Madeleine and Emily Gale are both in training for the British National Aerobic Gymnastics squad. First it's important to understand what that means. Aerobic gymnastics is not artistic gymnastics, as their coach Gemma Kirkham explains: "We only use a sprung wooden floor and the girls or boys wear trainers when they're competing. "It's more dance-based. There's elements like jumps to push-up, jumps to splits which are more spectacular, there's things that both boys and girls can do." 'We give up a lot of things'
 | | More photos in our Bulmershe gallery |
Over a thousand children in the area go to Bulmershe gym, and its successes have made it the top club in the country. Emily and Madeleine are both in the national squad. "We've been doing this for five or six years," says Emily, "doing artistic aerobics at first, then gymnastics. "In aerobics you really get to smile and perform when you're out on stage, it's all about performance. "We train five times a week for probably about 11 hours in total. We give up a lot of things to do it but it's worth it in the end." Two boys, eighteen girls Madeleine hasn't yet won anything but she's made it into the national squad alongside Emily, who's in her third year at that level. "We've competed in China for the World Championships and the European Championships are coming up in Portugal," adds Emily. "My mum taught herself gymnastics," says Madeleine, "and when we were little she always encouraged us to do it." Girls, it seems, are getting plenty of encouragement. But what about boys and aerobic gymnastics? According to coach Gemma, male gymnasts are still a rarity. "We have 20 gymnasts - two boys and the rest are girls - in the national squad at Bulmershe. We're trying to encourage more boys into the sport."
Whether you're male or female, find out more about the Bulmershe gymnastics club on their website:
Bulmershe gymnastics club >
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites |
| 
