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Dec. 2, 2021

39. Rethinking Rhythmic Gymnastics with Vita Bachman

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Bendy Bodies with Dr. Linda Bluestein

Artistic athletes often push their flexibility to the limit, both for competitive and aesthetic reasons.   Nowhere are limits tested more than in rhythmic gymnastics where hypermobility tends to be the norm.

Vita Bachman, former international Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast and now a highly respected coach, speaks openly with Bendy Bodies about her experience in the world of rhythmic gymnastics, both as an athlete and as a coach.

Vita discusses how the sport has changed since she competed, and what factors influence how she coaches today.  She discusses the pitfall in “chasing the points” of competitive rhythmic gymnastics, and why she continually seeks out the best methods for training her students even when these methods differ from what she was taught as a competitor.

Living with her own career-related medical problems, Vita strives to be a coach that trains competitive but healthy athletes, both physically and mentally. She shares the hopes she has for the future of rhythmic gymnastics, as well as the hurdles she finds in trying to change certain aspects. She discusses her concerns with social media, confides what she’d like parents to know when shepherding their children through extreme stretching, and shares her own approach to training flexibility in a long-term, healthier way

A rare, inside look at one of the most demanding sports for bendy bodies out there!

#rhythmicgymnastics #rhythmicgymnasts #vitabachman #beyondlimitsrg #hypermobility #overstretching #bodiesinmotion #hypermobilitymd #jennifermilner #oversplits #safestretching #bendybodies #bendybodiespodcast #hypermobile

Her website is www.beyondlimitsrg.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bendy-bodies/message

Transcript

Episodes have been transcribed to improve the accessibility of this information. Our best attempts have been made to ensure accuracy,  however, if you discover a possible error please notify us at info@bendybodies.org

 

00:00 

Jennifer Milner 

Welcome back to bendy bodies with the hypermobility MD, where we explore the intersection of health and  hypermobility, focusing on dancers and other athletic athletes. This is cohost Jennifer Milner here with the  founder of bendy bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein.  

00:16 

Linda Bluestein 

Our goal is to bring you state-of-the-art medical information to help you live your best life. Please remember to  always consult with your own healthcare team before making any changes to your,  

00:26 

Jennifer Milner 

Our guest today is Vita Bachman, former competitive rhythmic gymnast, and now the owner and head coach of  beyond limits rhythmic gymnastics and beyond limits workouts. Hello, and thank you so much for being here. 

00:52 

Vita Bachman 

Hello, Jennifer and Linda. Thank you so much for having me.

00:57 

Jennifer Milner 

Yes, we are. Vita. Can you share before we get started with our discussion, can you share just of your  background?  

01:05 

Vita Bachman 

Sure. I'm a competitive gymnast from roots in rhythmic gymnastics from Ukraine. That's where I trained  originally. When I lived in Ukraine, I moved to the United States at the age of 19. Before that, when I was  training in rhythmic gymnastics, it was quite an interesting process because my coach would come to the  daycare and she would select the girls she wanted. So she came to my daycare. She selected me for a rhythmic  gymnastics, and just the fact that I was selected for something just made me fall in love with my coach made me  fall in love with rhythmic gymnastics. Obviously it's a big part of Ukrainian culture. The sport is extremely well  known. So I grew up with it. This sport shaped me. It formed me as a person. It gave me a career that I love, and  that's what I've been doing almost my entire life.  

02:09 

Jennifer Milner 

Going beyond competing as a gymnast, tell us more about your background since you retired as a competitive  gymnast.  

02:19 

Vita Bachman 

Since I retired as a competitive gymnast, I continued to coach in Ukraine. I was coaching for about five years  before moving to the United States. Rhythmic gymnastics has always been part of my life even during college  years, even during the time when I took a break from coaching competitively, I still was very much involved in  the sport. After moving to the United States, I became a coach at a gym in Tennessee. It was my first  introduction to the sport of rhythmic gymnastics in the United States. One thing led after another thing, and  eventually I was selected as a regional chair for rhythmic gymnastics in the United States. It's a huge honor to be  part of the committee and I was content. I would continue to coach rhythmic gymnastics all the way through the  present time.  

