Allow me to introduce myself

...for lack of a better title, I chose the dumbest intro possible. 

My name is Mark. 

I decided to drop the 24 hour fitness membership and commit fully to bodyweight and mobility, which I currently have an F- in. 

My fitness history goes like this:

10 years ago I was big into bike racing. Sprints. Velodrome stuff. It was all deads and squats and bike work. 

Had a kid, couldn't commit to that anymore. Did CrossFit for 2 years. My gym closed. Went back to 24 hour fitness. 

And now I'm thinking I don't want to be a 40 year old stiff meathead. So that's why I'm here. 

Although I'm only dreaming at this point, I only have 3 goals:

1. Get enough mobility to run again. 

2. Learn how to hold a handstand for 90 seconds unassisted. Now I'm dreaming. 

3. And this is really ridiculous but I want to someday be able to do the front splits. But right now I can't even touch my toes. 

I'm obsessive about these things so I do believe I'll get there.  Maybe in a year or two. 

Please share your tips!

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the GymnasticBodies community!

Those are great goals! With patience and consistency you will get there. You are definitely in the right place. 

Please keep us posted on your training. We are looking forward to follow your GST journey  

1. Familiarize yourself with the forum search function. In previous posts, there are a lot of common answers to common questions.

• For the sake of information: Coach Sommer used to be a high level gymnasts before becoming a head coach.

2. While logged onto the course specific web portal read the "Introduction." For the sake of comprehension, maybe not all at once.

3. While training you will figure out how things work together.

4. Do not rush. The strength gained with GST is tendon related not hypertrophy.

5. Bookmark the following website for additional exercise related information.  Exercise Prescription (ExRx.net)

I'm 50. When I was a kid I couldn't touch my toes, could probably get halfway down my shin.

Now, I can nearly get first knuckle  onto the floor. In shoes After not even warming up much.

GB is the best thing I've ever done. Even felt confident enough to go to a tumbling workshop last week, and can do a) a very round round-off, b) a somewhat wonky cartwheel  and c) a tiny dive roll. Cirque du soleil has absolutely nothing to worry about and that's fine with me

Enjoy your training!

9 hours ago, Mark Cafiero said:

And now I'm thinking I don't want to be a 40 year old stiff meathead. So that's why I'm here. 

Ha! Go get em Mark; Nice Intro!

Welcome Mark, your story is familiar to many of us. We've been (and are) in the same boat. GST is awesome though. I'm 48 and have been doing it seriously for about 8 months (and half-assed for a few months before that). I think it'll address what you're looking for.

Best,

Matt

Welcome to GB, Mark. You are going to love it!!!! I am 52, I have been a pretty good athlete all my life (or so I thought until I started GB, haha). In a week, it's going to be my 1-year anniversary at Gymnastic Bodies. I wanted to learn a handstand that I have been fearing all my life. H1 was my first course I bought, and even though I was not planning to do any "gymnastic training", two weeks later I owned all four foundations and all three stretches because I realized how good this would be for me... It is the best thing I have done to my body in all my life, I am pretty sure I can say that with without a doubt. Enjoy yourself, your 3 goals are completely achievable!

Welcome Mark! 

Why is #2 "dreaming"? I started practicing handstands not too long ago and I'm over 40. When I started I was so afraid to fall on my head that I needed help even kicking up against the wall. Currently, I can walk up the wall and back down again repeatedly (moving those hands was another scary step!) with a strong stable core and I can hold the handstand against the wall for 60 seconds. Next, I'll be working on taking those feet off the wall. I'm close.

You will get there. I think that's a great long-term goal to shoot for. Not unreasonable at all! Embrace the shoulder mobility and core strengthening exercises in GB and they'll lead the way. (The Handstand level one has some great stuff in it too.)

I'm looking forward to seeing you progress. Those toes are not as far away as they seem today.

Jennifer

Hi Mark

Great to meet someone with some running history. I am 5 days into my GB journey through the Handstand 1 course. I am 60 years old, played rugby league in my youth and did a fair bit of track and field up til 50 years of age. My best was probably the marathon (PB - 2 hr 38 min) and a pole vault of 3.60 m at 44 years of age. I started vaulting at age 39 and that's why I chose the Handstand course to kick off my gymnastic strength training. I am currently recovering from a knee medial ligament tear and a strained calf due to running, but this does not hamper my gymnastic program at all as it's all upper body. I hope to continue running until age 70, but exercise wise my focus now is GST as I need to build some overall strength and pack on some weight.

As others have already commented on this topic, you will surely improve if you do the work and don't go too hard.

Peter Marshall (Brisbane Australia)

Wow, Peter, I'm impressed starting the pole vault at age 39! That must have been quite a steep learning curve. We love to hear stories of people that continue to challenge themselves no matter what their age. I remember reading in the book "Born to Run" that distance runners actually defy the norm and get better with age.  

On ‎08‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 8:09 AM, Nick Murray said:

I'm 50. When I was a kid I couldn't touch my toes, could probably get halfway down my shin.

Now, I can nearly get first knuckle  onto the floor. In shoes After not even warming up much.

GB is the best thing I've ever done. Even felt confident enough to go to a tumbling workshop last week, and can do a) a very round round-off, b) a somewhat wonky cartwheel  and c) a tiny dive roll. Cirque du soleil has absolutely nothing to worry about and that's fine with me

Enjoy your training!

Nick,

I have some similar situations. Age 52. First knuckles to the floor and round round offs. By round do you mean round offs that don't go over the top but instead around to the side? I have been working these for quite a while and still can't get them over the top. I think it is a mobility issue so my first hand goes on the floor off to the side and not in a straight line. Tumbling can be difficult for an older person with limited mobility like me (very tight shoulders), however I was able to learn a back flip and front flip on a trampoline with the aid of a gymnastics coach. They are a lot of fun.

18 hours ago, Peter Marshall said:

I hope to continue running until age 70,

 

Hi Peter, my old dad is 83 -1/2 and still runs his 7 or 8km every few days. It gets him away from mum He has to run on the back roads around Mortlake in western Victoria, as he's as deaf as a post and can't hear cars approaching him. But he runs along past cow paddocks, and all the cows run alongside him (not sure why they do that) but he just loves it.

So we've all got a bit more running in us yet.

@Frank Santasiero: for me it's a combination of shoulder mobility, of thinking my body is straight when it isn't, and lack of "spring" when both hands are on the floor. Plus - and this is a big one - a lack of volume and repetitions to really refine and own the movement.

Apologies for hijacking @Mark Cafiero's thread.

Great tips, stories and encouragement here, thanks!  

First week went well and found myself in many positions that my body has never attempted before. Very eye opening comparing my range of movement to the others in my classes. Yikes. 

I've been focusing on the GST front split workout at home and already seeing improvement, which is pretty cool. 

Was disappointed in the foundations upper body workout which did not seem to be enough to count as a complete workout. So I added some dips but still left feeling like I didn't really work out. 

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the update. Sounds like an awesome week! Don't worry about the difficulty of the upper body workout, as you log these they will gradually increase in difficulty. Enjoy the easy workouts for now, they will soon get more challenging  

Feel free to share some videos of your training!