What are you trying to accomplish with gymnasticsbodies?

For me, I want to be more athletic.  I'm 44 years old, could stand to lose 5-10 lbs but not really overweight (6'  178 lbs).  I have a 6 year old daughter that I want to be able to keep up with as she grows and participates in sports and I get older.  

i guess I had the attitude for a few years, that this is the best it's gonna be, now have the attitude of "just get a little bit better every day"  no reason I can't be a little stronger and more mobile tomorrow than I am today.  Who knows in a year or 2 maybe I'll be dunking a basketball. 

What are some of ya'lls goals?

Improving my body's strength and mobility but most importantly, resiliency. I want to build a body that will last and keep me moving well so that I can continue to enjoy my life as I get older (41 now). I want to be skiing and surfing with the kids 20 years or more from now and if I don't start on the right path now then I risk not getting there.

That said I first started with GB maybe 3y ago but have not been able to stick with it, partly because I prefer working out with others and partly because I felt like I was never going to be able to pass swivel hips (still working on it). However every time I pick up an injury I get reminded of why I should be here; most recently this was a dislocated knee from jujitsu and hence my return. I find the new interface much easier than the old version and am hopeful that I will stay committed this time.

Strength and mobility, primarily. I'm 36 and slightly overweight (5'9", 170lbs.)...or at least my weight needs to go through a recomposition (I've got a little belly that's been hard to lose). I'm a programmer, so I need to stay ahead of what the cubicle is doing to me.

I want to be a monster! And that the people will say: "look at this guy! He used to be a fat ass and nobody believed in him and now he s badass doing all this impressive things!!"

And now I explain the above a bit more serious. Do I want health? Yes. Do I want aesthetic? Definetely. Do I love training? For sure. But in the end the most important thing that I m looking for when training GST is self improvement and this feeling you are getting good at something that from a starting point was not easy for me, this feeling of self achievement. I am happy when I have an objective that I enjoy to work on it. I love to progress, that s why I feel frustrated when I don t, or better to say when I feel I don t.

About 2.5 years ago I fell in love with circus. I'd always been reasonably fit but this motivated to me train harder so I could perform better at the rig.

I started out with strength training (and made great gains, including going from 0 pull ups to 5 pull ups!). But I felt like my training was not adequately preparing for me the demands of circus. I wanted better core strength, better connective tissue prep, increased focus on mobility...and almost exactly a year ago I committed to gymnastic bodies! Even though I spent the majority of this year recovering from a shoulder injury, I've seen tremendous gains in my training and I'm so excited for where I'll go this year

I started GB mainly because I want to become more flexible, and to find/work on my weaknesses. 

About 2 months in now, and having some trouble with fevers this last month, I see some improvement already in my flexibility. My strength is about the same as before I started GB courses as I only try to maintain the strength I already managed to get. I'm looking forward to how it will be after full year.  

I want to be strong and flexible. Moves like the front lever and side lever got me into gst but I stayed for the joint health and overall safety of the program compared to traditional weight training.  

I have always wondered what the average age would be for GB peoples? I wager that the largest group would be close to 40 and over. Kids seem to magnify injury and weakness!

I fit into the "stabilise and longevity" crowd. Actually I really want to do a Hollow Body Press! 

Dan

Hi Dan, 

Even now a days young teens are becoming tight and have many imbalances. I see more and more of the younger crowd jumping into GST. Myself I started when I was 19 and have been doing it for 9 years and so thankful I started young! 

The Hollow Back Press is in your near future!  

@Malcolm Watters 

Similar story... 37 with an 8yr-old daughter doing gymnastics asking if I could do a handstand. Long standing desire from youth to do a handstand pushup, but never chased the dream. Athletically soccer & cycling took more focus than upper body strength. Tim Ferriss podcast with Coach was inspiring and start my endeavor with GST. Now ~6-months in my body feels better and is slowly becoming more mobile. I've got a long way to go... to consider myself flexible.

Primary Motivator: Obtaining a Push-Up Handstand by 40-yr
Secondary Motivator: Flexibility with Strength

6 hours ago, Daniel Kiely said:

I have always wondered what the average age would be for GB peoples? I wager that the largest group would be close to 40 and over. Kids seem to magnify injury and weakness!

I fit into the "stabilise and longevity" crowd. Actually I really want to do a Hollow Body Press! 

