Gymnastics

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Sokol Ennis specializes in a gymnastics program that is designed for any age.  We were recognized as the first gymnastics club in Texas and celebrated 100 years in 2008. Most of our gymnastics staff is made up of parents who volunteer their time and energy to help teach and carry on the Sokol traditions. Our instructors are safety certified through USA Gymnastics as well as the American Heart Association. Through our gymnastics program, gymnasts learn hand/eye coordination, motor skills, balance, self-discipline and respect for themselves as well as respect for others. We provide a positive, safe, and fun environment. 

Contact: 972-921-1962 or fitness@sokolennis.com  

Gymnastics Fights Childhood Obesity 

As the recent news indicates, childhood obesity is epidemic in the United States. Children are not getting the physical activity their bodies require. Gymnastics is a wellness lifestyle. Gymnasts are encouraged to make healthy choices such as eating nutritious foods, maintaining a positive attitude, and participating in physical activity. Gymnastics promotes a total body workout. It encourages flexibility, muscular development, increased balance, speed, agility, coordination, proper posture, form, rhythm, and endurance. Gymnastics also encourages perseverance, determination, ambition, self-reliance, courage, and expressiveness. Although gymnastics also aids in fighting obesity, it also has several educational and wellness benefits. Resistance training, as in gymnastics, improves joint mobility, circulation, cardiovascular fitness, and muscular development. Physical activity has shown to prevent or delay the onset of juvenile diabetes and asthma.

Physical/Wellness Benefits 

•It has also been shown to prevent several types of cancer. Moderate impact sports, such as gymnastics, have been proven to increase development of bone density and prevent osteoporosis.

•Physical fitness has also been proven to delay the onset of high blood pressure.

•Gymnastics can also increase skills necessary for many other sports. Most gymnasts excel in multiple sports such as: softball, baseball, basketball, football, etc.

•Because gymnastics increases flexibility, it aids in injury prevention.

•Gymnasts are not only the strongest athletes in the world, but they also have the highest bone density of athletes.

Mental/Educational Benefits

•Children are better able to learn cognitive skills when they are using both their bodies and minds.

•Children involved in physical activity have higher self-esteem.

•Children involved in physical activities have higher attendance in school, less abuse of alcohol and tobacco, and also lower levels of anxiety and depression.   •Gymnastics improves hand-eye coordination and communication skills.

•Gymnastics also encourages children to build and maintain confidence in oneself as well as high levels of self-respect.

•Gymnasts must also learn to communicate with coaches and other gymnasts, and they must also develop listening skills.

•Gymnasts develop superior time management skills that allow them to prepare more fully for school. Gymnasts tend to perform better in school and maintain higher grades. Gymnastics creates a higher spatial awareness in its participants.

 •Gymnasts, as early childhood movement education, is directly linked to neurological pathways development that aid in reading readiness.

•Children who have participated in gymnastics have longer attention spans and develop general problem solving skills more readily.

•Gymnastics is a complex sport that requires its students to incorporate several types of athleticism and learning tools. Gymnasts experience everything from physics to cultural appreciation. Gymnastics has also been proven to benefit children with learning disabilities, autism, and Down Syndrome.

Children benefit from gymnastics throughout their lives. It is often the beginning of a lifetime of healthy choices and an active lifestyle, while building confidence and self-esteem. The benefits of participation in the sport of gymnastics are lifelong.     

**Information in this article provided by FlipCity Gymnastics Academy of Indiana.