Gymnastics Medicine’s 5th annual symposium Gymnastics Medicine: Education and Research held it 5th annual symposium at Boston Children’s Hospital on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th October, 2023. This year’s event comprised of two separate days, one designated for medical providers, with the other for gymnasts, their coaches and parents. This was also the first year that Gymnastics Medicine conducted a combined in-person and virtual event, opening up this educational opportunity to practitioners all over the country. Along with the working board, expert guest speakers, who are specialist ..read more

Gymnastics Medicine has been selected as part of Gotham Gymnastics’ advisory board (pictured) in New York City. Gymnastics Medicine is pleased to announce that it has been selected to be part of the advisory board for Gotham Gymnastics, a high performance gymnastics club based in Brooklyn, New York. Gotham’s advisory board is comprised of industry experts, whose aim is to provide knowledge and guidance towards the development of an effective, holistic approach to youth gymnastics, enabling athletes to reach their highest potential in the sport. Gymnastics Medicine comprises the physi ..read more

Kerry Bair RD on strategies to help gymnasts who struggle to eat due to nerves before competitions. Competition day as a high level gymnast can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. The pressure to perform at your best can sometimes lead to pre-competition jitters for many athletes, which can have a major impact on a gymnast’s ability to prepare appropriately and perform up to their potential. As a registered dietitian specializing in helping gymnasts fuel their body to perform their best on and off the competition floor, I cannot stress the importance of fueling your body adequately to e ..read more

Physical Therapist Dr. Ezara Greene on the dos and don’ts of rip care in gymnastics. Gymnasts! How do you look after those pesky rips? Yes, they can be hard to avoid, and are almost a rite of passage in gymnastics. But what should you do when you get one? There are definitely exceptions to the rule, but here are some of the basics on what to keep your eye out for when it comes to rip/wound care. First, let’s go over signs and symptoms of an infection: A wound that is healing normally is bright, beefy red. A wound that is not healing normally may be dark in color with red streaks run ..read more

Student group board member and graduate student Maggie Tamburro on the struggles faced after retirement from gymnastics, and how the skills learned were invaluable to her post graduate student experience. There are few things I can remember as acutely as the profound emptiness I felt after retiring from gymnastics. After nearly two decades filled with wonderful experiences in the sport that I loved, it was impossible to comprehend that I would never again dawn a bedazzled leotard or feel the all-consuming nerves of a big competition. The months after my retirement were incredibly challen ..read more

Athletic Trainer Jamie Broz on why early attention to the ACL is critical in gymnastics. ACL tears are often thought of in the preparation for a competition season and circle around the chalk tray discussions in many of our gyms today.  It is the most common injury in athletes ages 15 – 40 years old.  The question often most asked is what can be done to prevent ACL tears by coaches and gymnasts alike. Research shows that when athletes are retrained in how they cut, jump, and perform other sports maneuvers, their risk of tearing the ACL goes down. Injury prevention programs ar ..read more

Gymnastics Medicine founder Dr. Elly Hart and her colleagues at Boston Children’s Hospital published a new paper on concussion in gymnastics. Concussions can occur in gymnastics and gymnasts, parents, and coaches should be aware of the signs and symptoms and what to do if they believe a concussion has occurred. A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury from a hit to the head, neck, face, or body with an impulsive force transmitted to the head (1).  Signs and symptoms of a concussion include but are not limited to loss of consciousness, disorientation, headache, acting confused ..read more

Gymnastics Medicine physical therapist Dr. Kaysha Bates with ankle strengthening exercises for the gymnast In gymnastics, the ankle is the most commonly injured body part. Ankle instability and ankle sprains are seemingly simple injuries, but I have seen many athletes struggle for a long time to return to full strength and full training capacity after such injuries. There are many excellent exercises to use for ankle sprains and ankle instability but here are some basic ones I like to start with. Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos. Gastroc/Soleus Stretch: This begins ..read more

Gymnastics mind-set coach Ariana LeBlanc on what it means to have a mental block and how you can help. Mental blocks are one of the most frustrating things in the sport of gymnastics. One day, a gymnast can do the skill, and the next day they are standing there frozen, unable to move. So often, we assume the gymnast is not trying and is unmotivated. Mental Blocks are REAL. Mental blocks do not happen because the gymnast is unmotivated or unwilling. I promise, your gymnast wants to do the skill and would do anything to be able to get their body to go for it. So why do mental blocks ha ..read more

Dr. Kaysha Bates on what it is like to work as a PT in the unique setting of a gymnastics gym. Working as a physical therapist in a gym looks quite different than your typical outpatient clinic. In the gym, my role as the PT is to support the athletes and coaches, with the ultimate goal of keeping them healthy and avoiding the injuries we can avoid. In the gym, my role can be broken down in to four main categories: Assess Treat Manage Return to Sport. Let’s dig into what each of these looks like. Assess Being in the gym during practice, provides ample opportunity to access injuries ..read more