It is a common disbelief that all gymnasts are flexible. Although many gymnasts are more flexible then the average person this is surprisingly not always the case. It's also important to know that lack of flexibility does not cause a gymnast to be worse. In my personal experience I have found that what a gymnasts lacks in flexibility they make up for in strength and visa versa. As we get older our bodies in some ways reject the sport. This isn't all that surprising considering many collegiate gymnastics have dedicated nearly two decades of their lives to gymnastics. After 20 years of constantly pulling, stretching, and pounding our bodies in order to perform complex skills our bodies say "ENOUGH!" Collegiate gymnasts are not Rhythmic gymnasts. Meaning we don't need to bend our body literally in half like the picture above in order to perform our skills. The important thing to watch for in terms of flexibility for collegiate gymnasts is whether they hit their full split when they do their leaps and jumps. This means that their legs are in a straight line (more or less) from one end to the other. (See below.)
