Article on whether gymnastic training stunts growth.

[Kiyumars]

Decades of studies at the University of Austin has not provided a conclusive answer as to whether gymnastic training stunts the growth of pubescent trainees.

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/09/does_gymnastics_derail_puberty/

[Sailor Venus]

One thing came to my mind. What about children taken up other sports from a very young age? For example, kids learning to play football and started to learn tackling. Is tackling/being tackled bad for growth development? Stuff like that.

[Coach Sommer]

Decades of studies at the University of Austin has not provided a conclusive answer as to whether gymnastic training stunts the growth of pubescent trainees.

Gymnastics no more stunts growth than playing basketball causes growth. There is no mystery here; within the arena of competitive athletics most people simply gravitate toward the sport which is most suited for their particular phenotype.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Blairbob]

I came across two interesting incidences. Still, not concrete research.

http://www.quora.com/Parenting/How-does-one-maximize-the-height-growth-of-their-child

One thing is gymnastics is much more intense than swimming. You have to really watch calorie intake of child gymnasts because some won't end up growing because there is no net calorie surplus. You'll see that when some gymnasts retire and they are still in their teens, they skyrocket in height because all of a sudden they have the calories to grow.

This only really occurs with intense gymnastics training along the lines of elite development. Not Bobby and Julie doing gymnastics a few hours a week. Not most Americans doing competitive gymnastics. Just watch for the scrawny ones.

[timg]

You'll see that when some gymnasts retire and they are still in their teens, they skyrocket in height because all of a sudden they have the calories to grow.

This happened to my fiance and her cousin when they both stopped Ballet (27+ hours per week) at the same time, simultaneous growth spurts even though one was over a year older.

[Blairbob]

Makes sense. 27 hours of ballet or anything would burn a lot of calories. And ballet dancers are not encouraged to really get any bigger. No idea what her teachers were like but in general if they didn't impose it, it might have been self imposed by peer pressure.

[Sailor Venus]

There! What is stopping growth? Calorie deficit! Not exercise. Mystery solved.

New mystery: Could a tall height create a disadvantage for gymnasts and ballet dancers? If so, why?

[Blairbob]

Well, it still doesn't rule out compressive forces. Gymnastics has them, swimming doesn't.

Being tall is no bueno for gymnastics in general. Slower rotation of the body. Might twist faster though.

[Ryan Libke]

I note that the sport of wrestling carries with it growth concerns, as there is an emphasis of staying within a certain weight class. In that regard, there are now some controls to protect against calorie deficiency and undue loss of body fat. This seems to further support the premise that it is the lack of caloric surplus that is the concern, not the activity itself.