Aerobic Gymnastics
Aerobic gymnastics is a non-Olympic sport, where exercise sequences are performed to music synchronously with a driving beat characterizing this gymnastics discipline.
Competitive Aerobic Gymnastics offers 7 platforms for showcasing this discipline: “Individual Men”, “Individual Women”, Mixed Pair (1 female and 1 male), Trio, Group (5 people), Aerobic Dance (8 people), Aerobic Step (8 people). Trios, Groups, Aerobic Dance and Aerobic Step may be comprised of only male, only female or both male and female.
The total size of the special Aerobic Floor is 12x12m. The performance area for senior and junior gymnasts is 10m, while it is 7m for pre-juniors. During the performances, gymnasts demonstrate seven basic steps combined with arm movements, gymnastics difficulty elements, original transitions, collaboration and interactions between members, lifts. The seven basic steps include the march, the jog, the skip, the knee lift, the kick, the jack and the lunge.
During the routines, the judges assess the artistry, execution and difficulty of the exercises.
Aerobic Gymnastics in the world
The word “Aerobic” was coined in 1875, when French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur discovered that certain “Aerobic” bacteria needed oxygen to survive. During the 1960s, USA doctor Ken Cooper developed a series of "Aerobic exercises" designed to combat cardiovascular diseases.
Aerobic exercises became a part of a worldwide fitness trend during the 1980s. Thus, events featuring spandex-clad competitors performing breathtaking routines and flexing their abundant muscles gained popularity.
The first step towards eventual fusion of Aerobics with Gymnastics were taken in 1993, when affiliated federations of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) officially requested the FIG Executive Committee to introduce Aerobic as a discipline in the FIG competition programme.
In 1995, the first FIG Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Paris, France. In 1996, the FIG officially recognized Aerobic Gymnastics as FIG discipline.
Since 2000, the World Championships have been held every two years.
Aerobic Gymnastics in Azerbaijan
The inclusion of Aerobic Gymnastics into the program of the 1st European Games held in Baku in 2015, has given an impetus to its development in our country since late 2013.
As in all gymnastics disciplines, which newly took step towards development, foreign athletes and specialists were involved into the National Team at the first stage of development. Azerbaijan was represented within “Mixed Pair” and “Group” at the Aerobic Gymnastics competitions held within the framework of the European Games.
Elchin Mammadov, Aykhan Ahmadli, Balakhanim Ahmadova, Narmina Huseynova, Nigar Ibrahimbayli, Imran Imranov, Akif Karimli and Madina Mustafayeva, who represented Azerbaijan in the Aerobic Dance competition program at the 11th Aerobic Gymnastics European Championships held in Baku for the first time in 2019, were honoured with the Gold medals.
One of the main directions of the AGF’s activity is educating of specialists in this discipline and raising the level of their professional skills on a regular basis in our country. For this purpose, there were held the FIG Academy Level 1 and Level 2 for coaches in 2018 and 2019 accordingly. The Federation periodically organizes the national courses for coaches and judges as well.
At present, along with Baku, Aerobic gymnastics sections operate in Sumgayit and Khirdalan.