Wendy Bruce Martin was a member of the 1992 Olympic squad. She has been involved in gymnastics for 36 years and has been coaching for 22 of those years. She received a degree in psychology and is a certified mental toughness coach. Wendy owns the Mental Toughness Company, GET PSYCHED! and is co-owner of Gold Medal Moms. So when Wendy talks almost why a kid might want to exercise gymnastics, we know we're hearing the words of an expert.

To quote Wendy:

"Many cannot understand why a kid wants to be in a gym 25 hours a calendar week. Why they cull to swing bars with rips, tumble with sprained ankles, or go upwardly off the flooring after they have crashed on the beam and try their skill once again and again without blinking an eye.

They do information technology considering they honey the challenge. When others would mutter that something is too hard and shy away, they lean into the challenge. When others are fearful and want to stop, they notice a manner to knock downward the fright and walk over information technology. They do it to experience pride, satisfaction, appreciation, accomplishment; they do information technology to feel alive."

According to Wendy, if you're not a gymnast, you may never sympathize. But y'all may be closer to that understanding after reading this piece. Wendy knows that it's all about the challenge.

Wendy visited a gym in Colorado in 2022 and was overwhelmed by the number of talented gymnasts she saw: xi year olds doing skills that were in her routines in the Olympics and doing them like information technology was no large deal.

Most trained 25+ hours per calendar week and were excellent (in fact, honor) students in school.

The experience of watching these young gymnasts took Wendy dorsum to her babyhood and forced her to recall, once again, the reasons why, as a young girl, she put the daily effort into gymnastics and continued to do information technology yr subsequently year.

Gymnastics requires a lot from a immature person. And then much and then that Wendy remembers people request if she chose to be so involved or if her parents had pushed her to do it. They merely couldn't imagine why a child would want to do a sport that was so demanding and consuming.

Gymnastics does take a person who is curious about perfection, fond to details and persistent to encounter if they can brand it right. Yes, gymnastics is difficult but it's the challenge that captures participants.

Nosotros're sharing a portion of Wendy's article on GymnasticsCoaching.com "Why Do Gymnastics?" considering no i can share these thought better than Wendy.

Sports can test a person. It asks: "Hey you, I am going to innovate you to fear, and I want to see how to respond." Does the person ascension upward to the task, practise they freeze, or do they run away?"

Sports says: "Hey y'all, I am going to ask y'all to run until you lot tin't run anymore; until y'all can't feel your legs and can't breathe" Does the person say okay, bring it on, or do they whine and whimper and feel lamentable for themselves?

Many athletes thrive on these challenges. It is the challenge that drives them. It'south what makes them come alive.

Have y'all e'er wondered why someone would set out on a 26.two mile run or surf a 50 pes wave? It's the challenge. We do these things because nosotros want to see how nosotros volition answer.

When a runner is on their 20th mile, their feet are blistered and bleeding, their knees are shooting with farthermost pain, and they desire to end; what volition they practise? Will they keep running or will they stop? They may question why they are putting themselves through this quasi-torture, but then they reach deep down and find the strength to go on, they show themselves that they are able of pushing through and even when everything is telling them to stop, they don't listen. They know they want to feel the exhilaration of accomplishment, more than they want to stop because of pain. They learn how to fight through the pain and learn that pain is temporary. And considering they pushed through, they know they are stronger than they in one case thought they were.

When a surfer decides to surf a 50 foot wave, they know they volition be faced with fear. A fear to almost other people is unnecessary. This athlete wants to test themselves and see how they react when fear is shoved in their confront. Once they brand the decision to get dropped into the h2o, there is no turning back. There is non time to be careful or cautious. They must give themselves to the wave. They must throw fright aside and focus on power of the water and what an honor it is to exist a role of nature. Their middle may beat out out of their breast, only fear did not stop them because they accept learned that fear is non real.

Athletes that feed on this challenge are hungry to find out if they tin add one more turn to their flip. They desire to see if they can elevator ane more kilogram, if they can jump college, run faster, or throw longer than they did the day earlier. They crave the satisfaction of knowing their mind and torso are being used to their fullest potential. They thrive on working hard to master their sport. They plan how they can be ameliorate and they will exercise what information technology takes, and more.

And then for those who don't understand this habit that forces a gymnast to lean into the challenge when others would complain that its too hard and shy abroad, when others are fearful and want to cease. Gymnasts observe a way to knock downwards the fright and walk over information technology to feel pride, satisfaction, appreciation, accomplishment; they do it to feel alive.

Over again – directly from Wendy:

Challenges are there to breakdown, push through, or climb over. Challenges don't have to stop u.s.a., they are at that place to exam us. Life'due south challenges are naught more than than little tests. The next fourth dimension y'all are faced with a challenge, stand up, lean in, and see what y'all are capable of. Yous may exist surprised that yous are stronger, smarter, faster, and more than courageous than you thought you were.