Interesting topic! I enjoyed the slides that complemented your speech and made it easy to understand. The slides acted as a visual aid. A picture is worth a thousand words! I also enjoyed the primary sources you used in your presentation. Lastly, I remember there are different types of gymnastics such as floor, double bar, etc… are the injuries of each the same?
-Derek
talonsjen said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 10:16 am
Thanks for the input! I didn’t research much into the types of injuries for each event, but from my research I can conclude that certain events put more stress on certain joints that other do-for example, the pressure on the joints of your wrist is huge for the uneven bars, because your wrist are twisting and supporting your entire body. But, in events such as floor and beam, moves such as back flips probably put around the same amount of pressure on your wrists.
Richard Zhang said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 11:48 am
I can say that I enjoyed your TED Talk, even as I comment on it nearing midnight, but I thought that it wasn’t dull, it was easy to understand, and also the pictures were very helpful in supporting your TED Talk, though I could suggest, adjusting the lighting a bit as it was a bit hard to see the pictures, and especially the text on the slides clearly.
Being someone who does acrobatics and such, I feel obliged to comment.
I’m glad you did mention the “no pain no gain” idea at the end, because I was thinking about that throughout your TED talk. At a certain point, you never will become more flexible, more strong, without pushing yourself past your limits which will result in some pain. At the same time, giving yourself injuries which will be with you for life doesn’t exactly seem like the best idea either.
See, for me in what I do, stress on my bones isn’t as much of an issue. What does come up is the idea of flexibility. My mom often shakes her head and tells me I’m going to end up needing a hip replacement when I’m only 30. Although maybe I am doing stress on my body, practicing to build flexibility and strength isn’t all bad, and I’m not talking about getting medals and awards. Being flexible can also help to prevent injuries. Muscles aren’t as likely to pull when they are more flexible, and you won’t get stiff etc… There are certain benefits to being very flexible. You won’t only end up without messed up bones.
Also, I feel that personally, when you’re careful you can prevent many of these injuries. Things like warming up properly can have massive benefits. Of the ones you talked about in your TED talk, I was wondering if there were any which were preventable by doing the same thing a different way? It would be nice to know that there is still hope for people who want to continue doing these things.
Anyways, awesome TED talk. It looks very professional. It’s too bad about all the background noise, though
talonsmichelle said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Great job Jen! You really opened my eyes as to what gymnasts go through. As an athlete myself, I can relate to the “no pain no gain” philosophy. Sometimes you have to play(or perform) through injuries so you can win. Like Megan said, being flexible helps reduce injuries, but the joints can also get dislocated more easily. Is there any other part of the body that has a high risk of injury when you are doing gymnastics (besides the wist and back). Is the ankle/achilles a high source of injury too? I know my achilles tendonitis was bugging me when I did gymnastics in gym, and that was very minor moves compared to what gymnasts do.
Overall, great job.
-Michelle
talonsjen said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Thanks! It is hard to get the lighting right, isn’t it?
talonsjen said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Thanks for the comment!
Question: You say “See, for me in what I do, stress on my bones isn’t as much of an issue.” But don’t you need a hip replacement because of the stress on your hip joint?
Anyways, I do agree with the fact that being flexible can have it’s benefits, and I would like to hear both a professional gymnast and a doctor speck about where to draw the line-where your flexibility goes from being helpful to harmful.
Preventing injuries is a big issue that I didn’t touch on, but I have a couple scientific studies on prevention that you could check out. I don’t want my friend biting her nails with worry every time she enters an Acro class. :p
talonsjen said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Thanks! The ankle is a BIG issue that I didn’t touch on, because I wanted to focus on vastly different areas of the body. Like the wrist, the ankle undergoes much stress in gymnastic, and injuries such as twisted ankles are a huge problem. I didn’t research much into the long term effects of gymnastics on the ankles, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were quite similar to those of the wrist. Just imagine the amount of stress on the joints of the ankle when landing a flip from the beam, uneven bars, or vault (etc.)!