03:22 

Jennifer Milner 

So you have quite a history. What I love about the experience that you're bringing to this conversation is that  you worked in the Ukraine both as a gymnast and as a coach. You worked in the US and I'm sure there are very  different styles to those types of training. And, and I'm sure you've been able to see a very big picture of  rhythmic gymnastics from all different points of view. Before we go too much further into it, though. What is  the, what's the difference between rhythmic gymnastics and traditional gymnastics that we see so much of?  

03:58 

Vita Bachman 

Yes, definitely. Traditional gymnastics is also called artistic gymnastics. Both disciplines have the word  gymnastics in it. However, two disciplines are completely different. They are difficult, different in the way of  the apparatus. Each discipline is different. As far as training technique, very different traditional rhythmic  gymnastics, which is the artistic gymnastics is a sport. What we're both men and women compete, but as of now  Olympic sport of rhythmic gymnastics only has women's division. It might change because rhythmic gymnastics  and the world in general is changing. There's a very interesting Japanese branch of rhythmic gymnastics that is  developing right now. Maybe with time it will become mainstream and maybe boys will become interested in  rhythmic gymnastics. It looks very different from the traditional women's gymnastics. That's what makes it very  interesting. So that's one of the differences. Another major difference is the type of apparatus in artistic  gymnastics, uneven bars, balance beam floor exercise sizes used various skills on like tumbling passes,  swinging elements, and in-flight elements are used pommel horse still rings vault parallel bars, basically  stationary equipment in rhythmic gymnastics.  

05:35 

Vita Bachman 

The apparatus that we use is handheld. We use rope clubs, bowl, hoop, and ribbon. Depending on the Olympic  cycle, four of those pieces of a paralysis are used in a certain Olympics cycle. 

05:53 

Jennifer Milner 

I had never thought about that. I mean, I've watched rhythmic gymnastics and I've watched artistic gymnastics,  but I never thought about the fact that in artistic gymnastics, the apparatus doesn't move. Right. I mean, it gives  but it's stationary and in rhythmic gymnastics, that's the whole point is that you're trying to move the apparatus.  You're trying to move the props. That's I never looked at it that way. That's interesting.  

06:13 

Vita Bachman 

Yes, definitely. In artistic gymnastics, the main emphasis I would say is power and strength and an element of  danger and excitement in rhythmic gymnastics, the emphasis on grace and beauty and flexibility and fluid  movement. It's a very much dance based movement and obviously manipulation of hand up Paradis that is  getting more and more exciting, more and more complicated.  

06:42 

Linda Bluestein 

Yes, definitely. That's a, that's a very interesting distinction. And, and what different demands and expectations  are put on the body of a rhythmic gymnast? I know the standards for a rhythmic gymnast body different than  that, of a artistic gymnast.  

07:00 

Vita Bachman 

Yes, it is. It's definitely a different two different sports, which required two different level of preparation in  artistic gymnastics. Like I mentioned before, strength and power is emphasized in rhythmic gymnastics, grace  and beauty. Traditionally the way a little girl is selected for each sport, different body type is selected, right now  in modern rhythmic gymnastics, it's changing quite a bit. It's very interesting to see that change. However,  traditionally what's the traditional body type for ballet would be long lean lines, flexibility. All of that would  also apply to rhythmic gymnastics. Like I said, it is changing because in modern, rhythmic gymnastics, the  demand on the body are so severe. I wouldn't even say severe. They are a lot more higher expectations. Strength  is becoming a huge part of rhythmic gymnastics conditioning programs. The way we trained gymnast nowadays  has changed 180 degrees from the time when I was a gymnast, a huge emphasis on strength, conditioning, core  training, just the full body preparation is emphasized.  

08:20 

Jennifer Milner 

Do you see, because that was another question I kind of had in the back of my mind was the difference between  when you were competing and now, and it sounds like it's a very similar sport or performance, but the  expectations, as you said, have gotten higher. The expectations of more complicated moves have has risen. At  the same time, it sounds like you're saying that the support for those more complicated and those more difficult  moves has come as well. While the demands are increasing, so is the support with conditioning, core strength,  all of that, is that fair to say that.  

