MARIE VAN KUYCK'S JOURNEY

Tell us a little bit about yourself :)

Hi, I'm Marie, I just turned 16 and I live with my two brothers and parents in Belgium. I really like acting but my main hobby is gymnastics. I've been doing gymnastics since I was 3 years old, I absolutely love this sport!
Three years ago, I started to practice more and more at home and gymnastics really became my passion. That's when I created an Instagram account (@gymnastics_addicted_) where I share my gymnastics journey to inspire others and to look back to see what I achieved!
I've been to three different gyms since I started and this year I finally made it into the competitive tumbling team! My journey wasn't easy at all, but I'm so excited that I might start competing next year which is very late as I'm 16 years old. I always dreamed of competing as a 'real' gymnast but the first gyms where I went to didn't have a competitive team so I'm thrilled to start competing next year!

How did you get introduced to gymnastics?

There's a very small gymnastics club in the village where I live. When I was little, my mom enrolled me in a 'gymnastics' class for toddlers.
When I became older, I discovered my passion for this sport so I moved to a bigger club. These practices were very fun, but seeing all these competitive gymnasts on Youtube and Instagram made me want to compete as well. Last year I moved to another club to start training a bit more. The first year I didn't know that this club had a competitive tumbling team but a couple of months later, they asked me if I was willing to join their tumbling team.
I ignored their requests as I didn't really have time to train harder. But, a half year later they asked me again if I wanted to join the team. At that point I started to realize that this could be my chance to finally start competing. So, a week later I went to my first tumbling practice! It was really fun and my teammates were really nice to me, we became such a good friends!
I also started working as a gymnastics coach in my first gym.

What was your most embarrassing moment (in regards to gymnastics of course ;)

I have had a lot of embarrassing moments. The couch sometimes grabs you in a 'wrong' place, which is really embarrassing for me, but for the coach as well.
I also once farted while doing a tumbling pass, oops :D.

How did gymnastics influence your life in other ways?

I train a lot so I'm barely home. This sometimes makes it difficult to keep up with school and homework.
Gymnastics also helps me stay in shape :).
Gymnastics just makes me who I am, it's a big part of my life and I love it!

What does your daily routine look like ?

I wake up around 7 a.m. to go to school. I try to do my homework straight after school when I have practice later so I don't have to do it after gymnastics.

I have gymnastics at 7:00pm until 9:00pm every Tuesday and Wednesday. On Friday I only have a one-hour class from 8:00pm until 9:00pm and I practice on Saturdays as well. I also give gymnastics classes to some younger kids and toddlers 5 hours per week.

My schedule is busy, I train 7-8 hours a week. I also practice a lot at home while filming videos for Instagram. This takes me about an hour each week. I do not film every day for Instagram because when I do, I film more than one video so I have enough to post for a whole week.

And what about your flexibility training ? Where does that fit in ?

I work on flexibility every practice. I also try to practice my splits every day at home. Flexibility is a struggle for me because I'm not naturally flexible so I have to work really hard on it.

I feel oversplits really help me improve my leg flexibility. My back flexibility is the biggest struggle. I do not like stretching my back at all, which is problematic since this is very important in gymnastics.

What keeps you motivated?

When I look back, I see what I have achieved. This reminds me that I do make progress, little by little.
Support I get on Instagram and from my friends really keeps me motivated to do what I love .