiation category (75%; n=3). Anthropometric and training variables were considered as factors associated with injury to the gymnasts. It is concluded that gymnasts of the training category have higher injury frequency. Anthropometric and training variables were factors associated with injury. Characteristics of the injuries depend on the competitiveness level of the ­gymnasts.

Ginástica rítmica e especialização precoce: caminhos das pesquisas e publicações no Brasil

This final course project originates itself from the discussions of the Group of Studies and Pedagogical Research in Gymnastics (GEPPEGIN) of Unesp/RC and starts with the Pedagogy of Sport, with the purpose of knowing, analysing and discussing its existence and paths, in a series of discussions about the early specialization. The early specialization is a theme that relates frequently to the modalities of gymnastics, the focus point being that most gymnasts are specialized younger than most athletes from other sports (SCHIAVON, 2009), and not always in a proper way. It is from this issue that the intention of this study begins: knowing, analysing and discussing the existence and the ways of discussions about early specialization in researches and publications related to Rhythmic Gymnastics in the last decade (2002-2012) in Brazil. For the development of this qualitative research of scientific initiation a bibliographic research will be conducted about Rhythmic Gymnastics, with the focus on arising researches from post graduation programs stricto-sensu, recognized by Capes and, scientific papers, published during indexed periods in Brazil and classified in Qualis of Physic Education

Imagem corporal e ginastas: pesquisas e publicações no Brasil. -

The present study emerged from discussions of the Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas Pedagógicos em Ginástica (GEPPEGIN), from UNESP/RC, and had the intention to understand and analyze the existence and discussions on Body Image and Gymnasts in researches and publications over the last decade (2003-2013) in Brazil. Body image refers to the mental representation of the body, structured according to the world. It is known that cultural and social pressures have been imposing an ideal body model and generating consequences as body dissatisfaction. Therefore, this study aims discuss the body image of Artistic and Rhythmic gymnastics' athletes. The choice of these modalities is justified by the fact that they are directly related to body image, especially the issue of the necessity of low body weight, beyond the relationship of complex movements and the need of good body awareness (BERRY; HOWE, 2000; KERR et al., 2006). For the development of this qualitative research, a documentary survey were conducted over the last decade (2003-2013) on Body Image and Gymnasts, focusing on researches of strictosensu postgraduate programs, recognized by CAPES, and scientific papers published in journals indexed in Brazil and classified in Physical Education Qualis. For categorization of information related to the theme, was used the organization by the units of analysis proposed by Laville and Dionne (1999). Based on the studies analyzed, perceive a dissatisfaction with body image to most participants from all studies, being athlete or nonathlete. Vieira and colleagues (2009) assume that the body pattern required for performance on competitive Gymnastics is close to the aesthetics of slim body served as body pattern for girls/teenager

Representatividade da ginástica artística feminina paulista no cenário brasileiro (2011-2014)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Centre of excellence for women artistic gymnastics: The Brazilian coaches' perspective

During the period of 2001 and 2008, the Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation implemented the gymnasts training boarding center system at the Curitiba Training Center (TC). Using the former Soviet Union model of sports boarding schools, the Brazilian gymnasts started to train together under the supervision of a technical team led by a renowned foreign coach. This article aims to discuss the context of the TC and the system of centralized preparation of the Brazilian women artistic gymnastics (WAG) showing the point of view of the coaches. We conducted a field survey and we interviewed 34 coaches of 29 sport institutions. Among the positive aspects, the coaches reported about the better infrastructure available to the gymnasts. The negative aspects refer to the problems regarding rigorous training, the polarization and the consequent monopolization of athletes showing lack of adaptation of the Soviet model to the WAG characteristics developed in Brazil.