WAG considering adult gymnastics- 38 years old and a beginner

[CoachGoofy]

As a former kid gymnast now being an adult gymnast kind of, I say a) go for it and b) pay a whole. lot. of. attention. to strength & flexibility. We don't bounce back as easily. And we tend to get sorer. Our healing and all that has slowed down, so injury prevention is the name of the game.

 

[BlairBob]

Cartwheels can be that with adults because of the odd landing and shear forces on the knee and weight-shift.

I generally had more of a problem with it when doing Butterflies or Butterflies fulls but Side Aerials never bothered me that way.

 

[Cosmos]

Are you having vestibular issues outside of the gym, or in the gym in specific positions (e.g. while doing a bridge with head looking to one side)?

 

[Cosmos]

BTW, dani, a little fear is a good thing, particularly for those of us in the did some amount of gymnastics as a kid, getting back to it little by little as an adult category. It keeps you vigilant and prevents you from trying something that's out of your league. Sure, for an elite or college gymnast training for high level competition, fear prevents you from reaching your goals, but there is nothing bad about it for the recreational gymnast, or someone competing in club-type settings - unless it is on the level of a panic attack or other anxiety disorder.

 

[dani4]

I finally went last night for a trial class.. and it was SO MUCH FUN! My DH went with me, so it was kind of a "date night."

My right hamstring is pretty sore from doing lots of cartwheels, but other than that I'm intact.

It was a pretty crowded class! There were 5 of us doing a first time free trial class, and a lot of regulars. The regulars seemed to be mostly former competitive gymnasts in their 20s, a couple of guys and a lot of women. There were a few people who seemed to be starting from less experience.

I learned a lot of new things- the most fun thing was a front handspring, which I had never done before and I was close to landing on my feet (on a very very soft deep mat). The high point of the night for me was when an experienced gymnast said "nice form" after i had a good one. I also liked working on my handstand- I used to try them as a kid but was always too scared to really balance them, but with a nice soft floor and some coaching I was able to make a lot of progress. I even walked on my hands a little.

I thought the coach was great- he's 60 years old and demos everything himself- he's been doing gymnastics his whole life. He is a really relaxed guy, and he had the perfect balance between "be careful" and "now you should try this other thing.." There wasn't much structure to the class- we stretched on our own, did a group tumbling warmup, and then everyone was free to work on whatever they wanted. If I go back I will have to do my own warm-up before the group warm-up- jumping into cartwheels cold is NOT a good idea for me.

I might register for the summer class, but the main thing holding me back is that it's late at night. I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night because I was so wound up. But that's partly because we went out for a beer afterward.. oops.

 

[cbone]

I didn't read everything on the thread, but GO FOR IT!!! It will be good if for no other reason than to understand your daughter's world better.

 

[BlairBob]

Tell DH to get to work and get a massage before sleep time. ZZZZZ. or one more beer, but that's just me. I drink, I get sleepy especially if I'm sitting on a coach.

 

[Quadqueen]

Tell DH to get to work and get a massage before sleep time. ZZZZZ. or one more beer, but that's just me. I drink, I get sleepy especially if I'm sitting on a coach.

hope you're sitting on a couch and not a COACH!!

 

[BlairBob]

Oops. But it's funny so I won't fix that typo.

Most coaches would rather I not sit on them. It's not like I'm gonna sit on some other dude's lap and I would crush a lot of other female coaches laps. Most gymnastics coach aren't that big.

That would only work when I was into BW only training and weighed about 55kg. Eons ago.

 

[CoachGoofy]

Tell DH to get to work and get a massage before sleep time. ZZZZZ. or one more beer, but that's just me. I drink, I get sleepy especially if I'm sitting on a coach.

*raises eyebrow*

You have an interesting dynamic with workmates, apparently...

 

[BlairBob]

Ehh, I'm notorious for not really hanging out with the people I work with. That would require them being more interesting than my friends.

It's been a common complaint but TBH, either I don't wanna hang out with the youngn's nor do I want to hang out with the oldie coaches. I'm in that in between age of no longer being 20 nor being old and boring at 35-45.