3 Things To Look For In A Nutrition Label

As parents of gymnasts, we prepare their meals most of the time so it is important that we know the proper nutrition for young gymnasts and how to properly check if a food is good for our kids or not. This is why we prepared a list of three things to look for in a nutritional label. 

Reading nutrition labels, or nutritional facts, are not only good for ourselves, but especially when cooking for other people like our young athletes. If our children are gluten free, we need to make sure that we cook something that doesn’t have any gluten in it. If our child’s diet doesn’t include a lot of carbs for a day, we need to be able to properly compute how many carbs there are on a food that we cooked. 

Nutritional labels of different food products aren’t exactly all the same, but reading a regular nutrition label can still help. As long as we know what we are looking for, we should be able to decode any kind of nutrition labels. So here we have prepared pointers on what we all need to know about reading nutrition labels. 

Serving Numbers and Serving Sizes 

When it comes to the number of servings and serving sizes, it is important to remember that nutritional facts are mostly based on one serving only. Always check the serving size to know how many servings we are going to take from a certain product, or how many servings we are letting our kids to eat. This means that the bigger the serving, the higher the calories. 

Take a bag of chips, for example. Usually at the top of the label, it is indicated how many chips make up a single serving. From there, we can identify how much sodium our children are going to eat from a serving size of eleven chips, for example. And as athletes who follow a strict diet, their intakes of salt should be very limited. 

On instances that we are comparing nutrients and calories between two different food brands, always check the serving size to ensure that they are based on the same measurement. 

Calories from Fat 

The “Calories” label under “Amount per Serving” is where we can see the number of calories the product has per serving. We will also see the amount of calories from fat here. 

Take note that even if something is fat-free, it doesn't mean that it's also free from calories. Even if a product is low-fat, it may have the same amount of calories as other products have, so we should always check the number of calories in the label. 

One thing to keep in mind is that just because something has a lot of calories, it doesn’t mean that our children are eating badly. We should look out more on how many of those calories come from fat. If a lot of the calories are from fat, then it’s good to steer clear of that product. Or, we could look if another brand has that product with less calories from fat. Then, we’ll still be able to get the food our young athlete wants and it will be a lot better for them. 

What is the %DV 

A lot of people doesn’t know what this means, but if you have been in charge for your child’s diet for a while, you might be familiar with it. %DV or the percentage of Dietary Value that each nutrient gives is essential for us to know how much of each nutrient we should allow our kids to consume daily to attain the health he needs for his sport. This is also a great way to find out if our children are not consuming enough of any particular nutrient. We need to make sure that we record all the %DV that our kids consumed each day. If any nutrients go over 100, then we’ll know he’s consuming more than he needs to. We should try to keep it as close to one hundred as possible. 

These are just three things to look for in a nutritional label, to read more and get updated on all important health information, follow the posts on our Facebook Page. Looking for a fun and exciting way to learn gymnastics? Then come and enroll at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy today :) Come and learn gymnastics for kids with us!

New FIG World Cup To Be Held In Melbourne

Gymnastics Australia has confirmed today that International Gymnastics Federation’s (FIG) new World Cup Gymnastics is going to be held in Melbourne as a part of the 2017-2020 Olympic Cycle. The organization has successfully bid for one of the four stops on the Individual Apparatus World Cup four-year circuit along with Cottbus (Germany), Baku (Azerbaijan), and Doha (Qatar). The discipline included in this stop of the circuit are both men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics.

Later on in their Twitter account, Gymnastics Australia has also proudly announced that Aly Raisman, a member of Team USA’ Final Five, the team which garnered gold at the Rio Games, would be the official ambassador for the World Cup in Melbourne and will be in Australia for the events.

The mentioned events are a part of the 2016-2018 FIG Artistic Gymnastics Individual Apparatus World Cup Series. The first stop of the series has already been held in Cottbus, Germany, on November where the Hungarian gymnasts grabbed three of the 10 titles, the most of any nation.

In Australia, the events will be held in Hisense Arena on February 22-25, 2017. The first two days will be the qualifying and the last two days are for the finals. Across all these eight events in the 2016-2018 FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup series, the gymnasts will be given points based on their rankings on each apparatus at the different World Cup stops. The points from each gymnast’s best three finishes will be added to determine the World Cup series winner on that apparatus. The prize for the winner is 5,000 Swiss francs and will be awarded at the end of the series.