Awesome job Jen! You’ve got great, clear research that’s backed up by real scientists and professors.
I quite like this topic. For athletes, there’s an understanding that pain and injury sort of comes with success. You can’t climb a mountain until you’ve fell about a thousand times. For many of the Olympic gymnasts, having sore wrists or creaky joints in the future is all worth it, as long as the GOLD medal is theirs. I guess that’s the problem with the competitive world. People become so wrapped up with winning that they’ll suffer and make others suffer as long as they get the top prize.
Once again, great job!
Sara without and "h"'s Blog! said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Since I also do acrobatics I really enjoyed your topic and the video itself. I know that there are older dancers and teachers at my studio that suffer from ankle and wrist injuries similar to the ones you have been discussing in your video. I think it is scary to see the kinds of consequences that being a gymnast or dancer have on your body in the long run. I have a few questions, first are there more people that are more prone to getting these types of injuries? So are different people with different bone masses be effected differently? Or is it pretty much the same for everyone, everyone having the same chance and risk to injury? YOu also mentioned that these injuries are more commonly found in elite and olympic level gymnasts. Is there a safe amount of time that you can spend working on these tricks that will not result in injury for these gymnasts? Also you mentioned Hypermobility Syndrom, and that it can cause dislocation of joints. I was woundering if ther was a cure or something that could be done about it at least make the pain less? I loved your video! Amazing topic and amazing job jen!
talonsjen said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Awesome comment-thanks!
By the way, what do you mean by “and make others suffer”?
Interesting TED Talk topic Jen! I agree with many, the visual representations helped me understand the topic. Props to you! My suggestion would be to elaborate more on other kinds of injuries. For example, ankle injuries are common and frequent for gymnasts. I am very curious to ask, Why do some gymnasts get injured more than others? For me, I don’t do gymnastics but I get injured a lot in track and field. As for my sister, she does the same track & field events as me but has never been hurt. Anyway, great job with the topic!
When I was watching the Olympics and other competitive gymnastics, I always wonder how they do it and what happens to their joints but I never once thought about the wrist or dislocation. How many times do you have to pound on your wrist so that your bones don’t grow? It’s mind boggling. I’m also surprised by how I haven’t actually heard a lot about gymnastic injuries. Your TED talk was a real eye opener for me, and I’ve never understood the “no pain no gain” better.
talonsjen said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
I understand what you mean about adding in ankle injuries-I briefly discussed those types of injuries with Michelle in response to her comment.
I didn’t research much into the topic of why some people are injured more that others, but I can extrapolate that it partially depends on your genetics and past history of injuries. I wonder why you and your sister are so different? That would be a very interesting tangent of the subject of sport’s injuries to explore.
talonsjen said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Thanks so much for the comment-I’m very glad my TED Talk opened your eyes. As to your question, I have to say I don’t know the answer. Something to explore!
Immy said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Very interesting Jen! The slideshow and whole presentation was amazing as always! As i was watching more or mess the only thing going through my head was “WHY is this even legal for teenagers and children?!” The long term effects on the body are astonishing and frankly a little insane that so many people are participating in the sport, some probably unknowing of all the things that could happen to them. I’m wondering why this is such a popular sport for people under 18 because I’m guessing the things that could go wrong are probably maximized by growth, especially in the spinal cord. I never knew gymnastics were THIS hard on the body.
Chelsea Henderson said,
on June 19th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Awesome job, Jen!
From the brief time I spent training competitively I know that injuries are a huge part of gymnastics. I hurt my ankle in training, and it still hasn’t quite gotten better, and likely will always be weak. I wasn’t even at a very high level, so I can’t even imagine what some of the higher leveled gymnasts must go through.
Something that you may have wanted to add is the fact that most gymnasts typically have loose ligaments, making it easier for them to become flexible. At the same time, stretching the ligaments can also result in injuries. It may have been interesting to see what effect loose ligaments had on gymnasts.
