home equipment

[katy]

ok, i'm totally jealous after reading gikigirl's post that she has a low beam at her house. i didn't know that we could still do that! i used to have two big mats in my parents basement that we would do ro bhs on. i wonder if i have room for a floor beam in my workout room, and i wonder if i would need an insurance policy for all of our crazy friends that want to try stuff. i hear it is really hard for gyms to get ins for us old folks
who else has equipment and what kind. my fantasy is to have a set of bars for my back yard! the only problem is i live in michigan and we get snow. not to mention that the bars plus the mats would cost a small fortune!

 

[BlairBob]

Apparently at the last Regional Congress, my name was called for a set of UB but our group had gone to lunch so I got bypassed. Doh! I wish I would have claimed them since I could either have sold them or sold them at a discount to my gym. No real use for UB. I'd love a set of parallel bars and may think of fabricating my own to just swing HS on. A PH would be nice too and a long bed trampoline to work tramp skills.

I have a set of rings, parallettes, a mushroom, a cross trainer, a pullup/dip bar and a cheap old Total gym off CL.

At my friend's place he has a pullup bar that his son occasionally would do giants on and I'll typically do some stuff but bare in mind it has no flex and nothing really to land on. He also has a homemade climbing wall with false holds.

 

[LittleLady]

Ok. Here goes. My husband installed an uneven bar rail on our sun porch so I can workout rain or shine(air conditioning) or snow(heated) 365 days a year. It can be removed and put up as a high bar too. I also have a power incline mini tramp, many mats, a folding floor balance beam, a 6" wide carpeted low beam, a 14 ft round trampoline in my backyard for spring, summer & fall workouts, an in the ground balance beam in my backyard, bounce handstand station by GymTrix, a basement room with Totalgym, Universal weightlifting, a running track, a medicine ball, dumbbells, ankle weights, wrist weights, P90X training videos, exercise ball & video and last, but not least, a low bar about 1 1/2 ft off the floor for handstand pirouette and bar handstand practice. Do you think maybe I "love" gymnastics??? chuckle Who wants to come to my house for workouts? I'd love to have fellow adult gymnasts to workout with!!! And...we have a swimming pool.

 

[kgymn]

party at LittleLady's house!!!! LOL

Currently I have nothing. But I would love a beam, even just a low one, that I could use to work on jumps and leaps.

~Katy

 

[kyliesmith1]

I suddenly want to move to Vermont. That sounds soo cool that your husband set all that stuff up for you. All I have right now is a crappy trampoline in my back yard that turns your feet black when I jump on it. I would also like to have lowbeam in my house, but I can't think of where a good place for it would be. I'm going to see if my husband will get me one for anniversary this year. Maybe that will help him see how much I love the sport too.

 

[LittleLady]

Wow! Now you have me thinking. Maybe someday in the near future we could have an adult gymnast party. We could workout, have a bar-b-q and maybe even play a fun round of golf! My husband and I work at a golf course that is 5 minutes away. Don't worry, I'm terrible at golf, but it would be a blast to play and laugh at each other. We're even hoping to buy a gym down the road that is no longer being used and is up for sale. It has a vault going into the pit, uneven bars over the pit, uneven bars out of the pit, a beam room upstairs and a strip for tumbling. As for buying a beam for home use, check out the DGS ad on this site on the left. They sell the folding floor beam I have. It's an AAI suede beam and it can be folded in half and tucked away after use. Plus there's no fear of falling off! While you're at it, check the Books for sale on that site. You'll notice a pretty purple one. That's mine.

 

[katy]

holy cow, i love all the stuff you have little lady. i always remember how much fun the bounce handstand station was. i think that i'm going to have have my man make me a beam and little bar this weekend!

 

[Jer505]

home training

Hi Gymnasts - I was pretty blown away by the last Olympics and pretty much fell in love with gymnastics. I'm 40++ so I'm a bit sad about the years that I don't have available to train anymore. Anyway, I've been training to increase strength and flexibility on rings, pull up bar, and dip station with extended bars (I even built a stall bar in my basement).

The gymnastic focused training has greatly increased my strength even though I've only been doing it about 3 months. My question is that my wife wants me to help her develop a routine to improve her strenght, etc., based on gymnastics and I'm not too sure about what routines women use in training for gymnastics. I have her doing extended hold handstands and pull ups right now - what other exercises do women do when training for gymnastics? Thanks for your help!