Additionally, the events hosted in 2019 and 2020 will be used as qualifying competitions for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Reportedly, there are already 13 countries which confirmed their attendance to the 2017 Australian leg of the FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup Series.

Stay updated on the news about gymnastics by following our official Facebook page! Learn gymnastics from the best sports academy in Singapore, enroll today at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy! Join us and learn gymnastics for kids with us!

Familiarizing the Rhythmic Gymnastics Events

As a parent who is new to gymnastics and wants to learn more of it, maybe because you are thinking about letting your kid join the sport, you probably have some misunderstanding of it. Most people think of artistic gymnastics when they hear the word “gymnastics.” This is not entirely wrong, but there is also another kind, which is rhythmic gymnastics. In this article, we are going to help and make you knowledgeable in this unique sport.

In rhythmic gymnastics, there are five pieces of equipment. These set of equipment are also called “events” because they are performed one at a time. One performance cannot use two or more equipment. Every two years, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), who is the governing body for Gymnastics worldwide, designates four of the apparatus to be used, and the other to be set aside for two years.

Before explaining what these events are, let us first get familiar with the floor.

The Floor

Accompanied by music from 75 to 90 seconds, every single rhythmic event is performed on a floor mat which has a measurement of about 42.5 feet by 42.5 feet. The floor for artistic gymnastics is different from that of rhythmic gymnastics. For rhythmic, the floor doesn’t have the same amount of spring or padding compared to the artistic floor, as per the request of rhythmic gymnasts. According to most, it is much easier to perform the skills required on a floor without spring and padding.

Aside from the events, there are also exercises done on the floor and without any apparatus. This event is only on the introductory levels of competition in the United States and abroad where it is a compulsory routine. It won’t be seen at the Olympics and other international competitions.

The Events

1) Ribbon – This apparatus is a single strip made of satin or a non-starched material, about 6.5 yards long and 1.5 to 2.3 inches wide. The ribbon is attached to a stick made of wood or synthetic materials that is 19.5 to 23.4 inches long and .4 inches wide.

2) Rope – The rope is measured proportional to the height of the gymnast and is made out of hemp or synthetic material.

3) Hoop – This apparatus is made of either wood or plastic and is 31 to 35 inches in its interior diameter.

4) Clubs – The clubs has the same length, which is about 16 to 20 inches long. They are made from wood or synthetic material and should weight about 5.2 ounces each for easier handling.

5) Ball – The ball must be made from rubber or synthetic materials and should also be 7 to 7.8 inches in diameter. Neon-colored balls are not allowed and the only patterns approved on the ball are geometric patterns.

To know how these apparatuses are used, watch Bianka Panova herself perform on each here:

To read more fitness and gymnastics-related articles, visit our educational blogs. Experience a fun and imaginative gymnastics training, come and enroll today at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy :)

How to Get Over a Block

On a previous article, we have discussed briefly the important things we needed to know about blocks in gymnastics and the different reasons why this phenomenon happens. To refresh our knowledge, here is the article: What is a Block in Gymnastics?

Now that we know what blocks are and why it happens, it’s about time that we learn HOW to get past it. It has been mentioned that the gymnast herself who is suffering from a block doesn’t have any conscious control over it, but there are ways that could help the gymnast and here are some of them:

1. Talk to the coach

- First thing to do when one has a block is talk to her coach. Almost all gymnast encounter a mental block during her entire career, so chances are the coach have already seen this happen many other times. The gymnast should be honest about what she feels and what she is experiencing so the coach would understand. Work with the coach and create a plan about how the gymnast can get comfortable with the skill.

2. Visualize

- Once a plan has been worked out with the coach, the nest step is to visualize the skill. The gymnast should mentally imagine that she is doing the skill. The more detail, the better. She should find which part of the skill scares her the most and give emphasize on it. Repeat the part over and over again in her head. Also, she can try doing the hand and foot movements without actually performing it while her eyes are closed, still visualizing the skill.

Now on an instance that she can’t visualize herself performing the routine, she could watch a video over and over again until she could picture herself doing it.

3. Advancements

- Once the gymnast has visualized enough that she thinks she can do it even in her sleep, she should try going back to the last skill she was able to do successfully. Repeat it multiple times until she’s gained confidence that she has once again regained her footing in gymnastics. Once she’s confident enough, she should then try doing the skill that scared her. Try it while the coach spots, on stacked mats, or into a pit or resi. Keep doing the skill many times until she feels ready to increase the level of difficulty. Remove a mat one at a time or have the coach spot less and less.

