The gym is the place where you can practice gymnastics with the right equipment and under the guidance of a teacher. It begins with the simplest exercises, which are very important: the so-called “pre-athletic”, that is, push-ups, twists, turns and jumps.
They serve to strengthen the limbs and that they acquire agility, preparing them for more difficult movements and adopting them for the use of gymnastic equipment. There are many devices: some are small like the clubs, the support and the ball and others are larger, such as the trellises, the balance beam, and those for climbing, ladder, pole and rope.
Some particularly difficult ones can only be practiced under the guidance of an instructor, such as the barbell, parallel bars, rings, and the underwired horse. The athletes who practice these specialties do not seem to weigh, since they spin without any apparent difficulty, but if you observe their muscles you will see that they are tense due to the effort.
An even lighter impression is provided by gymnasts who perform free-body exercises, that is, without apparatus.
In the exhibitions that great gymnasts perform, it can be seen how these men in action are a perfect example of harmony and vigor, of momentum and balance at the same time.
Gymnastics is necessary for all athletes who play other sports, to keep fit. It is also suitable for boys and girls to grow healthy and strong. Every day you should do ten minutes of gymnastics.
In the gym, one also prepares for harder sports: Greco-Roman wrestling, wrestling, judo and boxing. In such sports, violence is controlled by means of very precise rules and athletes are classified into categories according to their weight, so that in each fight, the opponents are always the same size.
In a gym or in a small outdoor space, some team sports that require a small playing field can also be practiced: basketball (or basketball) and volleyball.
The first is played between two teams of five players but up to five others can be substituted. The game is to introduce the ball into a basket suspended at a certain height on a board.
It is a sport that has been gaining in popularity, although it is more likely to be practiced by tall players.
In volleyball, two teams of six players each must send the ball without touching the ground, to the sides of a net extended at a certain height in the middle of the court. They hit the ball with their hands and achieve violent shots and explosive rejections.
In the larger gyms or sports centers there is one or more swimming pools. Swimming is one of the most complete sports, because it makes all parts of the human body act in equal proportion.
You can start practicing it from a young age and the most beautiful victories are often obtained by very young boys. But the sea is not always within easy reach and even during much of the year the weather does not allow diving into the waves.
That is why in many places there are swimming pools, which are huge basins filled with water that for hygiene purposes is continuously changed and disinfected.
By paying a modest amount, anyone who wants to practice swimming can go to the pool, from the most expert to beginners and, in addition, you can go at any time of the year because the water temperature is regulated according to the needs of the human body.
In many pools we can see a vertical ladder that leads to the top and reaches the diving boards and platforms used for jumps. It seems an easy thing to dive from above, but it is necessary to learn to enter the water in the proper way, otherwise, instead of a soft hug, you will receive a hard blow.
Swimming competitions are always held in the pool in order to offer everyone the same environmental conditions. The pools where the competitions take place are divided into “streets”.
Parallel ropes are laid along the longest side to form true corridors, just like in stadiums. Depending on the distance of the race, the participants must cross the aforementioned streets one or more times.
The swimmers perform in races of 100 meters, very fast and in little more than 50 seconds, of 200, 400 and in other endurance races of 800 and 1,500 meters. There are tests of the various styles: freestyle, backstroke, crawl and butterfly.
In the pool, water polo is also practiced, which is a kind of football that is played in the water and with the hands, naturally.
