Olympic Gold-Medal Winning Gymnast Gaby Douglas’ Pre-Event Workout [Video Exclusive]

Olympic Gold-Medal Winning Gymnast Gaby Douglas… by uSports

While it may seem easy to the casual observer, gymnastics is an incredibly demanding sport. Not only does it require balance, strength and flexibility, but a gymnast also needs good technique to perform without injury at the highest level. For United States Olympic Gold Medalist Gaby Douglas, a good pre-event routine is crucial to putting in a good performance when the competition is on the line.

“Before we start, we do a warm up for about five minutes,” she explained to uSports.org. “We do arm circles and head movements and wrist movements and the splits and the straddles because it’s very important to keep our muscles warm.”

Beyond the basic necessities, a good routine also has a variety of movements and exercise. “We do these obstacle courses,” Douglas continued. “You run, jump on the table 40 times, go on the other side, jump on it 20 times, do 100 crunches, 25 split jumps on each leg, 50 stradles, handstand push-ups and arch-ups. A lot of that good stuff.”

PHOTO: GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – OCTOBER 29: Gabrielle Douglas of USA competes on the Beam during the All-Around Final on day seven of the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships at The SSE Hydro on October 29, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)