My age ... questions about it

Hello guys, first time here in the community. First of all sorry for my bad english: we italian people are tremendously shy sometime and it becomes difficult to explain simple concepts

A short story about my visit here. I am a simple 37 years old athlete that since approximately 15 years is trying to always find new workouts, just to become more and more powerful in time. I used to practice combat sports, soccer, tennis, jogging, or anything else it is interesting for me, but always with a free weights training basis and calisthenics (however few calisthenics are in my training sessions).

Now ... since 1 month I found some websites like this where I read about the chance to do Gymnastic trainings. I see people in some Youtube clips and here in the forum that do REALLY fantastic movements and/or static positions that honestly seem to be impossible for me. It is also interesting what I am reading about coach Sommer and its main text, called Building the Gymnastic Body. But here's my main question to ask you: is it really possible to begin practicing Gymnastic as I see here at my age of 38?? And sincerely what are the best results I should expect?

Don't be too much obvious answering the question, because I know that everyone here can say "YES" (somebody is 50 years old and do a cross, I know), but what I need to know is WHERE a person like me, that have no gymnastic basis, not so much flexibility, no muscle resistance, can go in this discipline?

Thanks to everybody will give feedbacks and/or hints!!

Peter, Florence (Italy)

Oh definitely, man! You'll start off just like anyone else, at the beginning! Work on your FSP prerequisites, your XR support when you're ready, and planche leans. You start off with dips, foot supported rows, push ups moving into PPP, and pull ups. From there you'll get stronger and do harder variations like L pull ups and front lever rows, but for right now the above stuff is really where you want to start.

Hollow hold, arch hold, side planks (my personal recommendation anyways, these aren't an official part of BtGB), and truly horizontal gymnastic plank and reverse plank are your starting points. I'm pretty strong and these are still my focus for the daily routine. This has led to some tremendous strength gains even for me, and I strongly encourage everyone to do this. Having these as your focus simply means that you never skip these, ever. If there's one thing you do each day, these are it.

Benvenuto Devotus,

I'm 38 and like to believe that I'm still young not old. It's certainly possible to start doing gymnastics at 38. Having specific goals will help to shape what type of training you will do. It might take a few months for handstand, a few years for planche. You could learn a forward roll in a few minutes. If you have the time, knowledge and desire I believe it's possible. Atleast that's what I tell myself.

Until recently, I probably went 5 to 10 years without really doing any serious exercise. I'd do a couple of pull ups now and then or do 20 push ups once in a while, but I didn't do any consistent exercise. I was always curious about certain aspects of gymnastics and that curiosity led me to Coach Sommer's article on the dragon door website. A year or two later, I found my way to this site.

I learned that I was quickly able to do a headstand, frog stand, and a few other things, but was too weak to do much work in handstand. This site as well as a few others, gave me strategies on how to lower the difficulty on many exercises to make them easier. If you can't do a regular push up, do a push up on your knees. If you can't do a push up on your knees, do a push up while standing in front of a wall.

By gradually building my strength and stamina, I believe that things that were once "impossible" for me will become possible. I'm not very flexible either. At first, I didn't really care too much about not being flexible. Now, I want to improve my flexibility so that I'm not so stiff. I may never get a great straddle split, but I know that I can get a better one than I have now.

The sticky threads in the getting started section are not absolutely the only way to get started, but they are really helpful for a lot of people. Continue to read and try some things out. You may be pleasantly surprised or you may decide that certain things are not for you.

I hope to be one of those amazing youtube people by the time I'm 40. I could probably be amazing by 39, but I'm giving myself an extra year just to make sure I get it right.

Welcome to the board. I don't think you'll be sorry if you give gymnastics a try.

+1

I'm 37 and did geat progress just recently. Of course it's hard work, but smart one.

The main thing for me was shoulder mobility, and I still work on it on a daily basis. Men tend to get tight here.

And agreed with Slizzardman, do not ever leave "basic" planks behind, you can build a lot simply with them, correctly executed.

A number 2 advice could be : go deep with correct scapular activation. More on more treads on that subject here, and there are reasons why...

Welcome

Definitely! Welcome!

learningtofly said:

A number 2 advice could be : go deep with correct scapular activation. More on more treads on that subject here, and there are reasons why...

