JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?˜GH~=D :TA#,hYTzH\{T.*muѾ F(2UOr8-UR&$4L1=OơcEDUti_:2"a\z hy'ē1QQ`gx#}h 5TEa)ٙ!8ȪFGjh/JͻU8SuzTM.\<.23zqrGMϝ$;>c* `i~"mmA@e>b20ҶcmUX;h% [6z^ԖID2̃'֊5v=ljQ 9UP2I8ⵁ#E1=+|Cy5{%*wor=jKsD,Uٷx8A$ |;]^ܒIS\爁Ujバ+U^{q[w/":uF*UViW*oqzm;_֭N3+dWj2B˸"YCֵ*t]_`=*\T6I3μ^d*jB;ַ|Ygi?T¿=ϭTthea&@T;э%?5bj,֯F?-v;ؚ H-xzZZ甫X0ǰsչ.36i?WPǃŰ4 %w 3 W#=s9]'cczu/HWfK?5Rܨ\S5٘p* Ob[r_T%n"`=kDRL|3_,&!3ܣG]>2iJŽ>dEާk#+j  vz>(il4Ȯl ɀyEy YzzQ@fwp`Cqe|.Y(U{s>T#/'4us;Z ғhr# vZw[ydGN?3Z ݌t OJ9W8;9/f)dڵ4kxdLIc {5 et/tуwh|\ e~cRKqk(itQ3(?[3K73$xFXfHwՎ: LFClÒ2L,G5NG?>ۯ/m d\ߥnd$}sk1vgC=.UL2 HOjM#J[Y 6ZwVkݥ7+"(GQc4j.a8c֒i'Qnv$ի}Z(1K(Ă1ӵ]J%.(p ` ~Vxo?tPGc+* "\Gi 5_۵%B0ֱwV8kWnheX^ssIKH5}A`UOT]8ٺFaɨݱ&FASVy•'˻:sӥ4\JeQ54-ST5Μݚ/QEp1Akie|ՙc,lt^zʛ&-$A8<K{DȨI\psP=IgZqRp}3җӟq_t5Duqu^De,SnXg#UP=+RA$J!Gf'?U"tԷ,0jw4s!\S)Ȧ\ vxm%Gfo]ƸbQI-A0a%U;j౾lzN=ə$}dhDðbZ*]}KIBOfa5Xs7ڍ6 Ers0L=sns[0]SUt97TgM?LU ݘk3<56ڕb]B[j["$dxr>5s+ ]8נW("Bƹ=SCp6Ui4yw:hR{3R6HnCC9qؑk:`TCmy 29*A#qZhv'c۴|,ȨL&ITaCYOic Xe l,+frlBᎀ7er1^/'YnV@^]<*"f YM>C;Ӧ-IH:Ê4x7bxr9֏lfA9V'eXOZ#\i:lmV]p3N*箙VD,Cm\qPRA9ɭ]vmFYN{5D]QDZ5; >,m#E,ǀ5{×|_C$Ux+|#h>lf9f?i٥j*rPBD9u K\v~_A]: Sk >ǣ!FJZϵI~ui}9U ?$lgz !}~/Srg]>b 9Ws["`bz׊8lr1sTtgp*O6@]\ l l\խJu¬y#N|q^Yr%aL-MLU]sNE;ʪ稨mcv "NzUSC|zg<Ŷq}yc*]ɘW8R'.e8x>W?+3P.u[ָ|1AYk~MGS9W魤 ]jt%ۖS]ENo4SDG'LҺ~$F[~?ZSHޝW7fvC3zW>6ōm$ОŖ^)}+üKheY˻#9Yz{9. n%?2 lst=+QX(d$2W{_.t- -xӍN"P`ɎXAӵI$,0tp`r=Bҙ$7չR9Z}NYy ݜc KD|£bWd6Λq[\#FYW8#RFW{X":vΊ8O͵jȭeFpHy6sT2\]+KW*JUk.4S"ǘ(cwԤ^>q6p4e Ԛ}64:1Q}sh߹^j -y&*k&t3 Ҷc 5,s8h6"H68`iCLF UkVJw5kWQZX'QecDvtѬo+byT=oo${sX>ٗ(E(\')e%2I#G"n?JĬն_張Z9%T0kJF9kiyϖ50oMJkuz#Jmu K$1@ws7>%@;t5#Қr?I5zXR##zLe*A8âfM2B QVi5ܺC52#=6C'8`Wz^iO镔d qj 닱y1l0'۸r|C{]^<;{qh:8-Gz*Nu% # Ok22ʧB!9pj ]/"ad;Sp;;Sǟ VU{*^Sn&!-%i"[ߢc[x?eV7W={G:KSulOp%ұYXҽK|chxc8 MFwGpqA3e:Tw;?.,D=(g%.G3QTzaҌRcڑN1XXوJHˎݩ#9A1 CjkXnq$u!ޛx%Vz˿!Xq׾k|n5~I;zޗԮs8뎘+>K*q۹i:Iu(皿?ve*Hu'zCg Sgf=qf9 uBf!VȚk6p+t$ HwH*0OZG僎^dY@ѹU6:i̸zt{Pge1pNh`0D&֛ 6e|3me#hKHd+zT{b@Ha<ҴZR&bpFrMqJ(emG9So ,d+kF9Q0c>#'i噉B}:}a+l۞j=)}·xRkץ.~e~:?g}R' =˞>0g}8|y ?E~K¼KƣӦ?55cƣ9Oh-{r~U+PQ{LF/MŴ2ēE6Fl5X@2vOD?D}p[l)?eϕ'֩$u~LD;k>KVWiEհd(kV2d,՛攉#.#.㹪Ayars keeps the reps in the three-to-five range, increasing weight as long as the athlete s technique is good.  As we raise the weight, I expect their speed to slow down a little bit, but we will stop them if their technique worsens. On squats, Ayars allows them go as deep as desired as long as there is no bouncing. Despite the conservative nature of this method, Ayars has set a standard for the girls to power clean their bodyweight for three reps, and he already has five girls as young as 13 years old achieving it. He also wants them to quat their bodyweight, a goal that he says most of his athletes achieve quickly.<br>One key auxiliary exercise in Ayars program is the overhead squat, one of the BFS power balance exercises.  