Secondly, spotting the gymnast on an exercise is not allowed - only full unassisted repetitions from the gymnast are counted. Many other schools allow the assistance of their athletes on their final repetition, reasoning that it promotes more strength gain by pushing their bodies more. But Golder believes that strength gain must go hand in hand with the gymnast's confidence in himself. He feels that if Scott Vetere is accustomed to being aided on his final handstand pushup, he may not be able to duplicate the skill in a meet when he is severely fatigued. The last key distinction of the Michigan program is that it separates strength gain from endurance and conditioning.
Athletes perform each set when their muscles are rested and recovered from the previous one.
As a result, sets are performed at maximum muscular output so the finer points of a technique are mastered. It is also no coincidence that by consensus, the two strongest gymnasts on the team also happen to be the two best. Olympic trials qualifier Justin Toman walked in as a freshman barely being able to perform an Iron Cross. All-American Vetere had weight trained in high school and had a solid strength base, but he lacked flexibility. Now, on a team laden with stocky, well-built athletes, Toman and Vetere continually win the team's Iron Cross competitions.