4. Keep at it

- The gymnast must be patient with herself, as well as the coach with their student. She can and she will get the skill back, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to get her mind on track. She must keep working on different methods and she’ll eventually get there, just don’t give up!

Listed here are just a few ways that could help a gymnast going through a block. However, it should be kept in mind that these ways doesn’t have instantaneous results, because this is a continuous process. If it didn’t work on the first time, continue doing it a few more times.

To read more gymnastics-related articles, visit our educational blogs. Experience a fun and imaginative gymnastics training, come and enroll today at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy :)

USA Gymnastics National Team Starts Four-year Training Cycle

Due to a scheduling error at the USA Gymnastics National Team’s normal training site at Karolyi Ranch in Huntsville, Texas, the team ended up practicing and holding their first post-Olympic camp at Midwest Training and Ice Center over the weekend.

The national team’s quadrennial began last Thursday. Quadrennial is a four-year training cycle done in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games. The members from the Trampoline and Tumbling Senior National Team, Senior National Development Team, and Junior National Team were all training together, and among them were 2016 Olympic trampolinists Logan Dooley and Nicole Ahsinger.

Before they were Olympians, the two trampolinists went through hard times like everyone else. Ahsinger was beaten by teammate Shalyee Dunavin in the USA Gymnastics Championships and she was afraid that she wouldn’t make it into the 2016 Olympics team. As luck would have it, Ahsinger garnered two Olympic selection points from the 2016 Elite Challenge and this helped push her score over Dunavin’s to claim a spot on the Olympic team.

Ahsinger was recorded to be saying that she watched the scores go up and thought to herself that she might have just done it, and when she told her mother, the older woman started crying. This selection into the 2016 Olympics made her the only female US Olympic trampoline athlete, and together with teammate Dooley they are the only two US Olympic trampoline athletes in Rio.

Logan Dooley also came from behind. He used to be an alternate for the 2008 and 2012 Olympic teams before he was the only male US trampoline athlete in Rio. Unluckily, he placed 11th in the qualification round and did not reach the finals. However, Dooley had the best Olympic finish in Team USA’s history for a male trampoline athlete. This motivates him to return to the 2020 Olympics by training harder.

Last Thursday’s camp is the beginning of a four-day program including newcomers and elitists. According to Catherine Cabral-Marotta, High Performance Director of the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling Program, the theme of the four-day camp was foundations because wherever an athlete’s skillset lies, the basics still have to be studied.

“The idea that we want to achieve at this camp is a lot of mental performance and goal setting,” Cabral-Marotta said.

In a performance sport like gymnastics, athletes learn to only compete with themselves and are taught to train their hardest and outdo themselves every year. These are some of the first lessons taught at camp.

Stay updated on the news about gymnastics by following our official Facebook page! Learn gymnastics from the best sports academy in Singapore, enroll today at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy! Join us and learn gymnastics for kids with us!

Do You Know What Ingredients to Avoid Feeding Your Child?

A few articles in our blogs have already tackled what are the best foods you should allow your athletic kid to eat and what could help develop his muscles and reduce fat. All over the internet, there are also countless materials talking about this, but do we really know what food ingredient we should avoid?

(Also read: Nutritional Needs of Young Athletes)

All around the places there are confusing articles saying one should eat this and shouldn’t eat that. The media further confuses people as one day they are talking about the disadvantages of fats, then the next day they would say that carbs are great for the body.

Food manufacturers also add to this muddle by printing misleading labels and bogus health claims. It had started to look like the whole system is set up to confuse and frustrate us into buying the latest and greatest packaged food.

But really, what ingredients are harmful to your young athlete’s health?

Listed below are the four ingredients you should avoid diligently.

1. White Flour

-White flour is a result of the processing of natural whole wheat until it is stripped off of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Basically, once this happened an ingredient is nutritionally void already. White flour is also packed with calories that release quickly into your child’s system, creating a spike in blood sugar and leads to hunger and ravings. A good alternative to this is whole wheat.

2. White Sugar

-Once again, this is a result of a sugar cane plant that underwent an intensive refining process. By refining a sugar cane, all of the enzymes fiber, vitamins and minerals are destroyed. Aside from weight gain, white sugar has been linked to weakened immune system, ADD, hyperactivity, mental and emotional disorders.

3. High Fructose Corn Syrup
-This is another form of sweetener, but man-made. It is derived from genetically modified corn. It promotes hysterical hunger, fat storage, and spikes your child’s blood sugar levels. HFCS is found in many mainstream products like cereals, crackers, ice cream, salad dressing, energy bars, and soft drinks.