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on June 18th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
Interesting topic! I enjoyed the slides that complemented your speech and made it easy to understand. The slides acted as a visual aid. A picture is worth a thousand words! I also enjoyed the primary sources you used in your presentation. Lastly, I remember there are different types of gymnastics such as floor, double bar, etc… are the injuries of each the same?
-Derek
on June 19th, 2011 at 10:16 am
Thanks for the input! I didn’t research much into the types of injuries for each event, but from my research I can conclude that certain events put more stress on certain joints that other do-for example, the pressure on the joints of your wrist is huge for the uneven bars, because your wrist are twisting and supporting your entire body. But, in events such as floor and beam, moves such as back flips probably put around the same amount of pressure on your wrists.
on June 19th, 2011 at 11:48 am
I can say that I enjoyed your TED Talk, even as I comment on it nearing midnight, but I thought that it wasn’t dull, it was easy to understand, and also the pictures were very helpful in supporting your TED Talk, though I could suggest, adjusting the lighting a bit as it was a bit hard to see the pictures, and especially the text on the slides clearly.
on June 19th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Being someone who does acrobatics and such, I feel obliged to comment.
I’m glad you did mention the “no pain no gain” idea at the end, because I was thinking about that throughout your TED talk. At a certain point, you never will become more flexible, more strong, without pushing yourself past your limits which will result in some pain. At the same time, giving yourself injuries which will be with you for life doesn’t exactly seem like the best idea either.
See, for me in what I do, stress on my bones isn’t as much of an issue. What does come up is the idea of flexibility. My mom often shakes her head and tells me I’m going to end up needing a hip replacement when I’m only 30. Although maybe I am doing stress on my body, practicing to build flexibility and strength isn’t all bad, and I’m not talking about getting medals and awards. Being flexible can also help to prevent injuries. Muscles aren’t as likely to pull when they are more flexible, and you won’t get stiff etc… There are certain benefits to being very flexible. You won’t only end up without messed up bones.
Also, I feel that personally, when you’re careful you can prevent many of these injuries. Things like warming up properly can have massive benefits. Of the ones you talked about in your TED talk, I was wondering if there were any which were preventable by doing the same thing a different way? It would be nice to know that there is still hope for people who want to continue doing these things.
Anyways, awesome TED talk. It looks very professional. It’s too bad about all the background noise, though
on June 19th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Great job Jen! You really opened my eyes as to what gymnasts go through. As an athlete myself, I can relate to the “no pain no gain” philosophy. Sometimes you have to play(or perform) through injuries so you can win. Like Megan said, being flexible helps reduce injuries, but the joints can also get dislocated more easily. Is there any other part of the body that has a high risk of injury when you are doing gymnastics (besides the wist and back). Is the ankle/achilles a high source of injury too? I know my achilles tendonitis was bugging me when I did gymnastics in gym, and that was very minor moves compared to what gymnasts do.
Overall, great job.
-Michelle
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Thanks! It is hard to get the lighting right, isn’t it?
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Thanks for the comment!
Question: You say “See, for me in what I do, stress on my bones isn’t as much of an issue.” But don’t you need a hip replacement because of the stress on your hip joint?
Anyways, I do agree with the fact that being flexible can have it’s benefits, and I would like to hear both a professional gymnast and a doctor speck about where to draw the line-where your flexibility goes from being helpful to harmful.
Preventing injuries is a big issue that I didn’t touch on, but I have a couple scientific studies on prevention that you could check out. I don’t want my friend biting her nails with worry every time she enters an Acro class. :p
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Thanks! The ankle is a BIG issue that I didn’t touch on, because I wanted to focus on vastly different areas of the body. Like the wrist, the ankle undergoes much stress in gymnastic, and injuries such as twisted ankles are a huge problem. I didn’t research much into the long term effects of gymnastics on the ankles, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were quite similar to those of the wrist. Just imagine the amount of stress on the joints of the ankle when landing a flip from the beam, uneven bars, or vault (etc.)!
