Below is a summary of how gymnastics and swimming compare with the development of the health components of fitness:
Cardiovascular Endurance:
Gymnastics |
Swimming |
|---|---|
| Good VO2max that drops from about 55-47 mL/kg/min as the gymnast ages from her teens to her 20s | Excellent VO2max from about 40-60 mL/kg/min |
| Mostly anaerobic training | Mostly aerobic training |
| High metabolic threshold resulting in improved fatigue tolerance | Larger left ventricle of the heart due to increased blood flow during training |
Muscular Strength:
Gymnastics |
Swimming |
|---|---|
| Do a lot of sport specific strength training | Do mostly high intensity sprints, and moderate intensity laps. |
| Develops all types of static and dynamic strength | Develops mostly isokinetic strength, which is not very practical |
| Superior strength compared to norms | Average strength when compared to norms except for superior isokinetic strength |
Muscular Endurance:
Gymnastics |
Swimming |
|---|---|
| Push past fatigue at practice so that during competition, they can last through the whole routine with perfect form and adequate power to execute the skills successfully. | Push past fatigue at practice so that during a race, they can last through the whole event and can display explosive speed even through the last lap. |
Flexibility:
Gymnastics |
Swimming |
|---|---|
| Required for the aesthetics and to make skills easier and safer to perform | Required only to prevent injury before practice or a race and to maintain proper function in the joints. |
| Joints must be overstretched to ensure sharp toe point, straight legs, and fulls splits during competition which may lead to hyperlaxity | Joints such as the shoulder are subject to hyperlaxity and injury |
| More flexible than control groups | Most often less flexible than control groups possibly due to the hindrance of the large muscle development. |
Body Composition:
Gymnastics |
Swimming |
|---|---|
| Requires low body fat for aesthetics and to make skills easier | slightly unathletic body fat levels may promote buoyancy and therefore conserves energy |
| 20-40 training week means a high calorie expenditure | aerobic qualities of training causes fat loss during the season |
| Very low body fat percent Pressures to be thin may Cause female athlete triad |
Average/unathletic body composition |
