I didn't see the programme, but it doesn't seem a lot different from gymnastics training. My DD started late but was doing 3 or 4 hours after school 5 days a week and all day on Saturdays by the age of 9. A lot of the time was spent building up strength and flexibility (stretching arms and legs in ways they didn't want to go) Any osteopath will tell you it's all very bad - 30 years later she still has a chronic bad back although her carpal tunnel syndrome seems to have cleared up. I enjoyed watching her competing, but all the pushing came from her. Once, when she was unable to use one hand, a doctor suggested she should drop out of a competition - she stared at him as if he was speaking Martian!
We watched a film about Elvira Saadi coaching little Russian gymnasts who seemed to be half starved, worked to exhaustion verbally abused and frequently injured. That seemed like real child abuse to me, but when I asked DD what she thought she said "I wish someone would make me work like that"
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