Starting

[Aeris]

Hya.

I used to do gymnastics until I was about 5, but then we moved house and couldn't find another group. I would really like to start again even though I'm 18 and realise I'll never really be very good.

I've found an Adult Beginners class nearby that does one session (1hr30mins) a week.
Does anyone have any tips for teaching yourself at home, or is this not a good idea (I heard you can pick up bad habits), bearing in mind that I'm not aiming to compete or anything?

Also, I'm VERY out of condition this year, and carrying a bit of weight which is making it harder to do leg stretches, almost like the fat gets in the way or something? yeuch. So any conditioning ideas would help also. There's probably topics on these things, but I haven't found them yet...

 

[Kiwi]

I think it's great that you're going back to gymnastics! The important thing is not how good you are but the challenge and enjoyment of doing it. I went back to gymnastics at age 43 after 30 years and I wasn't very good 30 years ago either. I just do it because I enjoy it. The gym I go to has two adults classes a week for 1hr 45 minutes. The downside is there is only one coach for a large group and so I'm working by myself a lot of the time, which can be very difficult as I often can't tell what mistakes I'm making or how to improve what I'm doing.

You can do conditioning exercises at home, such as push-ups and planks and so on. There are some quite good core strength exercises you can do with a Swiss ball (although it takes up quite a lot of space in your house).

Let us know how you get on!