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Awesome job Jen! You’ve got great, clear research that’s backed up by real scientists and professors.
I quite like this topic. For athletes, there’s an understanding that pain and injury sort of comes with success. You can’t climb a mountain until you’ve fell about a thousand times. For many of the Olympic gymnasts, having sore wrists or creaky joints in the future is all worth it, as long as the GOLD medal is theirs. I guess that’s the problem with the competitive world. People become so wrapped up with winning that they’ll suffer and make others suffer as long as they get the top prize.
Once again, great job!
on June 19th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Since I also do acrobatics I really enjoyed your topic and the video itself. I know that there are older dancers and teachers at my studio that suffer from ankle and wrist injuries similar to the ones you have been discussing in your video. I think it is scary to see the kinds of consequences that being a gymnast or dancer have on your body in the long run. I have a few questions, first are there more people that are more prone to getting these types of injuries? So are different people with different bone masses be effected differently? Or is it pretty much the same for everyone, everyone having the same chance and risk to injury? YOu also mentioned that these injuries are more commonly found in elite and olympic level gymnasts. Is there a safe amount of time that you can spend working on these tricks that will not result in injury for these gymnasts? Also you mentioned Hypermobility Syndrom, and that it can cause dislocation of joints. I was woundering if ther was a cure or something that could be done about it at least make the pain less? I loved your video! Amazing topic and amazing job jen!
on June 19th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Awesome comment-thanks!
By the way, what do you mean by “and make others suffer”?
on June 19th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
Interesting TED Talk topic Jen! I agree with many, the visual representations helped me understand the topic. Props to you! My suggestion would be to elaborate more on other kinds of injuries. For example, ankle injuries are common and frequent for gymnasts. I am very curious to ask, Why do some gymnasts get injured more than others? For me, I don’t do gymnastics but I get injured a lot in track and field. As for my sister, she does the same track & field events as me but has never been hurt. Anyway, great job with the topic!
on June 19th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
When I was watching the Olympics and other competitive gymnastics, I always wonder how they do it and what happens to their joints but I never once thought about the wrist or dislocation. How many times do you have to pound on your wrist so that your bones don’t grow? It’s mind boggling. I’m also surprised by how I haven’t actually heard a lot about gymnastic injuries. Your TED talk was a real eye opener for me, and I’ve never understood the “no pain no gain” better.
on June 19th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
I understand what you mean about adding in ankle injuries-I briefly discussed those types of injuries with Michelle in response to her comment.
I didn’t research much into the topic of why some people are injured more that others, but I can extrapolate that it partially depends on your genetics and past history of injuries. I wonder why you and your sister are so different? That would be a very interesting tangent of the subject of sport’s injuries to explore.
on June 19th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Thanks so much for the comment-I’m very glad my TED Talk opened your eyes. As to your question, I have to say I don’t know the answer. Something to explore!
on June 19th, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Very interesting Jen! The slideshow and whole presentation was amazing as always! As i was watching more or mess the only thing going through my head was “WHY is this even legal for teenagers and children?!” The long term effects on the body are astonishing and frankly a little insane that so many people are participating in the sport, some probably unknowing of all the things that could happen to them. I’m wondering why this is such a popular sport for people under 18 because I’m guessing the things that could go wrong are probably maximized by growth, especially in the spinal cord. I never knew gymnastics were THIS hard on the body.
on June 19th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Awesome job, Jen!
From the brief time I spent training competitively I know that injuries are a huge part of gymnastics. I hurt my ankle in training, and it still hasn’t quite gotten better, and likely will always be weak. I wasn’t even at a very high level, so I can’t even imagine what some of the higher leveled gymnasts must go through.
Something that you may have wanted to add is the fact that most gymnasts typically have loose ligaments, making it easier for them to become flexible. At the same time, stretching the ligaments can also result in injuries. It may have been interesting to see what effect loose ligaments had on gymnasts.
Great job!
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