 

[LittleLady]

Hi Jer505,
Welcome aboard! Having equipment at home is great. Your wife can do many things like pushups, pullups, V-ups, gymnastics situps, backbends, crunches, hanging from a bar as long as she can, and stretching are a lot of good exercises to gain basic strength and flexibility.
I found that shoulder strength and flexibility was tough to develop without a spotter so I got creative. To improve my shoulder flexibility and strength for elements such as backbends, back walkovers, back handsprings and even snap downs from a roundoff was this : I would lay on my back across the bed with my upper body hanging over the edge. With arms straight and on the floor I would work on shoulder flexibility by trying to get my hands directly under my shoulders. I would also do pushups in this position, lowering my head to touch the floor and push up until my arms were straight. They are very hard but really develop the strength needed if you work hard at them. However, don't overdo it with reps. I'm stubborn and one day I overdid it and was so tired I was stuck in that position and had to slide like a sack of potatoes onto the floor in a heap! The rug tasted awful !!!

 

[Jer505]

thanks

Thanks little lady! I really appreciate it. I don't have her doing any pushups right now, so I'll add the ones you're suggesting. She can actually hold a nearly vertical handstand against the wall for 30 seconds - doesn't sound like much but it's amazing considering where we started.

Jerry

 

[LittleLady]

Good for her Jerry! With you both helping and encouraging each other, you'll make great progress! Be patient, persistent and never, ever, ever give up.

 

[LittleLady]

Economic times are tough, as everyone knows. Having at home equipment can greatly improve speeding up success for adult gymnasts who can't receive as much training in a gym as the youngsters, unfortunately. That's why my husband made me several things that I could work on at home. They are very inexpensive to build if you or someone you know has any knowledge about carpentry. My husband made me a very low handstand/ handstand pirouette bar out of a steel pipe that stands just about 5 inches off the floor, a bar that was made of a steel pipe, attached to the side of the house ( with cables) to work kips and circle moves on (with a mattress under it!), and an in ground, ground level, balance beam (which you can't fall off of!) made from pressure treated wood that has lasted 15 years so far even in spite of Vermont winters, and even a men's gymnastics mushroom! (I always wanted to learn men's pommel horse elements)
If anyone is interested in instructions on how to build these things, which are so inexpensive to build, go to [email protected]. Just ask. My husband can tell you (free of charge) how to build them.

 

[kyliesmith1]

My husband has really been coming around recently about the gymnastics thing. I think he is beginning to realize how much it means to me so I think he would be up for making some equipment for me. He loves home projects and not spending a ton of money so I think I'll try to have him build me a bar like you were talking about. I will send an email to that address you posted as soon as I have a chance. Thanks so much for the ideas.

 

[Jer505]

best wishes

Hi kyliesmith1,

It's pretty funny to hear you say that. At my house, it's the exact opposite. I have developed a recent deep enjoyment with gymnastics and most of my family probably thinks I'm nuts. But, my wife is actually starting to train with me now a bit; and it has really added to her fitness program (she's lost 10lbs of fat and gained 2 lbs. of muscle since we started a few days after new years).

I really wish you well. It really saddens me when I look at people my age who have completely given up on most physical activity except for the occasional aerobics/jogging stuff. Gymnastics really makes (keeps) you young - it's not easy, but boy what satisfaction!

Jerry

 

[LittleLady]

I've figured out a way to practice vaulting at home! Since I have a large round trampoline in my backyard, my husband is going to get a bale of hay from a nearby farmer. The bales are round in my area and as high as a vault table. We'll place the bale of hay in front of my tramp with a mattress on the tramp. I'll use the power incline mini tramp for my vaulting board. We can shape the top of the bale of hay with foam and cover it with vinyl to make it the same slope as a vault table. With this setup, I can practice my vaults landing on my back or stomach like we did at the gym, with no fear of bad landings on the after flight. Hey, this is going to be fun!!!

 

[GikiGirl]

Wow LL, that is very creative! I am sure you will have a killer block after lots of those.

 

[Andrea1973]

ok you are living my dream !!! I am trying to figure out how I can have a "home gymnastics gym", indoor & outdoor w/ pool, the works....myself also! That is amazing !!!