My experience has been that the overhead squat is one of the best all-around body exercises an athlete can do, says Ayars.  It works on flexibility, which of course the gymnasts need, and it s very good for working on balance. In gymnastics, having the arms overhead during the exercise transfers well to what they do on the balance beam, because during part of the routine they will have their arms overhead and their knees bent. <br>A Strong Future with Gymnastics<br><br>Although gymnastics is popular, especially at the Olympic level, the sport is not without controversy. A book entitled Little Girls in Pretty Boxes discusses some of the apparent abuses in gymnastics, especially in regard to promoting eating disorders.  The book painted the entire sport with a very broad brush, says Ayars.  Some of those abuses may take place at the elite level, which is what you see at the Olympics, but the same can be said for other sports at the elite level. Truthfully, the sport that I hear receiving the most criticism for pressuring girls about their weight is cheer-leading. <br> If you look at the gymnasts who compete at the junior Olympic level, continues Ayars,  the problems described in that book really don t take place with ny greater frequency than they do in other sports. And if you look at college gymnastics, you re not going to see a bunch of emaciated little girls they re athletic, healthy-looking young women. Further, Ayars believes that all athletes can benefit from participating in the sport at some level.  It doesn t matter what sport somebody plays, gymnastic training will help them be a better all-around athlete. <br>The Sandhills Academy of Gymnastics offers a variety of gymnastic programs, holding classes for those as young as 16 months all the way up to competitive junior Olympic teams. They also have popular recreational and tumbling classes. Ayars says that gymnastics usually costs more than most other sports, which he attributes to a lack of support from taxpayers who are more willing to subsidize main-stream sports such as baseball.<br>Ayars is vocal on the subject of how public support affects gymnastics in this country:  Men s gymnastics has been hurting at the international level because it s really developed at the collegiate level, and over the past 10 to 12 years the college men s gymnastics program has really been gutted. At the last Olympics our teams didn t do too well, but since then our international women s teams hve been doing much better. <&~riZPY2Fx`᫱bedZFI( P=] OX&$$kk4QDU ~&r"'A6 A9&Oס'O[kSgxꞢxdqkj{b5Vcn?ym{(g<F$lDfSn8of9)mKHXpoh(eG6UlG$mn ^2U>U4u #|zɘ@>]-SH81YZx~z%XF3q嶒.9}ϭ1k'dCg > rQd2Lv\or Su<ȖAtLI k!R`cž[vё+!E?#p1.z@'fT-Gڠy:=OQERY۱dV" $~zqltKCDRC#@2Dhs,tأYKI9ez<"+}Ko2Z|