They fly through the air with the greatest of ease, first on floor routines and balance beams, and now on sporting event courts and, well, pretty much anywhere and everywhere.
 
It's true. Gymnasts seem to have picked the best extracurricular activity to prepare them for the rigors of any sport that may follow. But why, though? Why is it that their training has enabled them to transition so seamlessly into all other areas of fitness? Why are they the unicorns of the fitness realm? Able to develop an intermediate competency of a sport in far less time than it takes most of us mere mortals months to even begin to grasp. What do they have that we don't? And furthermore, how do we get it?
 
Let’s start at the beginning. When you first take a gymnastics class, whether you are a child or an adult, it’ll start with the very basics of movement. Instructors teach students how to move, and how to pay attention to those teeny, tiny details that will make all the difference when it comes to competition day. While yes, there are many ways to perform a movement, gymnasts are judged on their ability to do it with textbook perfection.
 
In most sports, you are first taught what the moves are and how to perform them, followed by the rules and regulations. For example, let’s look at soccer. There are regulations regarding staying in bounds and how high your foot can go when making a kick, but the little ways you move your body are really up to you. If you don’t perfectly point your toe after a kick, you are still going to receive the same number of points as long as the ball makes it into the goal.
 
Or let’s take a peek at baseball. Yes, there are foul balls, and you have to make sure you are on base, but if your run looks ugly AF, it doesn’t matter. Football: flags and penalties aside, goals are counted despite the minute motions of a player’s body. Tennis: we’re all impressed with a powerful backhand or when a player makes a run for the ball. In the same vein, we all cringe when they fall making a play. But again, as long as the ball makes it within bounds, the point is awarded. Volleyball: those players take some nasty dives! Despite the sand rash, if the ball lands within bounds, a point is a point.
 
I think you get the idea that across most sports, as long as players are in bounds and adhere to the acceptable types of moves that can be applied in their sport, the point is going to count. In gymnastics, the moves are the sport. Gymnasts compete based on how perfectly they perform the movement: pointed toes, seamless transitions, and attire all apply. Each judge is actually watching for errors within their assigned category where they will deduct points for faults. Categories such as difficulty and execution take into consideration how well the movements/routine should be performed based on the standard performance of others and all those potential technical flaws, plus judges to cross-reference it all.
 
I bet you never thought about all of those things, huh? With them in mind, you can probably start to understand why gymnasts can easily transition into other sports. It’s because they are accustomed to performing the movements perfectly, which means that they are more likely to be efficient with their energy and less likely to injure. We have all seen that person who just makes us cringe at the sight of how they perform a certain movement. Gymnasts? They are probably going to perform it perfectly almost every time because that is just how things work in their experience of physical fitness.
 
No wonder gymnasts just starting CrossFit perform handstand walks, ring skills, and bar work with the gracefulness of a ballerina in Swan Lake. Or why that person in your Pilates class seems to have a core of steel, able to complete all of the core sequences without the usual grimace of most of the class. It demystifies the magic behind the new member’s ability to take the slightest cue from their coach and transform it into a winning performance. This newfound POV also provides some insight as to how that n00b in kickboxing is executing their kicks and punches with such expertise, how the first timer can reach all of the deepest yoga poses, and how this unassuming person off the street was able to step into class and make it look like a walk in the park, and an elegant walk in the park at that.
 
We should also take into account their understanding of body awareness. The requirements of gymnastics mean that they have learned to pay attention to those little muscles that mean big things in terms of both movement aesthetic and performance. When they are told to move a certain way, chances are they know more than one way to achieve that movement right off the bat. If they don’t, they will be quick to figure it out, thus making them the true unicorns of fitness.
 
By now you’re probably wishing you had thrown on a leotard and spent some time on a mat in your younger years. (I know I am). That’s when one should do gymnastics, right? When they are young and flexy and ready to absorb all of those movement patterns and put our muscle memory to good use. Good news: Scientific studies have shown that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Some may tout that there is no time like the present, and as much as that phrase makes me want to hit the tout-er, it’s true. There are things you can do right now to squeeze some of those gymnastic juices into your current athletic performance.
 
The first thing you can do is the most obvious. You can take a gymnastics class. This is what I recommend for those starting out or those who feel like they could benefit from focusing on detail. Get on Google and get out there. A professional coach, whether in a group or one-on-one setting, is your best bet for understanding movements that will likely translate to your current sport of choice.
 
If you are somewhat experienced, and kinda sorta know how to move, but have questions about finessing it all together, then an option for you might be to find a coach who will work with you on your specific goals. In this case, they might meet with you to access current movements and provide homework for you to complete on your own. Online coaches are great for this! Especially if you have someone who is local so you can meet with them once a week or so for a hybrid approach.
 
There are also online gymnastics programs with how-to videos you can use. These often do not come with any supervision and should be done at your own risk. However, if movements are done properly, these videos can definitely play an important role in increasing your body awareness and movement patterns.
 
Gymnastic movements are a great way to supplement and enhance your training. The amount of control exhibited by gymnasts is undeniable, and it only makes sense that same commitment to movement standards translates to other fitness genres. We can’t be mad at them for doing what comes naturally to them! But we can take some of their practices and incorporate them into our own athletic pursuits. And when we do, we might just end up being the unicorn of our sport.