4. Aspartame

-Yet again, aspartame is an artificial sweetener that was denied by the FDA 8 times before being approved in 1973. It is said to promote cravings for foods high in calories and carbohydrates as it stows away sugar. When sugar is not available, the result is hypoglycemia and severe hunger.

These are just some of the ingredients a child should avoid. Read more fitness and gymnastics-related articles by visiting our educational blogs. Experience a fun and imaginative gymnastics training, come and enroll today at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy :)

Common Gymnastics Injuries and How to Avoid Them

Gymnastics is a very demanding sport that needs to start when a child is still young, while her body is still soft and developing. Aspiring professional gymnasts undergo years of severe training to make their bodies flexible and gain an amazing balance on the floor, beam, bars, or rings.

A gymnast jumps and lands on her feet or hands, runs, dismounts, swings, flips and do all sorts of body expressions. She uses the whole of her body in a routine with a tremendous force, from sole to the tip of her fingers, causing stress on the shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands.

It is because of this intense training that gymnasts are prone to injuries. Their muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons are stressed for years. Their kind of training makes small wears and tears on a young gymnast’s body, and through the years they accumulate.

Your child might look healthy now, but later on small injuries might start occurring. It is important that you, as a parent, know what to watch out for and, if it did happen, know what to do about it.

Common Gymnastic Injuries

1. Sprained ankles – These are due to floor routines or falls from the balance beam or parallel bars. If the ankle rolls outward while the foot rolls inward, it can cause ligaments outside the ankle to stretch and tear.

2. Achilles Tendonitis – This is another foot injury. The Achilles tendon is just above the back of the heel and can be injured because of repetitive stress of jumping and landing. This injury is the Achilles Tendonitis, where the tendon is swollen and painful.

3. Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury – An ACL injury occurs when a gymnast lands short or is over-rotated when tumbling, dismounting or vaulting. The ACL is found on the knee, providing stability, and can rupture when twisted suddenly under high forces.

4. Spondylolysis – This is a back injury caused by strains and breaks. It occurs in a specific part of one or more vertebrae.

5. Herniated Discs – This happens when the lumbar segments become misaligned, putting pressure on the nerves of the spinal cord.

6. Wrist Sprains – The wrist is the most heavily used part of the body in gymnastics and a constant strain to this part of the body lead to sprains, tears or tendonitis.

Prevent or Cure Injuries

As much as possible, it is best to prevent the injuries listed above. On how to avoid injuries, read: Protect Your Young Gymnast From Injuries

However, if an injury did happen, almost all hospitals offer physical therapies. Therapists will work with the injured to reduce pain and get them back on the bars and mat as soon as possible.

Get updated on all important health information by following the posts on our Facebook Page. Looking for a fun and exciting way to learn gymnastics? Then come and enroll atBianka Panova Sport and Art Academy today :) Come and learn gymnastics for kids with us!

What You Need To Know About Concussions

Concussion is one of the most serious risks to young athletes. Kids’ body, at a young age, is still developing and therefore weaker than an adult’s. Whether the athlete plays football, hockey, soccer, baseball or any number of other sports that uses force or requires vigorous physical activities, a serious hit to the head or a repeated mild force causes a concussion, which manifest itself in different symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control defines concussion as a brain injury that affects how our brain works and it happens even when the person who has a concussion haven’t been knocked unconscious.

The symptoms for this injury vary from person to person and with each injury, but the common symptoms include:

•Headache

•Confusion

•Nausea or vomiting

•Difficulty remembering or paying attention

•Balance problems or dizziness

•Feeling sluggish, hazy, foggy or groggy

•Slowed reaction time

•Sleep problems

•Double or blurry vision

•Bothered by light or noise

If you think your kid have a concussion, they should not be allowed to return to play on the day of the injury and should be brought immediately to the doctor. Playing with concussion increases the risk of repeat concussions, and these take longer to recover, causing a delay to your kid’s return to play. Repeat concussions in young athletes could also result to brain swelling or permanent damage to the brain, could even be fatal.

(Also read: Protect Your Young Gymnast From Injuries)

Get updated on all important health information by following the posts on our Facebook Page. Looking for a fun and exciting way to learn gymnastics? Then come and enroll atBianka Panova Sport and Art Academy today :) Come and learn gymnastics for kids with us!