08:59 

Vita Bachman 

That is absolutely true. Yes. It makes me very happy to see that because I was a coach in my earlier years on  days, I kept looking for resources. How can I keep up with this difficult demand on the body? Especially at a  younger age, as a span of a rhythmic gymnast is short compared to a dancer or a professional dancer, they will  be done by the time I, if they achieve the highest level, maybe in their twenties, they will be done while a dancer  continues to dance further than that. To be able to prepare a gymnast, to perform at a high level at a high, at a  younger age, it's a tremendous responsibility. It is not easy to do. That is one of the reasons why I kept looking  for resources in my younger years of coaching and the dance world at the time offered a lot more resources.  

09:56 

Vita Bachman 

So that's where I ended up.  

10:01 

Jennifer Milner 

I love the fact that you saw that there was a hole to fill, right? That you thought there needs to be more supporthere for what these athletes, these gymnasts are being asked to do, and you didn't see it yet in your area. You  went outside of the area, you found something similar to it with dance, and you started to draw information and  experiences from the dance world. And that's incredibly smart of you. I'm sure it's reflected in your students,  that you coach, that you have been on the forefront of piecing together what was needed to help support these  generalists as they move forward. So well done.  

10:43 

Vita Bachman 

Thank you. I really appreciate it. In the last few years, I have to say Caroline hunt, who is the president of the  USA gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics. She has put together tremendous resources for rhythmic gymnastics  coaches. If we log into the USA gymnastics website and there is an education section for coaches, I can watch  those seminars and webinars forever because this is exactly what my heart desires I really wanted. How can I do  good for the children? How, what am I doing that I was taught in a certain way, but it's not applicable anymore.  Or maybe I question, how was it before versus the rhythmic gymnastics nowadays? It just makes me really  happy to see the amount of resources that are starting to come up and in our day and age,  

11:37 

Linda Bluestein 

That that really is fabulous. As we, as we know more and can do better. It's great to see people doing just that,  right, and really doing that, like you said, for the children and you served as the USA rhythmic gymnastics  regional for several years and continue to coach rhythmic gymnastics today. How, how did your experience as a  gymnast influence how you train your students today?  

12:04 

Vita Bachman 

The way I coach is influenced by several factors, it's my own positive experience. It's my own negative  experience. Methods of training have changed and education and the resources that are available nowadays. All  of those factors influence how I coach children. First of all, starting with my own positive experience, rhythmic  gymnastics. When I was a gymnast used to be very different. It used to be a lot more artistic. I strive more of a  old school style of rhythmic gymnastics with clean lines, finished lines of good technique, huge emphasis on  ballet expression, musicality in my students. I try not to chase the points because the more difficulty you put in a  routine, the more points you get to the more competitive you are. I try to enjoy the process. I try to look at a  gymnast and see, what does she need, not how many points she can get, but what does she need?  

13:08 

Vita Bachman 

How can I develop her in the best way that she can be developed as a young child? That's that philosophy I hold  onto it strongly. However, it is somewhat difficult because such approach does present difficulty because it  takes much longer to develop a gymnast going that way. When I look at my negative experience as a child, as a  gymnast, being trained, some of the stretching techniques for example, are not applicable anymore. I know how  it feels. I remember how it felt at the time. I do not want to use those methods. We have new information. We  have new ways of stretching, new ways of using various techniques, new flexibility programs. Why not take  advantage of that. Another big part of the experience that I applied today's gymnastics in my school is mental  and emotional wellbeing of a child pushing a child is that's what we need to do.  

14:19 

Vita Bachman 

That's part of the job. I'm a coach. This is a competitive sport. Results are very important, but not at all costs. I  keep educating parents. I keep educating gymnast that we do want to strive for excellence, but we don't want to  do it at any cost.  

14:36 

Jennifer Milner 

We're both nodding furiously for anybody who's listening. I know you can't hear it.  

14:42 

Linda Bluestein 

I have simultaneous goosebumps, and I'm getting a little teary to be honest, because I know I'm thinking all kids  need to work with you because that's what they need is someone who truly cares about them as people, not just 

Page 4 of 11 

Episodes have been transcribed to improve accessibility of this information. Our best attempts have been made to ensure accuracy,  however, if you discover a possible error please notify us as soon as possible. 

