Thanks a lot

...dont' forget smelly gyms! Some are worse than others!

[quote=gymnasticscoaching] Step 1 is frequent hand washing, of course. And increased availability of antibacterial gel.[/quote] Actually, antibacterial gel (the gels are weird don't you think? you leave them on your hands and don't rinse them off?) and antibacteria soaps might actually add more bad than good - you think antibacteria sounds good right, but like overusing antibiotics it can do[ Read More... ]

Also damp and mold-like foam pits that aren't taken care of can lead to mold, bad for you too. There are lots of foam in the pits, not really like the animal toys. Would spraying be effective? Should also 'refresh' and change them sooner than most gyms do.

You probably could guess that the foam pits aren't just gross for the reason that they're gross and smelly, damp, etc., but for health/germs reasons too - especially with the recent news on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. gymnasticscoaching brings up this issue very well: [quote]Coach Jacob Small asks about sanitizing foam blocks in our gymnastics pits. Great question.[ Read More... ]

Natasha Kelley is slipping in the standings - just last year Mary Lou Retton was saying how she should have beaten Nastia at Nationals (she got 2nd) ...Natasha doesn't have good form in her skills. Shawn Johnson is awesome! Great gymnastics!

Shawn Johnson wins the competition - it's her first year as a senior elite competitior but she is really good! Nastia Liukin only competed bars; Chellsie Memmel and Jana Bieger didn't compete here b/c they are recovering from their injuries (Chellsie her shoulder and Jana her foot/leg I think); Alicia Sacramone competed on vault, beam, and floor 2007 American Cup Results (U.S. Championships[ Read More... ]

sometimes you can find socks in the pit also!

one time we found a bandaid stuck to one of the blocks in the pit....eewww! it must have been left in there from a little kid's birthday party or something. good that the bandaid was face down, huh?! our pits are pretty clean too - the club keeps changing the blocks whenever they are starting to get old.

my club changed the pit foam a while ago too - for the smell, cuz they were old, and also they weren't as fluffy and intact - now we have pretty blocks!

they just changed the pit blocks recently - they are nice and white! matches the chalk that keeps falling in them from the bars! every now and then they empty out the pits and vacuum out the chalk. so, they don't smell bad. :D maybe your gym will change their pit blocks soon.

I say yes to shorts too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in practice and competition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

double front into a pit, over rotate a bit, and then you get to smell the smelly pit smell! yuck! my gym really needs to change the pit blocks! they are getting so disgusting. i don't think they changed it since they bought them years and years ago when they put in the pits. how are your gym's pits?

yup! same!