What Muscles Do You Work During Gymnastics? Which Body Parts Get the Most Benefit?

Gymnastics for fitness and strength

What muscles are we exercising when doing gymnastics?

Depending on the sport you practice, certain areas of the body will be called upon more than others, but what about when you do gymnastics? Will you tone and refine your figure by doing gymnastics? Below you’ll find a list of muscles and muscle groups that can be strengthened and sculpted through gymnastics!

Upper limbs (shoulders, arms and forearms)

• Biceps: These muscles on the front of the upper arm are surrounded by two joints (scapulohumeral, elbow). The biceps comprise two muscles (long biceps and short biceps) that help flex and rotate the arms.
• The triceps: Located on the inner side of the arm, they comprise three muscles (vastus lateralis, vastus internus and long head of triceps) which complement the flexor role of the biceps brachii. The triceps allow forearm extension.

Trunk and pelvis (Chest, stomach and back)

• Abdominals: These are made up of several layers of muscle (rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, transverse) whose function is to flex and rotate the trunk.
• Back muscles: The back groups together muscles such as the trapezius, dorsalis major, rhomboid, infraspinatus and round. These muscles play a wide variety of roles. From the dorsal to the lumbar, they ensure arm and shoulder mobility, postural support and protection of the spine.

Lower limbs (glutes, thighs and calves)

• Glutes: Located at the intersection of the lower limbs and the trunk, the gluteal muscles (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus) are among the largest and most powerful muscles in the body. In particular, they provide mobility for the thigh and support for the pelvis.
• Quadriceps: Located at the front of the thigh, the quadriceps is made up of 4 muscles (vastus femoris or rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and vastus intermedius). These muscles facilitate flexion of the thigh over the hip, as well as extension of the leg over the thigh.
• Hamstring muscles: Located on the back of the thigh, there are four hamstring muscles (biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semitendinosus). They ensure leg flexion and thigh extension.
• Calf muscles: also known as the sural triceps, the calf muscles comprise 3 muscle fascicles, including the soleus and gastrocnemius. These muscles help extend the foot down the leg

Gymnastics is a demanding physical activity that works the whole body. Although there are different forms of gymnastics, each with its own particularities, they all have one thing in common. They mainly involve the glutes, thighs, arms, abs and back.