It’s great that your young gymnast is able to get quality training on top notch equipment at a gymnastics facility. If they are anything like I was as a beginner gymnast, I would come home from practice full of energy and want to flip off of everything.

Growing up, my siblings and I never had any home-use gymnastics products and using couches, chairs, beds and pillows just wasn’t the best way to train. I can still remember my mom’s constant frustration with us bouncing all over the house. She had to deal with 4 gymnasts under one roof!

The products available for home use now are awesome and made so ergonomically they can fit in to any home. The Nastia Liukin line of products in particular have become extremely popular – durable, safe and affordable for home-use.

Two products in particular that are essential for girls practicing at home are the Nastia Liukin Junior Balance Beam and the 4’x8′ Nastia Tumbling Mat. This combination provides a great way for beginner gymnast to train basic skills safely and comfortably at home.

Nastia Junior Balance Beam and Tumbling Mat

Nastia 8′ Junior Balance Beam & Tumbling Mat

First, the Junior Balance Beam is meant to mimic a competition beam but on a smaller scale. It’s only 8 feet long which is small enough to fit in to any room but long enough for your gymnast to practice their leaps, handstands, jumps, back walkovers etc. It also has that same suede covering used on a competition beam, so they feel just like they are back at the gym. That’s pretty cool! Man, if I only had a pommel horse in my home, I wouldn’t have been so bad at it!

So, you have your beam, now you just need a mat underneath for safety. The Nastia 8 ft. Tumbling Mat fits perfectly underneath, running the entire length of the beam and is firm enough for the beam legs to sit directly on top.  Now you have a rockin home beam set up!

Another great thing about your mat is it is also multi-functional. Of course it is a tumbling mat, so you can use it for back handspring training, cartwheels, round-offs etc, but it also will fold into a block, so you can use it for over-splits, other stretches and even plyometrics if desired.

My niece McClure has this exact set-up at home and loves it. She’s put in a lot of time on it and it definitely shows with her improvement. In the video below, Jay goes in to a little more detail on the two items and McClure shows you a portion of her Level 2 beam routine.

Hope you enjoyed that! Right now all Nastia products are currently on sale for the Holiday Season. You can shop for the Nastia Junior Balance Beam here>>

Happy Holidays!

Brad Thornton

Strength & Fitness Team Lead