Welcome

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

Make sure to focus primarily on scapular retraction (middle and lower trap + rhomboids work), scapular elevation (upper trap work), scapular depression (lower trap and some serratus anterior work) and scapular protraction (serratus anterior work). I would also focus on external rotator work. The simple reason is that the scapular protractors, retractors, depressors and elevators are what literally hold the shoulder socket itself in place. They are basically the only things that attach your shoulders to your body, so if they are weak YOU are weak. It won't matter how strong your pecs and lats are, they won't be allowed to work to their full capacity and you will plateau at best and get injured at worst.

The external rotators specifically and the whole rotator cuff in general do the same thing for the upper arm: They hold it steady in the socket. Without those being strong, again it doesn't matter how strong the big muscles are, they won't be allowed to work and you will either plateau at best or get hurt at worst.

i am also 37. i started training gymnastics, coming from a background of general weightlifting and kettlebell training, roughly seven months ago, and am loving it! when you ask how far you can reasonably progress, i'd say you can go as far as you are willing to go, within reason of course. are you going to become an olympic gymnast? most likely not, but that shouldn't stop you for setting and striving to achieve gymnastic-based goals, such as getting a muscle-up or holding a back or a front lever. i'm not so sure i'd even be overly concerned about achieving those, though. what i mean is, while i certainly have goals as well, i try looking at my training as a journey. in other words, it is not so much the destination that is important, but the enjoyment you get from traveling down the road to get there...if that makes any sense. stick with it, and you'll hopefully see progress as well in your journey from ssc to ssc!

Hello all, thanks a lot for your hints and story that encourage me to begin.

I admit that my first impression about gymnastic was terribly conditioned from the video clips and pictures of the wonderful phisique the younger athletes have. They are perfect and looking myself at the mirror I always have the image of them jumping in the air with grace, I always said myself: "I can't do it, its impossible for my body!" ...

My doubt was primarly about my body. I thought my age could, in some way, cause problems due to muscles that are old and becomes older year after year, articulations that are not so more agile, no flexibility or anything like this. But I see many of you started training from some or many years, at different ages. That is really nice and gives me hope

Anyway, another doubt. Do gymnastic give mass to the muscles? This is not important for me, because I need a strong, flexible and athletic body, not a beautiful one for the beach. But I am curious about what are the effects of your trainings.

Really thank you very much all!!

Peter, Florence

Ciao, amico...anche'io non sono giovane. Ho trentaquattro anni!

I started on this gymnastics journey at 33, and my only advice to you is to start slowly and increase gradually. Your connective tissue will be the limiting factor at first and is most susceptible to injury. I could do dips on the rings every day as far as my triceps and chest are concerned. But my elbows will be screaming at me within two weeks.

This might be overly conservative, but I would start out only working out 2 days a week. After several bouts with injury and months wasted, I've been working 2 days/week for 6 months and it's totally sustainable (at least for me). I will wait another few months and then increase to 3x/week for another 3-6 months before moving up to 4x/week.

Lastly, really study and understand the principles of SSC, as it's the best way to stay injury-free.

As for getting bigger, I'm disappointed to say that gymnastics is slow. Though after 6 months of consistent training, I'm definitely seeing a greater definition in my upper body, especially in my triceps/lats/shoulders. Other members have written about how they're training with a dual focus of both strength increase with emphasis on size increase. I will probably do that eventually, but I'd like to focus on strength alone until I can at least do my first controlled muscle-up...and I have plenty of work until I get to that point.

Buon Fortuna!

I didn't start til I was 42, and the results are amazing. I think I can sum it all up by saying that when I go for walks with my girlfriend, we can't make it more than a block without doing carthwheels or handstands. The fact that I do things like that just for fun these days? It's just such a huge change in my life.

I've modified the program a little for myself and my students (I teach Italian martial arts!) and noted serious strength improvements. One fit student (hockey player) put on 15lbs of muscle in three months. Mass takes about 6 months or so to really show, but it comes. I've attached a picture of my girlfriend...those biceps are all gymnastics built (the forearms come from fencing). She's working on her first back lever...almost there!

hahaha.... 37 like you, italian like you, new to gymnastic like you. Just started a year earlier than you. Stronger than ever, that's all I can say. Consistency is all you need to become as fit as you like. Have a look at my log, you may avoid some of my mistakes...

good luck.