University of Georgia Athletics
Ask The Gym Dogs: February 11
February 11, 2011 | Gymnastics
Feb. 11, 2011
Each week fans have the opportunity to ask questions to either a Georgia gymnastics coach or a student-athlete. Here is the second installment of "Ask The Gym Dogs." To ask a question for next week, click here.
Dog fan: When is Georgia's pink out meet this year?
Georgiadogs.com: The Alabama meet on Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. is designated as this year's Pink Out meet. For tickets, log on to www.georgiadogs.com or call 1-877-542-1231.
Christen (Decatur, Ga.): What kind of conditioning do the girls do in pre-season, during the season, and in the summer? What do they eat to stay strong and lean?
Assistant Coach Julie Clark: The girls actually have lots of different training exercises and schedules throughout the year. Josh Rucci is our strength and conditioning coach and he is awesome because he truly understands gymnastics and the needs for a gymnast.
First of all, preseason is a time for building the muscle mass and shredding the fat that might have been gained during the summer or offseason. There are lots of cardio circuits combined with total body lifting exercises. This is also the time Josh gets them on the track or the football field and does sprints, endurance work, and pushes their bodies physically because they are required to do gymnastics at this time. In the preseason we are only allowed to mandate eight hours of conditioning and meetings; therefore, they condition Monday through Friday for an hour, then they are allowed to be in the gym voluntarily. As you know, these athletes are self-motivated and have been exercising and doing conditioning their entire lives, so when they are in the gym basic gymnastic skills are also forms of strengthening.
During season we taper down their muscle building phases and focus on cardio circuits three days a week like spinning and pilates/yoga stretches (low impact) along with strength training circuits two days a week.
In the summer the girls are not mandated to do anything, but Josh will provide them with a packet of workouts so when they travel and go home there are options the girls can choose from when they feel like it. Sometimes athletes stay here in Athens and get a regular workout in three days a week or they go to their old gym and train with their coaches and teammates.
As for their diet we are always in a phase of educating, learning and encouraging them to drink lots of water---eat five meals a day that are balanced with carbs, fat and protein. Most of our athletes come into college with different backgrounds regarding nutrition, so we have sports nutritionist and other resources to help educate them as their bodies are changing. This was a particularly personal issue of mine when I was a gymnast so I am very passionate about helping these girls find a true balance in being strong, fit, energetic and healthy for life as well as an athlete. We will provide protein shakes and Balance bars as supplements before or after practice to ensure muscle recovery.
As you can see each athletes body is different and they respond at different rates to the choices they make. Our intentions are for them to be fueled all day long with smaller balanced meals and lots of water!
