Adult Classes

[Erik Sjolin]

After doing a bit of research and discovering a place near my school that offers once a week adult gymnastics classes, it got me wondering what I could expect from a program like that.

I don't imagine it would be quite the same intensity or focus on strength as the Coach's seminars are, so I was wondering if anyone had any feedback on their experiences? I'm really excited about being able to start up again, but I've become a little aprehensive about those sort of feelings.

Personally, the only experince I've had was taking classes in a school gym when I was six (focused on the girls, boys did a cartwheel and sat in the corner).

[Scott Malin]

What are your goals right now? That's the most important factor to whether the class is appropriate for you or not. Find out the program description if you can from their website or a coach. Is it an adult tumbling class? supervised open gym? gymnastic basics? etc. Or attend one class to get an idea of what they do.

As for quality, generally, the more it aligns with the principles and progressions Coach Sommer uses, the better. Another thing to look for is whether the training you'll get out of the class is "3D" and has a balanced, whole-body approach or if it's simply 1hr-1.5hr of entertaining you. Most group classes are the latter.

[Ryan Libke]

I could not find any adult classes in my area (Fresno, CA). However, a local gym, Gymnastics Beat, does have open time where adults can use any of the equipment, and there are staff available for some guidance. They also had private lessons available for a good price, which is what I ended up doing. I took about three classes to work on basic tumbling, i.e. cartwheels, round-offs, back and front handsprings, and back and front tucks. I am now undertaking to get down what I learned, and will sign up for some more lessons after I have had more practice. I asked and there were persons who could provide instruction on the men's apparatus.

If there are no classes, look into whether private lessons are affordable. The instruction I had was invaluable, even though I had taken an introductory gymnastics class in college (back in the Stone Age) and had studied printed and video instruction.