gymnastics as an adult-really possible?

I have been reading on different gymnastics forums since nearly a year now, but finally decided to create my own account, because I have a VERY important question...so hello

I am female, 20 years and I am from Europe.

Since my 7th birthday, when I saw a tumbling show, I wanted to do gymnastics, but the next gym was a 2 hours drive away so my parents said no. I remember myself trying skills in the garden - I learned my splits in 2 months, I stretched everyday for hours!

As I got older I tried many things to distract me from my gymnastics obsession. I tried running, track&field, spent time with my dog....but somehow I always came back to having the strong desire of being a gymnast! School became tough and I tried to talk myself into that I am already too old and I should better focus on school work or friends instead of dreaming this stupid dream of starting gymnastics as a teenager!

I finished school a year ago and now I am at university. I bought myself a big trampoline, a pull-up bar, and my father built stall bars and parrallettes. I am in a "gymnastics" class at university 3 times a week, because here just kids can train at a high level.

The coaches are really good, but the classes are more rec classes and just for fun, without any conditioning. There are many students my age who are doing these classes for more than 2 years and are still not able to do a back handspring!

Anyways....I have a dream: I want to be a Level 7 gymnast! I picked this Level because (as discussed a lot in some forums) this is the Level that is quite "easy" to reach. I don't want to set my goals too high, because I am already 20 and need to think about work, friends, family in the future! But I also really want to do it.

As I said, I started 8 months ago. I started working on basics like handstands, cartwheels, round-offs and walkovers and have all of them neatly, even on beam! 1 month ago I started doing back handsprings and back tucks and nearly have both standing. Of course I have all splits, pancake stretch, good bridge and I can do a straddle handstand from stand. On bars I can do front/back hip circle, clear hip, undershoot, squat on and started kips last week.

I think I am a pretty fast learner and I guess this is because there is nothing I want more. I watch soooo many videos, clips and tutorials on youtube, I condition a lot and gymnastics is basically my life. When I watch a video of a gymnast doing certain skills, I am kinda able to imagine how this skill would feel if I would do it! It helps me whenever I am sad and I just feel sooo happy if I do it!

So this is ma "plan":

For the next year (with Foundation):

strength (10 pull-ups, 20 leg lifts, 10 chin-ups pullovers, V-Sit, press handstand, pike press) i can do some pull ups and leg lifts already!

bars: glide kip, clear hip, squat on

floor: RO BT, RO BH BT, Front Handsprings and Front Tucks

beam: handstand, cartwheel, walkovers

vault: Front Hanspring

I want to work on those skills really hard, at class and at home on my trampoline. I want to have the skills I listed above in one year with very good form!

the second year:

bars: straddle cast handstand, clear hip to handstand, giants, tuck dismount

floor: RO BH Back Layout, Whip Back, Full Twist, Front Layout, Front Handspring Front Tuck

vault: Front Handspring

beam: Back Handspring

the third year:

perfecting all of the skills, connecting them and just have fun!

I condtion 3 times a week for 1 hour, and will buy Foundation. I am in class 3 times a week for 2 hours and I try my skillson the trampoline as often as I can!

I need to add that I don't want to compete and I am in no system. And I don't necessarily need to do the floor skills like Layouts or Twists on spring floor. It would be totally fine if I could do them on the airtrack. The only thing I want to have on "real" floor is a RO BH BT and Back Handspring layout stepout!

So thanks everyone for reading my story.

These are my questions now:

1.) Do you think the strength+skills I chose are the point where it is easy to progress through? Of course, I want to be the best I can. But I think Level 10 would be too much. I resd that until L7 gymnastics is quite easy if yor work hard, are strong and flexible. But after L8 it's a whole different story! I want to enjoy my skills as long as possible, not work towards something that take me 10 years or so...

2.)Do you think my "plan" with the progressions will work?

Search youtube for Johanna Quass

Learning gymnastics as a young adult is more than possible! I started when I was 17 and now compete at (what is effectively) men's level 9 in 3 events and I'm working on adding the other 3. 

My advice for skill acquisition would be to work through the compulsory routines, starting at the lowest level (I think 4 is the lowest level that has compulsory routines?). Get to the point where you can do the routine flawlessly, then start learning the next level. Foundation for strength/mobility is a good idea. It's not tailor made for women's gymnastics but it's better than any other pre-made program I know of. 

Joshua Slocum said:

Learning gymnastics as a young adult is more than possible! I started when I was 17 and now compete at (what is effectively) men's level 9 in 3 events and I'm working on adding the other 3. 

