How to Do a Stride Circle in Gymnastics

Last Updated: February 25, 2021

Stride Circles are one of the requirements to be a level 4 in gymnastics. Stride Circles also look daunting, if you have never completed one before. Here's how to do a Stride Circle!

Steps

1
Warm up. Before you do anything in gymnastics (or otherwise, for that matter) you should fully stretch your body. Not stretching your body completely could result in injury.
2
Mount the bar. Pullovers work best, but a kip can also suffice.

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3
Do the splits. Once you mount, take your dominant foot (right handed, right foot; left handed, left foot) and swing it over the bar. You now should look like you are doing the splits on the bar.
4
Position your hands correctly. You do not want your hands facing "forward," (fingers pointing towards the mats, and you can see your knuckles) you want them "backwards." (Fingers pointing in the direction you're facing, and you can see your thumb.)
5
Know what to do if you can't make it all the way around. If for some reason, you can't make it around the whole bar, you should hook your front leg (dominant leg) on the bar so that your shin and foot are on the other side of the bar, while your knee and thigh are on the suds closest to your body. This prevents you from the instinct to "let go" when you can't make it around the bar.
6
Raise your legs. Raising both of your legs up does two things: it propelled you to go faster (and further), while guarding your legs from friction with the bar, which makes very uncomfortable burn
7
Stick your front leg out and lean forward. Don't push down just yet; this is the position you should assume before you officially start the stride circle.
8
Push downward. Remember, if you do not make it all the way around, hook your leg!
9
In the last quarter of the stride circle, use your arm muscles. Unless you have done this several times and know exactly how much to push down, you probably won't have enough momentum to travel the whole way. That is why it is exceptionally important to rely on your arm muscles the last quarter to get you up the bar.
10
Congratulations! You know how to do a Stride Circle!

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Community Q&A

Question

Do I need to use chalk?

Community Answer

If your hands don't grip well, then you can either use chalk or bar grips, however, bar grips only help for sore hands or when you can't hold the bar properly.
Question

What if I'm not allowed to bend my legs?

Heather Setterland

Community Answer

Just squeeze your leg muscles a lot, and it will help. You could start by doing tiny ones first with your legs straight, then slowly increase them in size.

Warnings

Gymnastics is a very dangerous sport, and even if you take all possible safety precautions, you are not 100% immune to injury.

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Always check for passer-bys before attempting this trick. You wouldn't want to hit a random person in the head!

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