Npmonice, welcome to Golden Skate!
Yes! But why did you delete your first post? I found it interesting. Do you mean that figure skating isn't seen as a "real sport" in Norway?
Npmonice, welcome to Golden Skate!
Yes! But why did you delete your first post? I found it interesting. Do you mean that figure skating isn't seen as a "real sport" in Norway?
Thanks Npmonice for your answers.
Anyway i think it's good for children to do sports for fun and try many in young years. If they want to focus on one sport early on, like you probably must in figure skating, I think it's neccesary to have a diverse training: Running, playing ball games, wrestling or whatever. Not just jumping, jumping, spinning on the ice.
Also, I am not a gynecologist. I do not know the "normal" age of puberty. But as a teacher in several girls' schools over the years, I can say that it is not common for someone to be the age of these Russian ballerinas and still have not gone through the "change." I would worry that excessive exercise is delaying their menstrual cycle more than anything else. This "puberty monster" that is attacking people at 16 comes about 3-4 years earlier for most of us.
I think it would be completely unfair to limit training hours for young figure skaters. Most of them wouldn't be doing it if they didn't want to and if the teenagers are the ones making the podium in international events, so be it. Most of these girls, such as Julia, are all muscle and I see nothing wrong with that. They're all in excellent shape and obviously keep very healthy lifestyles. I am a figure skater myself and if someone put a limit on the jumps I could do and the hours I could practice, I would be furious.
I think it would be completely unfair to limit training hours for young figure skaters. Most of them wouldn't be doing it if they didn't want to and if the teenagers are the ones making the podium in international events, so be it. Most of these girls, such as Julia, are all muscle and I see nothing wrong with that. They're all in excellent shape and obviously keep very healthy lifestyles. I am a figure skater myself and if someone put a limit on the jumps I could do and the hours I could practice, I would be furious.
This is something that strikes me as well. It's true of gymnasts as well as skaters. Every time I hear of a fourteen-year-old who is under five feet tall and less than ninety pounds, it makes me anxious. This is not a typical developmental line for girls, even in most of Asia. It does have a lot to do with the percentage of body fat, which is partly from diet (those restrictive "training" diets) and partly from excessive exercise. There can be both short-term and long-term effects, on things such as bone development.
In most of the 1900s, girls started menstrating at about 15 but now it's around 12, with many more going through precocious puberty at much younger and alarming age. Early puberty has many causes including toxins in food, personal and household products as well as in the environment, and incurs a host of health risks and social/behavioral problems in the lives of such kids.
The sèemingly late onset of puberty in many athletes may actually be healthy and normal even though standard for normal has been skewed.