Dan

Yea I'd be curious if the average age also. I know for me, 44, I've always done something from swimming and baseball to as I got older basketball amd softball and now it's more golf, and bow hunting.  The one thing I've noticed is my athleticism just seems to disappear one day.  I was playing volleyball at the beach after years of not playing and went to spike a ball and my vertical jump was way less than I expected.  I want some of that back.  I don't expect to be as fit as when I was 18 but I want to be active, faster and stronger 

3 minutes ago, William Trask said:

@Malcolm Watters 

Similar story... 37 with an 8yr-old daughter doing gymnastics asking if I could do a handstand. Long standing desire from youth to do a handstand pushup, but never chased the dream. Athletically soccer & cycling took more focus than upper body strength. Tim Ferriss podcast with Coach was inspiring and start my endeavor with GST. Now ~6-months in my body feels better and is slowly becoming more mobile. I've got a long way to go... to consider myself flexible.

Primary Motivator: Obtaining a Push-Up Handstand by 40-yr
Secondary Motivator: Flexibility with Strength

I also became interested by hearing the Tim ferris podcast.  

I'm 48 and have an office job. Not competitive in any sports at all. I've been workouts have been really evolving over the past 4-6 years. About 8 years ago I was just running (and doing aikido). Then I started doing the same kind of weight lifting routine I did in college: split workouts (back and arms one day, chest and shoulders another, legs another, some abdominal exercises each day, no true core work). 

What I want is really set forth in the Natural Movement philosophy --

-- to get my body to its natural state of health and fitness, and

-- to be able to move through the environment with speed, power and agility, using the full range of capacities the human body is capable of. 

Saw manna press to handstand and side lever pulls; thought how amazing it must feel to move through such a huge ROM with full bodyweight

It totally does!

As a youngster I was always very active and played a fair amount of competitive sports, mainly football (soccer).  I had a few years of playing just golf and then realised how unfit I was.  I have always thought gymnastic movements were cool and had the idea on one day doing them.  I listened to Tim Ferris and thought this was a good programme to try.  After doing it a while I have realised how strong gymnasts are and how immobile I am.  Now my goal is just a general heatlhier lifestyle regime with all the assorted benefits that come along with it.  If I am able to do the gymnastics movements at some point then that's just a bonus.  I have also recently started climbing so I think the 2 activities compliment each other well.  Oh and I am a sprightly 30.

@Joshua Hibbert Great goals! If you work hard and are persistent in your training you will be able to look back and see how far you have come. Keep working for it!

I want to be able to do any of the sports I love at an advanced level, at the drop of a hat.

I have a 2 yo boy and a second kid on the way. I want to be able to run, hike, wrestle, surf, ski, wakeboard, climb, and play with them for years and years. If I have grandkids, I'd like to do the same with them. 

I want to be able to surf for hours a day when the waves show up and still feel strong and balanced. 

I don't want to get injured from anything I could have prevented with GST (imbalances, poor posture, lack of mobility or flexibility, lack of strength, etc.).

GST is my ticket to physical freedom. Physical freedom is my ticket to longevity and sustained energy. 

I never thought of gymnastic movements as a "thing for me". As an athlete all my life (skiing, bodybuilding, tennis, and many many others), I've been always scared being upside down, and feeling too tall (6 feet) and too heavy (160 lbs) to do some "crazy" gymnastic moves. However…. At 51 years old, I found and tried pole fitness. Not sure what led me to that, because I have never been interested in that either. It was a huge revelation. I thought I was strong from being in the gym almost every day, but I was hanging on that pole like a sack of potatoes. I got obsessed, I need to learn this!!!! I found GST because I wanted to learn handstands so I can overcome my fear of being upside down. I got humbled about my (perceived) strength and flexibility. 

It was so great, that each week I added one more course. I have changed my views on training and flexibility and what is important for me—looking all fit and strong (that was me before) or being indeed strong (hopefully me soon  ). 

I am so amazed with all the strong men and women, pressing effortlessly into handstands, levers, mannas and who knows what… It looks so smooth and beautiful. It's physical art in action. That's what I want. To be beautifully and functionally flexible and strong so I can move my body in any direction or angle with grace. Eventually even on that pole. That's my big goal with GST.

My detailed goal: I just want to do the "flag"/side lever on the pole with ease and deadlift into a pole handstand. 

