Is jogging so essential in the first days of a begginers training?

Hello everyone. I'm a new member and I would like to have your opinion about my gymnastic training.

I am 27 and I decided to start gymnastics. Just because I like it. I know I I am too old to gain the skills most younger athletes do. Though I'd like to learn some basic techniques. So I found a personal gymnastic coach and I started my training. 

What concerns me is that I am having my third training-day and all I do is jogging... my coach insist that -at least- the first month of my training will be one hour jogging to improve my heart resistance which will help me to the oncoming strength exercises. I asked him if he has a training program in his mind and he said he prefers me not to know...??? He just told me he intends to put me through an isometric program of exercise.

Is jogging so essential in gymnastics? I expected some flexibility exercises and not just running. It's my third training-day and I already have a nagging pain in my achille's tendon (i was never a runner). I know it's too early too judge but I still got no taste of gymnastics... 

 I would really appreciate your opinion. Does this only-jogging training make sense to you? Should I concern about my coach's abilities?

Thank you!

George

ps excuse my english I am greek.

Hi George,

It is really hard to say much about your abilities, that of your coach, or your needs over internet.

- Running is not necessary for gymnastics, but it may be necessary for you to get started; especially if your life was very sedentary up to now.

- Your coach might be correct in his assessment... yet, he might be wrong too, there are no ways for us to know. Have you checked and verified your coach's credentials?

- If your Achilles is hurting, stop running; more running is not going to make it better. One hour jogging at a time sounds a bit much to start with anyway.

You did not say where you are at fitness and health wise, but one thing is sure, taking time to return to some ease of movement before increasing the intensity of training is a good idea.

If you tell us a bit more about your current situation, maybe we can help you more.

Be safe.

Thank for the response,

 -I wouldn't say that I am having a sedentary lifestyle, although by myself  I was on a routine of practice (bicycle,stretching, weights etc) 

-checking my coach's credentials is difficult and maybe not very helpful since he is the only gymnastics-coach in the small town I am living...I have no other choice unfortunately

-I am really concerned with my Achilles tendon because a couple of years ago I suffered this kind o tendonitis (though in the other leg) and it was really difficult to recover 100%. I hope my coach will suggest another training program which will secure my leg.

I don't know how to describe my current situation. I mean what would be useful to tell you? Sorry if I dont understand your question , you see it's the first time I am joining a fitness forum!

Hi George,

If you never did any running before, I'd definitely not start with running for 1 hour! You will almost certainly get injured! Since your achilles tendon is hurting, I would now stop right away and wait for a couple of weeks for the pain to go away. After that, you could start to *slowly* build up some volume in running. Also make sure to not run two days in a row as a beginner. Always have at least one or two days of rest between two sessions.

If you do some searches on the internet I'm sure you will find some introductory running programs. As you may have noticed, your stamina is probably ok, but it's the tendons and the joints that need a lot more time to adapt to the stress of running. It's not the same as cycling. So, in the beginning: run slowly, and not too long. You could start with 15-20 minutes slow running, or even a program where you run for 5 minutes, walk 2 minutes, run 5 minutes, walk, run, walk... until you reach a total time of around 30 minutes, and build up from there...

 No, it doesn't make very much sense but I it's more of an old school mentality. He is probably still a decent coach if he actually has some gymnastics credentials. Greeks were pretty good and still are sorta.

 It's not the end of the world though. Try doing a walk/run split.

I'd say running combined with gymnastics isn't such a bad idea but I would push myself through pain just do what is comfortable for the Achilles and build up from there

george_didymous said:

It's my third training-day and I already have a nagging pain in my achille's tendon (i was never a runner).

Come on, didn't you greeks invent the marathon?

All joking aside, I see absolutely no reason you couldn't begin some strength and flexibility exercises on your own.  The prerequisites mentioned repeatedly on this site are a great start, if your coach refuses to show you anything.

Even something like basic yoga would be a good starting point for flexibility.  No-ones expecting you to do dislocates, german hang and weighted pikes on your first day....

Thank you guys for your help. Eventually my coach gets me jogging about 15 to 20 minutes and then we get to exercise. He says that although i have quite endurance my heart rate is too high. And he says that he intends to decrease my heart rate with jogging. He claims that this may take about 5 months. sigh. I hate jogging! 

Is it necessary? No. Can it have value, yes. While your coach's style is a bit old school, it seems harmless. Your description of jogging for 15 to 20 minutes is highly reasonable. His assertion that it will eventually lower your pulse rate is true. He's missing the fact that there are many other ways to accomplish this, including gst.

Again, though, my question is why resist this. Jogging, begining with short distances and building up, is generally harmless. As for your Achilles tendonitis I'd take steps to prevent a recurrence. Stretch well after jogging, use ice if it feels tender, rest if it begins to flare up. Massage that area when you have time. Don't ignore any tenderness that reminds you of the tendonitis.

In the end gst is going to involve doing things outside your comfort zone. Rather than resisting your coach (since you seem set on him) I'd focus energy on learning to enjoy these things. In the end, this doesn't seem a battle worth picking. Either you have a competent coach, in which case you should continue, or your coach is bad, in which case you should consider a program like F1 which is provided by a competent coach. Hiring a coach and then resisting them is a waste of both of your time.

You don't need a coach to jog, particularly a gymnastics coach. If I was you I'd ask for him for GST while doing jogging in my own time.

I also hate jogging, so I rarely/never do it. Look up High Intensity Interval Training. I like it because it takes less time, is more fun, limits the repetitive impact on my dodgy ankle/knee, and has benefits for anaerobic system as well as potentially greater benefits for the aerobic system. 

My favourite is Tabata protocol, but its pretty intense and not a good place to start. You can build up, with some fartlek style training or something. 

An example of some sets I used to do: (not necesarily programmed like this)

5min warm up

2x5 40m sprints

1m30 effort (run as far as you can in 1min 30), 1min/30sec/whatever time, do several with short rest

Tabata

Half Tabata

30m sprints on 10,9, or 8 seconds for a minute

Cool down 5min

+ Jump rope

My only experience is with female gymnastics so beam, bars, vault, floor. In an adult gymnastics class first thing I do is teach basics on all equipment if the person wants to learn all the events. Flexibility/mobility are usually extremely poor in an adult with no prior experience and a large part of training is dedicated to that. A lot of emphasis is put on learning the proper body positions: hollow hold, open shoulders, arch, bridge, pike. Jogging while not a worthless activity (especially for a sedentary adult) will have little to no carry over to actual skills, which is what gymnastics is all about. 

Too old at 27? In my classes I had people 36+ that worked up to round-off-backhandspring-tucks and standing tucks.