Gymnastics is considered an Early Specialisation Sport (ESS) and, on the performance pathway, involves long hours of training, muscular development and high forces on the skeleton from a young age. At the professional and elite levels, the sport demands thousands of hours of training to master intricate, technical skills across all disciplines. However, the question ‘how much is too much?’ for the bodies of gymnasts has not been explored in much depth.

While it is generally accepted that weight bearing activity is beneficial for bone density, and the answer to above question could depend on individual responses to loading (applying resistance or weight to your body during exercise) research into loading within gymnastics is needed to help coaches, as well as practitioners and medics, support the welfare of gymnasts in their care.

Over the past few months, I have undertaken a funded Masters by Research degree under the supervision of Dr Lisa Gannon, Associate Professor in Professional Practice at Leeds Trinity University, and Dr Danielle Davis, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science at Leeds Trinity University, to carry out this pioneering research. Our work has been supported by British Gymnastics, the recognised National Governing Body for gymnastics in the UK, and Catapult, a leading sports performance analytics company.

Working with gymnasts and clubs across the UK, our research aims to determine the loading that is experienced by elite gymnasts in a training context using wearable GPS technology which Catapult have kindly provided for us. The results gathered will provide an evidence base to support performance discussions between coaches and gymnasts and allow for the development of training programmes and recovery strategies that will be implemented via British Gymnastics.

We are still in the data collection phase, so we’ll be visiting more gymnastics clubs in the weeks and months ahead. In my opinion, this is the most enjoyable stage as it is exciting to regularly record and analyse fresh sets of data. I am also thoroughly enjoying seeing some amazingly talented athletes at work. We hope to have enough evidence to compile and submit a comprehensive report by summer 2025.

After completing an undergraduate degree in sports rehabilitation, I was keen to utilise my skills and expertise in injury prevention, assessment, and rehabilitation, and I have always been interested in contributing to the applied practice research field. This Leeds Trinity-led project was a great match for me and I’m so proud to be contributing to research that could make a difference to the health and wellbeing of gymnasts for many years to come.

Archie McKenzie is a Masters by Research student in the School of Sport and Wellbeing at Leeds Trinity University.