 

My advice for skill acquisition would be to work through the compulsory routines, starting at the lowest level (I think 4 is the lowest level that has compulsory routines?). Get to the point where you can do the routine flawlessly, then start learning the next level. Foundation for strength/mobility is a good idea. It's not tailor made for women's gymnastics but it's better than any other pre-made program I know of. 

Thank you! How long have you been training for this and how often per week did you train?

We don't have these Levels here, but it's definitely a good reference point in terms of progressing through the skills! What do you think of this plan as I wrote it above?

Having a good base (strength and skills) in a year and then add more difficiult skills in the second. And in the third year perfecting everything, maybe taking some advanced tumbling skills like layouts and fulls from airtrack to the floor...and then just see where I get.

I just can't be like " I will just train and see were it gets me..." I always want everythhing planned and certain goals, otherwise I have no motivation...

emmi-lee said:

Thank you! How long have you been training for this and how often per week did you train?

We don't have these Levels here, but it's definitely a good reference point in terms of progressing through the skills! What do you think of this plan as I wrote it above?

Having a good base (strength and skills) in a year and then add more difficiult skills in the second. And in the third year perfecting everything, maybe taking some advanced tumbling skills like layouts and fulls from airtrack to the floor...and then just see where I get.

I just can't be like " I will just train and see were it gets me..." I always want everythhing planned and certain goals, otherwise I have no motivation...

I train roughly 12-15 hours a week, MTWRF. Starting with the basics and mastering those is definitely the way to go. 

Training plans rarely work out the way you want them to. Some things take much longer to develop than you anticipate and other things come much more quickly. It's important to be able to assess your progress periodically and revise your plans accordingly. Your plan as is looks pretty good, I'd say. 

Never too late to do what you love You might not become an Olympic gymnast, but no reason you can't develop an awesome, fun routine.

Emmi, I started just before I turned 21. It's definitely possible.

Are you in the US?...because if you get there skillwise, there is actually a way to compete as a L7 through petitioning the local gymnastics body. You would need to show that you have the skillset. It's actually available to any girl over the age of 14 as many do not want to compulsory with the little girls.

I can't figure out if you are from Europe and going to school in the US or just looking at the American USAG JO system.

It's very doable in my opinion. Old Level 7 is now Level 6 as the levels changed awhile ago. 

Blairbob said:

Emmi, I started just before I turned 21. It's definitely possible.

Are you in the US?...because if you get there skillwise, there is actually a way to compete as a L7 through petitioning the local gymnastics body. You would need to show that you have the skillset. It's actually available to any girl over the age of 14 as many do not want to compulsory with the little girls.

I can't figure out if you are from Europe and going to school in the US or just looking at the American USAG JO system.

It's very doable in my opinion. Old Level 7 is now Level 6 as the levels changed awhile ago. 

Thanks for your answer!

I am from Germany, but I am much more familiar with the USAG System than with our system here!

I am sooooo happy to hear that! As I already said, in the gym I train, all the other students admire me for doing walkovers or roundoff back tucks on air track! No one of them can do a good straight cartwheel, a round-off with a nice rebound or a split, although most of them are training for more than 2 years already. They just do it for fun and to have some exercise!

Luckily, the trainers are REALLY good and nice and can also spot more difficult skills.

I hope that building some decent strength like pull-ups, leg lifts and press handstands and standing pike presses will help me with free hip to handstand and cast handtstands on bars later.

Vault shouldn't be too hard, as I just want to do a front handspring and beam shouldn't be too hard either. I think I just have to go for the back handspring and don't be scared too much once I have a decent one on floor on a straight line!

I would rather be a good Level 6/7 gymnast than a sloppy Level8 or 9. I think I might never be able to be a Level 8 or 9 gymnast and  be as confident on beam as a girl that did it since she was 3 years old. I think it's just not possible for me to learn a more difficult bar change than a squat-on too. But I will work hard to get to about Level7!

I am so crazy about gymnastics, no matter how bad I feel, when I think about it I am happy again!

I will insert a video here, it is from a german gymnast. These are the skills I would like to have, but it won't be a problem if I didn't have the Front Handspring Front Layout and RO BH BL on floor. If I had this on air track it would be enough! 

I hope that I am able to do that in 2-3 years soooo badly!!!!

In Germany, the system is much more complicated and there are very very few girls that are better than Level 4 in USAG!

So thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it!