Transcript for Bendy Bodies Podcast, Episode 39: Rethinking Rhythmic Gymnastics with Vita Bachman 

as competitors. That truly is thinking ahead to how is this body going to feel and behave as an adult, as an older  adult? How are they going to be feeling emotionally, psychologically? Yeah, I'm really just digesting that.  

15:13 

Jennifer Milner 

I want to print it out and just hand it out to all the other teachers. They're like, here's the V2. Bachman's, you  know, four points. How she, how she tries to train students. I love it.  

15:26 

Vita Bachman 

This may or may not be for a podcast, but I have to admit you to have an episode on emotional wellbeing of  dancers. I still cannot bring myself to listen to it because I cannot bring back the emotions that will come up. I'm  just very happy that we'll live. We live at the day and age where we do, and we have different ways of coaching  and teaching.  

15:55 

Linda Bluestein 

It's so important for parents to understand that there are people like you who are practicing these newer  methods, incorporating newer literature in psychological support for dancers and competitors, that there are, you  don't have to have your child come home in tears every day. If you are experiencing that and your child is,  seeming to be really, I don't want to say tortured in the process, but I mean, if you feel like something is off and  you feel like, does it really have to be this way then maybe, I mean, there are there's, especially if you look at like ballet studios, for example, there's a million of them in the United States. There's just tons and tons of ballet  schools. So, it's as a parent, I think that's one of the most important decisions that you can make is where you  send your child for training. Whether they turn out to be a professional or a competitor, or if they're doing it  more for fun, it can have such a huge impact because they're so young, usually when they are under the  influence of their coaches.  

17:08 

Jennifer Milner 

Well, and I think that what you said about, and thank you for sharing that, but just thinking about having an  emotionally healthy space, it's hard for us as retired dancers to go back and process. Sometimes the things that  went through because as you, it's a very different time. The important thing is to know that now that we know  better, and we remember what that feels like, we want to move forward, making it better for this next  generation. We are so grateful that there are people like you and rhythmic gymnastics, which can be a really  high pressure competitive sport. So thank you. And thank you for sharing that.  

17:43 

Linda Bluestein 

And, and we know that rhythmic gymnastics definitely has more than its share of bendy bodies. As we, as we  refer to them, how do you deal with students who have more hypermobility than average? Do you think there's a  point at which someone becomes too hyper mobile and it becomes a liability?  

18:02 

Vita Bachman 

It definitely is a sport of bendy bodies, but it's all of the main criteria for selecting against growth for the sport.  Correct? So anybody can do a rhythmic gymnastics. You don't have to be bendy. However, a girl who does have  natural flexibility, we'll be ahead. Things will be easier for her because of the nature of the sport. Hyper mobile,  rhythmic gymnast, definitely part of the sport. We train them with much care. The coach realizes immediately  that this child is beautiful. She is going to be noticed right away. However, the results will not come right away.  Very often. It's a waiting game. We have to wait. We have to do the right things. We have to give them good  techniques, solid foundation. We have to pay special attention to conditioning, to strength training. We wait, we  keep doing, and we will see the results with years to come.  

19:05 

Vita Bachman 

The problem with that, the coaches understand that, but the parents don't all the sudden understand that. What I  often see is a gymnast who I know will be incredible in the future. They do not place well, they may not pull off  hard level skills yet. They may not jump high because they don't jump high, naturally bendy or more flexible  body type. They don't develop jumps until much later. It's an education process for the parents. And it's a matter of trusting. If the parents trust the coach, yes, everything will be okay. Just wait. They don't have to place right  now. In fact, my daughter is that way. I have a little girl who is nine year old years old, who also wants to be a  rhythmic gymnast and a ballerina. Tomorrow she might want to be a cat sitter. I don't know right now she has  big ambitions.  

