I’ve heard that to be able to train at the top level for gymnastics that it takes hard work, dedication, a proper diet, obviously skill, more often than not some sort of steroid to help recover, and “superior genetics”. What are these “superior genetics” that makes other people unable to reach the potential that these gymnasts have?
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At that level every small advantage counts, so you shouldn’t imagine some kind of superior human who genetically has double the mucle mass, but someone who has small advantages that shine when facing someone equally skilled.
This genetic edge takes various forms, for example it’s height for basketball players, naturally slow heartbeat (bradycardia) for distance runners, body shape for swimming or arm proportions for throwers.
Height is the obvious first one. You’ll notice that most gymnasts are shorter than average. Every inch of height takes just a little more power to thrust into the air. A shorter gymnast has a noticeable advantage over a taller one.
The second is overall build. Gymnastics favor stocker, stronger frames. Again, it’s all about power. Slender frames have a tougher time putting on enough muscle to generate the power required.
A very good illustration of an exception to the rule is Svetlana Khorkina. She is both more slender and noticeably taller than most other female gymnasts, and had to work to compensate. So it’s not necessary to be short and stocky, but it really helps.
There are also numerous other mechanical things like sense of balance and good joints that can absolutely be trained, but some people have more innate luck there than others.
For female gymnasts, it’s the power to weight ratio. The ideal body is small and light, but incredibly powerful for their size. This is why Olympic level gymnasts have been getting younger and younger to the point they had to impose an age limit (gymnasts must turn 16 or older in that year to compete in the Olympics) Young women and girls are naturally smaller and lighter, but they can develop power so that they can do more varied and spectacular aerial twist, turns, and leaps. However, their commitment to training (sometimes 6 hours a day) from a very young age comes at a cost. The heavy workouts combine with eating disorders to maintain weight can result in arrested puberty or amennhorea which means that they are at risk of osteoporosis at an early age.
Hypermobility Syndrome (JHD / EDS) is one.
My ex-wife had it and she could literally jump and land straight into full splits, not problem at all.
Granted, her knees also turned 180 degree backwards and left her unable to walk for days at a time (and hence she was officially registered disabled), but any gymnastic feat of flexibility would be easy for her to do with no training.
You can “give” yourself hypermobility syndrome if you’re over flexible, and wear aware the cartilage in your joints. You’ll be flexible but probably in chronic pain in later life. But you can also inherit genes (it can from one or both parents) to get something like hypermobility syndrome where your cartilage is literally softer and more flexible than other people’s with no training at all.
I was married to an woman who was black-belt in karate but had a disabled badge. Who could kick you on top of your kick without even trying, but sometimes couldn’t get off the sofa. Who could fold herself in a thousand ways but might spend a week in bed afterwards because she was in chronic joint pain and the morphine was no longer working.
But her cousin – who inherited the same genes but from two different sides of her family, and ended up with EDS which is a far more serious version of it, was crippled and in a wheelchair by her teens.
Ballerinas, acrobats and gymnasts – they either had a genetic predisposition to hypermobility or they have literally given themselves the same condition through friction on their joints over years of training. Many of them end up crippled and in chronic pain in later life, whichever way they achieved it.
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