Also, I want to be an example that it is never too late to start. 51 years old, working on these "crazy" moves that I have never tried in allmy life. I don't see many (older) women doing this, so why not be a good example?  

I've been doing body weight workouts intermittently for a long time. I wanted more intelligent programming than "add a rep every workout".  I found that to be the fast way to hitting plateaus and burnout.

My dream goals at this stage are side lever, rope climb, front lever and full T Bridge.

My realistic goal at this stage is to consistently hit 3 workouts a week.

Very interesting to see aspiring goals above.  To sum them up, I think we all aim towards physical freedom--the ability to move the ways human was designed to move.  Push.  Pull.  Jump.  Squat.  Twist.  Bend.  We all experience the desire to express our spiritual energy to the physical boundaries.

That's what rings true to me.

I value Freedom of Movement.

I want to do flips, handstands, flairs, etc.  Express my inner self via physical activities.  I believe that in doing so, I'm more aligned with who I am and more open towards the inner self that was locked up from the 8-to-4 school with 100 marked as life success.

My goal almost 3 years ago when I started GST was to find a program that I could stick with that was challenging and balanced.

After about 6 months of eating Paleo that had helped me lose about 40lbs down to my present 190lbs I was yearning for a new level of physical activity. Losing weight did that for me in a big way!

One thing I know about myself is that if a program is boring I won't want to continue doing it. But with GST I could see from the forums that there was intelligent design to it and there was a voice of experience and authority that could provide the reasoning whenever someone questioned it. Hello Coach Sommer

It takes effort for sure - anything worthwhile does and the benefits are that I do things that guys my age (54) won't even think of trying like Side to Side Squats 5x10, or forearm head stands (I'm close to doing actual handstands but not quite there). 

As I continue inching toward F2 I notice that I have gotten stronger while improving my mobility. This combination has completely improved my table tennis game, both in my stroke speed and power and also in my movement around the table. For those of you who are smirking right now about table tennis (aka ping pong), go to YouTube and watch the Olympic level stuff - no I'm not THAT good but just to give you an idea of how challenging it can be - it's not the ping pong we used to play in the basement as kids!

I'll finish by saying that my goals have changed since I started. What keeps me continuing nowadays is curiosity to learn what's next, showing myself I can do it and this global online community - I'm no longer a silent lurker as of this post! 

@Suzanna McGee and all,

Hi! I'm a pole dancer too  I love the combination of strength, sensuality, artistic expression, and female camaraderie.  

I'm recovering from spinal fusion, carpal tunnel, and major abdominal surgery (all within 2016). So I get to re-build my body. While I really liked my strong lean body from last year, this new body wants to feel and move better. I want even more functional strength; I want to feel delicious when I move.

I want a real straddle press to handstand - the one I've done all my life is a cheat I fear, I want a Phoenix, and to deadlift my handspring, and I would LOVE a pistol. It would be great to put my butt on my ankles in a squat. Oh and let's not forget - I simply must lose this surgery weight. 

Thanks for asking & thanks to all for responding. I live having a community of people all using the same methodology working toward similar but different goals.  I wish you all luck and health and I hope to continue our conversation.

-Kathy

4 hours ago, Katherine Zodiaco said:

Hi! I'm a pole dancer too  I love the combination of strength, sensuality, artistic expression, and female camaraderie.

Kathy, how sweet!!! I must say I cannot call myself "pole dancer" (yet, ha ha). I have no background in dancing, so for me the artistic, sensual expression and all that is still lacking. And now, the GST took a little bit priority over the pole, even though I found GST thanks to the pole. I am obsessed to get my body strong and functional, and maybe then I add some artistic expression and pole to it  I still go to my weekly pole classes and keep improving  You really got a lot of bad injuries going on last year. Hope you will get back to your strong and healthy self soon!!!

I had been doing CrossFit for many years. Several years ago, I had a strong interest in the Front Lever, so I started practicing with my own progressions. A trainer saw me and gave me an estimate that it would take me 2 years to get a Front Lever. I was so discouraged! That trainer sent me some links to online articles about Front Lever progressions, which eventually led me to discovering GST. I have spurts of consistency in following F1 and H1. Yes, shame, shame. I would like to achieve the Front Lever, Side Lever, Single Leg Squat, and Handstand. Also, I would like to be more flexible and injury-proof.