I received an email yesterday from a neighbor of ours asking advice about picking a gymnastics academy for her 5-year old daughter. I think this response can be applied to what one should look for in any coach at any level:

"Emily,

Sure, we'll happily help to relieve the squash overload problem!

I haven't heard anything about Cardinal, but I've heard good things about Fairfax. I believe Fairfax Gymnastics has been around for quite some time and has great success on the competitive level. Unfortunately, that's about all the info I have!

My advice to you would be to go observe a class at each location (maybe without Lillie so that you can give total focus to what you see). At SAPT we have very little turnover and I believe it is because of our ability to walk the fine line between friend and authority figure and the fact that we are extremely detail oriented/"we know what we're doing"... these are things I think you should look for and be able to find in a good gymnastics academy.

Overall, you want two things, 1. an instructor who communicates exceptionally well with the class and the individual child and, 2. an instructor who is extremely technically proficient

If I were in your shoes here's what I would be looking for:
How does the instructor interact with the children and how the children respond/interact back?
What happens if the coach gets pulled away from the group for a moment to help one child?
Is there a lot of waiting around?
How detailed does the instructor seem to be with the class?
Take a look at how the kids execute the movements - even if you don't fully understand the technical aspect - how does it look as a whole? Does the instructor immediately correct incorrect movement patterns? How is the correction communicated?

My assumption is that any part of the curriculum is appropriate for her age group, but the difference maker is QUALITY of instruction and movement execution. You will see kids who have a very tough time replicating movement patterns, but the important thing here is how the instructor deals with these challenges. If the instructor seems to ignore poor quality movement patterns then that is a red flag. This, to me, means that either the instructor has poor communication skills or (perhaps worse) has given up on that individual child.

At the level Lillie will be working at initially you should be able to relax and not worry about injuries! Things only become dangerous if the coaching instruction is of low-quality. WIth a highly attentive, quality focused instructor Lillie will be in good hands.

I hope this helps. We regularly deal with the after-effects of poor coaching. These after-effects show up in the form of both traumatic injury and overuse injury. So, at this point I feel pretty certain about what I will be looking for in coaches when the time comes for us! "

We'll happily relieve the squash overload problem?!? What? - Sarah

A1 Box Jumps 3x5

A2 Ankle Jumps 2x12

Speed Box Squats 10x2 (:35)

B1 Pullup Ecc's 3x3x:06

B2 :03 Iso Lunge Holds 3x4/leg

C1 BB RDL 3x10

C2 Tow/Heel Walk 2x20 steps each

C3 KB Pinch 2x20 rocks of Arabella's car seat

19lbs lost so far - Sarah

Ryan and I trained together on Sunday - it was his first training session in about three weeks. He's probably sore today.

DE Bench Press 9x3 (:30) @ 65-75lbs

A1 BB Floor Press 3x5 @ 75

A2 Plank 3x:30

B1 SA Band Chest Press 3x:15xAMAP/arm

B2 Inverted Row 3x8, 10, 12

C1 Band Biceps Curls 2x20

C2 SA Band Pushdowns 2x12/arm

C3 SA Bottoms-up KB Shoulder Press 2x8/arm

- Sarah

WEAK... as a kitten.

A1 BB Jump Shrug 3x4 @ 65, 75, 85

A2 Broad Jump 3x2

Box Squat 3x5 @ 75, 85, 85 - pathetic, but it was the best I had today

B1 Pullup/Chinup 4x5 (2 sets ea way)

B2 Lateral Stepup 2x10/leg

C1 Face Pulls 2x12

C2 SL DL Hip Bridge 2x12

C3 Plate Pinch 2x:20/hand

I couldn't get my hips to the proper height to do the single leg hip bridge. That about sums it up.

There's still a baby on my lap - Sarah

Did 25% of a proper warm-up: Pullaparts, Behind Neck Pullaparts, Cuban Rotation 2x10 all

A1 Bench Press 3x5 @ you don't want to know

A2 Lying Plate Situps 2x10 @ 25

B1 Bottoms-up KB Bench Press 2x10 

B2 BB Row 3x10 @ 65

C1 KB Pinch Biceps Curls 2x10

C2 Band Pushdowns 2x10

C3 KB Pinch Lat Raise 2x10

This was the first time since late October that I have been able to do a flat bench press movement. It's been all incline pressing for the last 9 months. On my first press for the BB warm-up I almost threw the bar clear behind my head. My muscles really wanted to perform an incline press. But, by the second and third work sets I was successfully setting up tight and getting the correct bar path.

There's a baby on my lap right now - Sarah

First legit strength session in a long time. Although I felt anything but strong.

A1 Box Jump 4x4 - felt so slow, I'm surprised I didn't miss the box and fall

A2 Ankle Jump 2x10 - focus was on quick transition from toe to heel upon landing

DE Box Squat 10x2 (:45) @ 65 - I've previously done speed squats with 165lbs... oh, only a 100lb difference

B1 Pullup Iso Holds 3x3

B2 3-sec Iso Lunge Holds 2x5x:03/leg

C1  Wide Stance BB RDL 3x8 @ 75, 85, 95

C2 KB Pinch Wrist Curls 2x15/hand @ 10

C3 Heel Walk/Toe Walk 2x20 steps each

Power production? What power production? Sarah

Stayed at home and worked out on the bike trainer:

5-min bike w/Iso Lunge Hold x:15/leg; Pushup Iso's x3; Side Plank x:15/side - Repeated 3x

Then switched exercises last two sets: SL RDL x5/leg; Staggered Pushups x5/way; Plank x:15

Total of 25 min biking.

- Sarah

I went to a high school track to train this morning and see how the "wheels" felt. I was intending on doing 400m repeats, but found that by abs were having way too tough of a time bracing. So, I had to cut down the distance of the actual run. I ended up doing 16x100m run (not a sprint, more than a jog) with a :45-60 sec rest between reps. Well, the whole workout was tough. Aside from yet another bracing issue, my upper back was also extremely fatigued by the time the workout was over.

My weight is down 16lbs already. Only 10lbs to go to be back to pre-pregnancy weight.

- Sarah

Wednesday I took the baby out in the jogging stroller, not for a jog, but for a walk on Accotink trail. Well, I made what I'll call a "new mommy mistake." The trail was a bit too bumpy for Arabella. We walked a mile and then she made it known she'd had enough, so I had to carry that little meatloaf for the mile back to the house. Hence why I'm putting this in my training log.

Thursday - upper body focused circuitry:

6min - AMRAP: MB Facing Side Throw x10, MB Slam x10, Band No-Money x10

20-min to do 5 rounds:

Banded Pullups x10 (haven't done these in 2 or 3 months and managed to pull with my delts on the first rep thus making my shoulder feel like it was going to sublux - fall out of socket - every time I bent over for the rest of the day)

Walking Lunge x10

Inverted Row x10

Incline Pushups x10***

8 minutes for 5 rounds:

KB Curls x10 (b/c my arms look like pool noodles)

Band Pushdowns x10 (see above)

Banded SA Lat Raise x10/arm (b/c any kind of direct delt work is my favorite kind of vanity training)

***I've been kind of disturbed by how difficult pressing movements have become. But, it is reasonable to expect the largest decline in this area for several reasons: 1. the abdominal bracing needed for pushups was difficult and sometimes painful during pregnancy, 2. exercises requiring one to lay on their back were strictly forbidden, so no flat bench press variations or floor press, 3. weight gain + abdominal bracing issues made regular pushups quickly a "thing of the past" in my training for around 5 or 6 months.

Chris finally admitted he thinks I'm smart - Sarah