20:04 

Vita Bachman 

I have to have these conversations with her. She is beautiful. She's incredible, but she doesn't place. Well, if we  go, went to open championships last year, she was not awarded. She was not even on the pedestal. It's okay with  me because I know her potential, but she's very young. All she cares about is the little ribbon that she gets or a  trophy or a medal. She told me, I must be the worst one because look at all of those beautiful girls and I didn't  even have a place and I have to work with her. I have to talk to her a lot. I have to show her strength. I have to  explain to her that you are like a flower right now is the time to plant the seed, but you will not see the flower  bloom until you're older until you're stronger until your body develops until you receive the proper training.  

20:59 

Vita Bachman 

So, because she is my own daughter, we are in this process. However, what makes me sad is when parents don't  trust that process and pull out the child way ahead of time before they have the chance to develop that potential.  

21:16 

Jennifer Milner 

Well, and I think what's really interesting here. We're about to get to this in our conversation is you also do  stretching for other artistic athletes like dancers and skaters. I think what's interesting here is that rhythmic  gymnastics has the edge over the dance world. With hypermobility in that hypermobility has always been a  

factor for rhythmic gymnastics. It's just recently relatively recently become a desirable factor to some people in  the dance world. In the dance world, if right now it seems if people see someone that's very flexible and very  hyper mobile, they immediately start pushing them forward and going it often times, look at this, let's see what  we can do with this young dancer. Don't have that slow and lower approach yet because they just don't have the  experience that you have. Rhythmic gymnastics coaches have that experience because you've been working with  them for so long, start slow.  

22:15 

Jennifer Milner 

They're going to come out of the gate later, but when they do, it's going to be incredible. How do you work with  both sides? So, so I can see how you work with the rhythmic gymnast. How do you work as a stretch coach for  the dancers and the skaters and help them not push themselves too much for social media and feeling that  pressure of being of going too far.  

22:41 

Vita Bachman 

It all starts with educating the parents because most of the times the parents are the ones who contact me. When  the parent contacts me and tells me, please push her heart. If it's okay, if she cries, please stretch her so hard that  she can get that skill. I get those requests. I say, I don't work that way. I will help your denser. I will help your  gymnast. If you're willing to follow the methods that I use, you have to understand that in rhythmic gymnastics,  we get the children. When they are very young, we start them at the age of maybe 4, 5, 6, 7. We have until  they're about 12 years old, or maybe 10, 12 years old, we have all of those years to develop them. We have all of  those years to develop strength, flexibility, coordination. Those years are the years when we lay the foundation,  when a dancer comes to me and she's already 12 years old, she wants the same level of flexibility, that to  commit five years to develop.  

23:46 

Vita Bachman 

Very often I explained to the parent, this is not going to be fast. It requires consistency. It needs to be gentle. As  far as working with the dancer or the skater or an athlete. I explained to them, communicate communication is  the key. So please talk to me. What do you feel right now? Is this too much? Would you like more challenge?  What does your body feel? What is your body telling you right now? I observed the dancer for the first few  lessons. After that, I understand the dancers, the dancer more. I understand how their body works. I adjust my  method because even though we do have a pre-set workout routine for developing the qualities of flexibility that we need, every denser is different. They come to me with a different package. They, their starting point is very  different. I have to work with what they have and I have to teach them patients very often. 

24:53 

Vita Bachman 

I don't teach flexibility as much as I teach patients, be patient with yourself. Oftentimes I give them very simple  homework that is safe to do at home because in flexibility training, it's not the harshness of the exercise that  makes the difference. It's the consistency.  

25:14 

Linda Bluestein 

I love that the nervous system, if you push them to pass the point of pain and all of that, the nervous system will  react. It, you actually will not increase flexibility, right?  

25:26 

Vita Bachman 

Body will shut down and you won't be able to increase flexibility.  

25:29 

Linda Bluestein 

Right. This also reminds me of Jen’s and my very first podcast interview that we did, which was with Maureen  McCormick, who was the head of physiotherapist for the Royal ballet and former Royal ballet dancer. She said  the more talent that she sees, the more that she sees that the dancer has real potential. Or if they have, the, some  the right amount of hypermobility and a degree of getting into those aesthetic lines. She actually delays putting  them up on point because they, you want that to happen at the right time. You want them to peak at the right  

time. This is reminding me very much of the approach that she takes.  

