Stretching exercises for the whole family!
Everyone knows it from school sports or from their own garden. Bar gymnastics is one of the most popular and simplest types of apparatus gymnastics. The corresponding bars can be found not only in gyms or at competitions, but also on almost every playground. There are some simple basic exercises that can be performed without much experience.
What is a bar?
A horizontal bar is an apparatus in apparatus gymnastics. The stretching bar is common nowadays. It consists of a long horizontal bar that can be mounted in different ways. The gymnastics bar is mounted on two vertical bars, which are each held with one or two clamping sides. This does that gymnastics bar elastic, which can be very helpful for many exercises.
As a modified version of the gymnastics bar in gyms, there are also horizontal bars for the garden, which are often very popular with middle-aged children.
Who does gymnastics on a horizontal bar?
In top-class sport, the horizontal bar is one of the men's gymnastics equipment and comes last in the Olympic order. In general, anyone can train on a horizontal bar. It is often used in physical education classes or in gymnastics clubs.
What should you pay attention to when doing a stretching exercise?
As with any other sport, it is important to warm up properly before you start and to relax your muscles. Run a few laps first and then jump in place. Also stretch your muscles before you start exercising on the horizontal bar.
Adjust the gymnastics bar to suit your height if the bar is height-adjustable. The ideal height is your shoulder height. If you want to do free bar gymnastics, choose a bar that is closest to your shoulder height. Note that you never wear gloves when training on the horizontal bar, even when the bar is cold. Because with gloves, there is a very high risk that you will slip off the bar and suffer fatal injuries.
Simple stretching exercises
There are a few simple basic exercises that can be performed on horizontal bar without any previous experience.
hip lift
This upswing is the best lesson to get on the horizontal bar.
Stand in the middle of the bar so that the distance between your chest and the bar is no more than 10 cm.
Grasp the bar with both hands, palms facing you.
Now get some momentum with your preferred swing leg. The more practice you have, the smaller the swing movement will be.
Take the momentum in an upward movement of your legs and pelvis. It is important to get the pelvis as close as possible to the gymnastics bar and at the same time to swing your legs over the gymnastics bar.
The upper body follows the movement of the legs and you roll up over the gymnastics bar until you are upright again. Now your weight no longer rests on the floor, but on your pelvis over the gymnastics bar.
The hands remain firmly enclosed on the bar during the entire process. With this upswing you have reached the optimal starting position for all further stretching exercises.
hip swing
You start from the starting position you get when you finish the swing. Bend your shoulders slightly forward over the bar, creating a hip bend.
Then quickly pull your legs backwards so that you are stretched backwards. You have to use the momentum. It quickly goes back down until the shoulder is vertical. Then your shoulder has to move back and your legs go forward, creating a slight hip bend. The hips are pressed against the bar. And the rotation takes care of itself.
tipping upswing
This upswing stretches your arms and legs. You let yourself hang in your long outstretched arms and stretch your legs out long in front of you. Then gain momentum so that your legs swing forward under the gymnastics bar.
You have to use this momentum and at the foremost point under the bar you begin to pull your stretched legs in the direction of the bar and as soon as you are back with your head under the gymnastics bar, pull your upper body. Then you are back in the starting position for all further exercises.
Conclusion on the horizontal bar exercise
Stretching exercises are one of the easier disciplines in the field of apparatus gymnastics, which are practiced more frequently by men than by women in the professional sector. But also in school sports or at home, with a little practice, stretching exercises on the bar can be easily learned.
However, you should not underestimate the whole thing and warm up properly in advance. Body tension and body control are also very important in this type of gymnastics. You should always make sure you have a firm and dry grip, during a lesson with a lot of momentum, slipping off due to wet hands or gloves can cause serious injury.