Routine

A routine is everything a gymnast performs on one apparatus in one go. The Codes of Points use the word exercise. A routine is built from elements (skills) linked by transitions and, on beam and floor, choreography, ending with a dismount.

What a routine must contain depends on the apparatus:

• Bars, beam, floor (women) — eight counting skills and four composition requirements; beam and floor also need at least three dance and three acrobatic elements, within 90 seconds.
• Men’s apparatus — skills from every element group plus a dismount; floor within 70 seconds.
• Vault — not a routine at all, but a single skill.

A routine with too few skills is penalised, and in principle a routine can’t be repeated, except in specific situations such as an interruption beyond the gymnast’s control or a torn handguard causing a fall.

Gymnasts compose their own routines, within the rules, which is why the FIG’s Technical Regulations call them optional exercises.