26:16 

Jennifer Milner 

Well, and Lisa Howell as well. Several of the guests, Mariella Ruiz. Many of our guests, the overriding  conversation about training hypermobile athletes is slow and low, slow, and low. I'm so grateful that you are  reinforcing that. So, so as you're moving forward with rhythmic gymnastics, what are there any hurdles that  you're still facing today and as a coach, and what are your hopes for the sport as it moves forward?  

26:46 

Vita Bachman 

My main concern or a hurdle, or maybe a conflict that I'm working through is reconciling the techniques and the  methods that I believe in with the, of the modern rhythmic gymnastics, that is basically what I'm struggling with  nowadays. This is why I'm following a lot of resources like yours. I would like to find out more and learn as  much as I can about increasing effectiveness of exercises and eliminating the mindless traditional exercises that  have always been there that may or may not be effective. Staying competitive is one of the biggest hurdles, so to  speak with a philosophy that I try to hold on to.  

27:39 

Jennifer Milner 

Absolutely. I think, I think that's the tension for all artistic sports and all artistic athletes is how do we stay  relevant and how do we continue to capture the audience and entertain them and enlighten them and show them  things that are new and fresh while still maintaining a level of excellence and while still maintaining a healthy,  physical, and mental attitude. That is that balance that we walk with all artistic sports and that the mental aspect  of it and the physical health support like conditioning and outside training are just starting to come alongside for  a lot of these issues or a lot of these sports. We're really grateful that you're doing the work that you're doing and  that you're modeling a really healthy attitude of, well, let's look at why I did the things that I did and let's see  what I could do or should do differently moving forward and what things I can keep that were really great.  

28:41 

Jennifer Milner 

Where can I learn from experts and how can I improve my knowledge to make the next generation better? I  really appreciate the work you do. 

28:50 

Vita Bachman 

Thank you very much, Jan and Linda, I really appreciate the work that you are doing. I always look to the next  new podcast and without exception, learn something new from it. My students benefit from it as well.  

29:04 

Linda Bluestein 

Well, that's so great to hear. And, and was there anything that you wanted to talk about that we didn't cover  today? Of course, we want to know where people can learn more about you and the work that.  

29:14 

Vita Bachman 

One of the questions they believe I missed is the pressure of social media. Nowadays. I'm not a very good social  media person, as you can see the reason why is because I'm a private person. I love to do my work. I love to  enjoy the process. I love to see the victories and the improvements that my dancers and my gymnasts are  making. However, in this day, social media is where everything is. I often start my stretching classes or lessons  with a humorous line. Let's start stretching so that you can put that beautiful picture on your Instagram today.  We realized no today is not going to happen. It's a process. It's fun to put beautiful pictures and photos of  flexible poses on social media. I don't have anything against it. If there is a foundation to it, I, I believe human  body is capable of so much, and we are exploring those limits and we're going beyond those limits.  

30:22 

Vita Bachman 

However, there needs to be a healthy balance and educating the dancers, especially the young ones, educating  them on how to use the resources they have and not randomly go on YouTube and try to recreate what they see,  because they often don't realize how much work and how many years went into that one pose. They're trying it,  and it's not going to work, or they might hurt themselves. Educating the dancers continue to do the good job that  you are doing with your podcast. I think with time we will get the message across.  

31:01 

Linda Bluestein 

Absolutely. And, and I think it's so challenging nowadays to remember that social media success does not equal  success. There are people who are tremendously popular on social media, but, don't necessarily have the impact  otherwise. Vice versa, people can be, have incredibly successful businesses and, not have a presence at all,  really on social media. I think it's a challenging space that we're in, especially for something that's so highly  visual, such as ballet and rhythmic gymnastics. They, so they are such a perfect fit for something like Instagram.  Yeah, trying to figure out how to balance that can be tricky.  

31:47 

Jennifer Milner 

Vena. We have talked about how your performance as a rhythmic gymnast and competing as a rhythmic  gymnast has affected you and influenced how you work as a coach. How did your experience as a rhythmic  gymnast? How has it influenced you physically, personally, and the choices that you make as a coach from  those.  

