I'm 19 and I want to try gymnastics.

[want2do_gymnastics]

Is it too late for me to try gymnastics?
How successful are adults that want to try gymnastics?

Any advice will be helpful!! Thanks!

 

[want2do_gymnastics]

Anyone?? Please!

 

[GymSurvivor]

Honestly, GO FOR IT!!!
You have nothing to lose.
Lots of adults do this and lots are VERY successful. Just do it for fun and the enjoyment!!!

 

[gymnast_bre]

go for it =)

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yikes!.................................................

 

[Aussie_coach]

It depends on you and the club you attend. I have sen many gymnasts start as adults and go onto be be very successful, and you can still have a successful competitive career. But you have to be willing to work at it. Kids who reach higher levels in gymnastics at the competitive level train and average of 12-20 hours a week. Few adults are willing and able to do this. If you don't put in the time you won't get the results.

Also you need a willing gym, some gyms won't be much interested in beginners over the age of 7, while others have great adult programs. I notice you are from the US, it may be more difficult for you because gymnastics clubs are charged a lot more for insurance for adults so many won't offer adult classes. In Australia adults and kids cost the same so most gyms have adult programs.

 

[want2do_gymnastics]

I don't know if I should try gymnastics anymore having read some of these comments, but thanks for the input!

 

[Kiwi]

It depends on what your aims are. You can definitely do gymnastics if you can find an adults class. I am 45 and took up gymnastics at 43 (having done a little bit as a child many years ago). This year I competed at NZ Masters Games. There was another lady there who also took up gymnastics in her 40s, she had been training for only one year and was doing very well. Having said that, we are not 'competitive' gymnasts as such and especially at our age it is not realistic to expect that we would progress to the higher level skills. I believe there are adult women's competitions in the US, someone posted a video here last year, the women were in their 20s and 30s and they were awesome. I love doing gymnastics because it is fun and exciting, it is artistic and there is a lot of choice and variety.

 

[aerialriver]

No reason you should not try something you are interested in if you can find a gym. Just be real with your intentions, if you want to try something new and fun and be fit and even have some gymnastic goals that is fine. If the success part of the question was geared towards can I make it to the elite level then you are overshooting. But really give it a shot you never know if you don't try.

 

[All Chalked Up]

Give it a shot! Gymnastics is by far the best thing I've ever done in my life.

 

[fliptwisttwirl]

Yes atleast try it! So what if it doesn't work out? Atleast you had a chance and knew if you really liked it or not..go for it!

 

[mustlovejumping]

You should definitely try it!! My biggest pet peeve is when people complain about things they wish they would have tried when they were younger. If you're interested in something, find a way to try it! Age is only a number.

These are the things I always tell adults who are interested in starting gymnastics:
1. Have realistic expectations. Understand that you will not progress even close to as fast as an 8 year old who is in the gym 4 hours a day 4 days a week. Really focus on the journey of it and not so much on results. If at the end of a class the only thing I can say is that I got a great workout and had fun, I have to consider that a successful day.

2. Do a lot of research on your own. All the adults who have stuck around in my class for a while, and probably all the long-term adult gymnasts on this forum watch tons of videos on youtube and gymnastike and read different things about skill progressions and proper body positioning. It helps a lot to know for yourself what you should be doing to get a certain skill.

3. There is no race to get skills. This sort of goes along with the first one. The good thing about adult gymnastics is that we have all the time in the world to learn skills :] If you want to get skills faster the best thing you can do is come up with a good at-home conditioning routine. It really does help a lot! If the skills I'm trying to learn are USAG level 5 skills, then I figure I should be in a class or conditioning the same number of days that I would be in the gym if I were on the L5 team.

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[Galadriel]

definitely TRY
as previous poster said
if no try may have regrets!
go for it
what is there to lose (except money to pay for class?)
x

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[want2do_gymnastics]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to try it out in June!

 

[AlwaysCuriousMom]

Why wait until June? My husband recently signed up at an Adult open gym. He basically came in with a list of goals (skills he's like to try) and one of the coaches gave him a few workouts and stretches to do at home before he started, so that he could come in a little "prepared." (And DD the gymnast makes form corrections... lol) He's been going once a week for two months... and he has learned quite a bit (including a backhandspring.)

If you are expecting to learn the basics of all 4 apparatuses at the age of 19 and actually compete one day, I'm not sure about that. I know it's possible, as I've know of an adult (well over the age of 24), compete alongside kids at a competition... but it was definitely an awkward situation.

 

[want2do_gymnastics]

I want to learn all 4 apparatuses, but I'm definitely not looking to compete. I just want to do it for fun And I'd start now but I have a lot of school work at the moment.

 

[nicci1999]

Gymnastics is what has helped me get through school the past couple of years! No matter how much schoolwork I had, I still went to practice. Because it's fun, and for the entire time you're in the gym, you are not thinking of anything but what you are doing at that moment. Give it a go, have fun. That is the most important thing....have fun

 

[Deleted member D3987]

hi Nicci999, Valeri's name is not spelled with that "e".

 

[Maitland]

You might consider T&T (trampoline and tumbling)...it is really fun and less wear and tear!