The Importance of Consistent Tumble Training

Hi Everyone! It feels surprisingly good to be writing some tumbling blogs again, particularly after having such a long time away from the gym this year. I hope everyone is enjoying being back in the MCA facility, and feeling good about our journey towards Covid normal. This blog is going to talk about the importance of consistency in our tumbling training, particularly when we are having to rebuild our strength, conditioning, and fitness after such a long lockdown. Perfect Practice Makes Perfect The old adage ‘practice makes perfect’ often springs to my mind, and I always smile at remembering a friend of mine from the Canadian Armed Forces who would insist ‘practice doesn’t make perfect…perfect practice makes perfect!’. While this distinction may seem like splitting hairs, it is an important one to understand. When we practice our tumbling skills, we are teaching our bodies and brain to perform the skills subconsciously, with minimal effort or mistakes. To achieve this level of mastery takes hours upon hours of training skills, drills, and conditioning. Tumbling is, by its very nature, and elite sport, as you are asking your body to do things which it cannot do without significant training. The unfortunate (and immensely frustrating) truth about tumbling is that the better you get, the more you need to practice, and that skills which are won over years can be lost over weeks. Being an elite tumbler means working hard to achieve and then maintain high fitness levels, and the only way to be successful in this journey is to train consistently. Get In The Gym At Every Opportunity As we embark on the road to Covid normal, we are also working towards regaining the skills we have lost during the lockdown. Tumbling once per week is a fantastic way to start ‘dusting off the cobwebs’, but I would encourage athletes to get in the gym for as many casual tumbling classes as they can reasonably manage in the coming weeks. Training moderately 2-3 times per week is going to help you make a smoother transition back to full fitness than training heavily once per week, and careful, consistent training is less likely to leave you feeling unreasonably sore. It is also the perfect way to build back your confidence and avoid mental blocks, as a ‘bad tumbling day’ is not nearly as upsetting when you have another training session later that week to get it right. If anyone has any questions or queries about rebuilding their tumbling fitness, please feel free to shoot me an email at chris@melbournecheeracademy.com Casual tumbling classes can be booked through MCA at https://melbournecheeracademy.com/casual-tumbling-classes/ Private tumbling classes can be booked through MCA at https://melbournecheeracademy.com/private-classes/ My best wishes to you all, and I am looking forward to seeing you on the floor! Chris