32:12 

Vita Bachman 

When you are young, you're very passionate and you're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve the results you  are willing to put in extra hours. You're willing to stretch extra hard. You're willing to not take breaks. That's the  training method or approach that I used to follow. When I was a gymnast, even when I was a young,  inexperienced coach, I have to admit that I also use those methods because I didn't know any better at the time.  However, once you cross a certain age and you start getting feedback from your own body, you also start asking  questions. Why am I having this issue with my body? Why do my hips hurt? Why do my toes hurt? Why can't I  go up the stairs and down the stairs without pain, obviously there could be other and many other reasons that are  related. However, all of those questions are always in the back of my mind because when I trained dancers or  gymnast, my first priority is to do no harm. 

33:18 

Vita Bachman 

Yes, help them achieve the results. However, my first priority, there is so much more years, so many more years  of life after gymnastics, how will they live their lives? How will their body serve them? Taking that into account  has been my biggest priority, to be honest. As a young gymnast, I quit gymnastics because of stress fracture. In  my lower back, my doctors did not allow me to continue to train him. I achieved the candida of, to master of  sports level, which is comparable to level nine rhythmic gymnastics in the US about the same level. I could not  move on to level 10. I could not achieve my masters of sports degree because of such severe injury. As a child, I  remember the pain and I remember not being able to get up in the morning. I being, I remember how it reflected  in my hips, in my legs, how painful it was to walk.  

34:25 

Vita Bachman 

Luckily, the break from gymnastics healed all of that and maybe not all of it, but maybe I do water now.  However, my personal experience and the feedback, my own body gives me plays a tremendous and huge role  in the way I coach my students.  

34:46 

Linda Bluestein 

That that ties back into what you were saying earlier about that you are teaching your dancers and your rhythmic  gymnast to listen to their own bodies, which I think is so valuable. Often I think coaches are not instilling that in  their students. I think that is such a fantastic thing to teach, especially at a young age, before we start running  into, a lot of problems, because then it can be so much more proactive. That's really special and really valuable  that you're teaching them that. Where can people learn more about you and your work be done?  

35:24 

Vita Bachman 

My website is www beyondlimitsrg.com. My Instagram pages are beyondlimitsworkout and beyondlimitsrg. 

35:37 

Jennifer Milner 

Excellent. I will look forward to looking at those. I know I subscribed to one. I think I have to subscribe to the  other one. You have been listening to the bendy bodies with the hypermobility MD today. We have been  speaking with Vita Bachman, rhythmic gymnastics, coach, and owner of beyond limits, rhythmic gymnastics  and beyond limits workout, Vita, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the bendy bodies podcast  and share your expertise with us today. Thank you so much.  

36:08 

Linda Bluestein 

Thank you. We've loved chatting with you.  

36:10 

Jennifer Milner 

Yes we have. To our listening audience, we will see you next time. Goodbye. Bye.  

36:17 

Linda Bluestein 

Thank you for joining us for this episode of bendy bodies with the hypermobility MD, where we explore the  intersection of health and hypermobility for dancers and other aesthetic athletes. If you found this information  valuable, please share it with a colleague or friend and leave us a review on your favorite podcast player.  Remember to subscribe so you won't miss future episodes. If you want to follow us on Instagram, it's at bendy  underscore bodies and our website is www.bendybodies.org. If you want to follow Bendy bodies, founder and  cohost, Dr. Bluestein on Instagram, it's @hypermobilityMD, and her website is www.hypermobilitymd.com. If  you want to follow co-host Jennifer Milner on Instagram, it's at @Jennifer.Milner. And her website is  www.jennifer-milner.com. Thank you for helping us spread the word about hypermobility and associated  conditions. We want to hear from you. 

37:21 

Linda Bluestein 

Please email us at info@bendybodies.org to share feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed on this  podcast are solely of the cohost and their guests. They do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of  any organization. The thoughts and opinions do not constitute medical advice and should not be used in any  legal capacity whatsoever. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease as  this information is for educational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or  treatment. Please refer to your local qualified health practitioner for all medical concerns. We'll catch you next  time on the bendy bodies podcast.