Advice.

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K

Kristen.

So I stumbled across this site doing a little research on the local gyms.

My situation is kinda complicated and I'm looking for some advice.

I started gymnastics and it became my life. I trained for 8 years and due to injuries I had to stop. After taking about a year break from intense training I was planning on starting back with open gyms, not to work up to competitive training, but a couple days a week doing open gym. The kicker, the night before my first day of open gym I fell 40 feet and hit the ground. It was a nightmare, I broke my hip, snapped my wrist in half, sliced open a lung, burst a kidney the list goes on. I had to have surgery on my wrist, they put a plate 3 screws and 6 pins in it. This is when I was 17. That summer I taught myself how to walk again.
I was devastated, I don't have to explain how gymnastics infects you, how it's everything, and then to have it snatched away. I couldn't watch it on television without bursting into tears, even after getting over the hip thing I had lost the mobility in my wrist because of the plate. It stayed straight, I couldn't bend it, so there was no way to do a handstand without knuckling it minus anything else.
4 Days ago after 3 years of trying I had surgery to get the plate out. I still have my cast on, but I've already started working to get my flexibility back. (after a broken hip over splits turn into a normal guy trying to do splits)

So I guess I'm looking for the best way to get back into the swing of things.

Advice on workout routines, how often I should be working out, which stretches to focus on... I'm completely at square 1 again. But I'm SO excited and ready to get back into a gym.

Anything and everything will help!
 
My advice- take it slow and listen to your body. That's a pretty major accident with major injuries to recover from, and your body is never going to move the way it used to. For a lot of us who are back in gymn, it's been a majority of just getting the strength and flexibility back because the muscle memory is there. For you, this is going to be harder, because your body is not going to react physically the way it used to and you will likely have to completely re-learn a bunch of things because of that. To start, try doing any stretches and conditioning exercises you remember and pay careful attention to how your body responds. If you start to hurt, stop doing that strtech or exercise.

If you have a physical therapist, they may be a good person to ask as far as what exercises would be most beneficial for you right now and what you should avoid for a while.

~Katy
 
It is all about taking it slow and listening to your body. You'd be surprised how much your body can recover and go on to have the health and strength to do gymnastics. I had five surgeries between age 17 and 21. Two of them were brain surgeries to remove a tumor I had up there and the others were to deal with the complications from the tumor's effect. So, even with being sliced and diced from my head down to my belly button, my body has made tremendous progress. Although I get frustrated at times and compare myself to others who have not had the same medical challenges, you just have to keep remembering where you've been. I will deal with issues related to my tumor for the rest of my life and I will never have the ability to carry out all the physical goals that others can, but again, it is all about being grateful for how far you have made it. I mean most people would not even be alive after a fall like that, as most people would not have made it through the medical issues I've fought, never mind going to to gymnastics again.
 
Maybe after a while you will be able to work your way up to taking a trampoline class. That way it won't put to much stress on your wrist and it will be a little less stress on your hip.
 
My advice- take it slow and listen to your body. That's a pretty major accident with major injuries to recover from, and your body is never going to move the way it used to. For a lot of us who are back in gymn, it's been a majority of just getting the strength and flexibility back because the muscle memory is there. For you, this is going to be harder, because your body is not going to react physically the way it used to and you will likely have to completely re-learn a bunch of things because of that. To start, try doing any stretches and conditioning exercises you remember and pay careful attention to how your body responds. If you start to hurt, stop doing that strtech or exercise.

If you have a physical therapist, they may be a good person to ask as far as what exercises would be most beneficial for you right now and what you should avoid for a while.

~Katy

As far as a recovery goes, I've pretty much hit where I was before, minus my wrist. Conditioning and stretches are really what I was aiming at mostly, I remember some of them... I'm going to focus on that before I try to really throw any tricks just so I know I'm not going to have the mindset 'oh I used to throw these like they were nothing so I still can' and get hurt.

I have an appointment with my physical therapist thursday, but like I said the only thing I'm concerning about would be my wrist.

Out of the little bit of conditioning I've done the most painful area has been my shoulders, and I only think that's because they're a lot tighter then they used to be.
 
It is all about taking it slow and listening to your body. You'd be surprised how much your body can recover and go on to have the health and strength to do gymnastics. I had five surgeries between age 17 and 21. Two of them were brain surgeries to remove a tumor I had up there and the others were to deal with the complications from the tumor's effect. So, even with being sliced and diced from my head down to my belly button, my body has made tremendous progress. Although I get frustrated at times and compare myself to others who have not had the same medical challenges, you just have to keep remembering where you've been. I will deal with issues related to my tumor for the rest of my life and I will never have the ability to carry out all the physical goals that others can, but again, it is all about being grateful for how far you have made it. I mean most people would not even be alive after a fall like that, as most people would not have made it through the medical issues I've fought, never mind going to to gymnastics again.

That's something I've noticed about gymnasts, they fight to recovery way more intensely then anyone else I've seen.

I'm really nervous about going to an open gym, because I know I'll see girls 7 years younger then me doing way more. I know it going to be uphill, I just don't want to let that get to me. But you're advice really does put it into perspective... so thanks.

I really do mean the thanks, it's encouraging to hear from someone else in a relate able situation.
 
Maybe after a while you will be able to work your way up to taking a trampoline class. That way it won't put to much stress on your wrist and it will be a little less stress on your hip.


I know I can still tumble on a track, I could do that without being able to bend my wrist. Well by tumble I mean handsprings and tucks, individually. That's a good idea though, start on a track and it'll give me a little bit of a feel if it's going to irritate my hip or back.
 
Hey, I used to be on this forum all the time because I had really gotten back into gymnastics again at 27 and was making tons of progress. I was going to train with team again and compete but then got a compound fracture of my ankle trying out for a part as an acrobat about 2 1/2 months ago at a local theme park. Anyway, I've been trying to get back in the gym recently a little bit but I've fallen into feeling sorry for myself again. Thanks to you, Kristen, I feel its really ridiculous to feel that way. Yes I had gotten to the point where I could actually bring my front tumbling to the floor and I don't know how long it will take to get it back to that point again but you've really inspired me. I think what got me depressed especially the other day is when my coach kept saying how much he was looking forward to me competing again and getting to be the coach of an adult gymnast who was actually going someplace. It made me feel like a failure. I'm 29 now and am afraid I'm getting too old especially if I have to wait a whole year to get back to the point where I can start tumbling on the floor again. You're definitely right though, us gymnasts don't give up easily. I've been conditioning like mad even when I had the cast on and now I'm doing handstands starting on my left foot and doing a lot of bars. I've never really gotten giants so I'm hoping I can work hard on those and start doing dismounts into the pit since that shouldn't hurt my ankle. Also I'm trying to get my balance back on my right foot and doing yoga I think will help. Anyway, glad to hear you are back in the gym doing what you love. Thanks for writing you definitely have inspired me. Anyway, let's just take one step at a time and remember to be happy over even the little accomplishments you make. Since it was my ankle and foot I couldn't use I've been doing tons of conditioning for the abs and arms (pull-ups, leg lifts, push-ups) and now trying to concentrate on the lower half and do what I can to build that up in the meantime (I've gone back to spinning, climbing stairs, doing squats, just nothing with a lot of impact). For you, you should probably really try to get your legs and abs into shape for tumbling with plyometrics and v-ups and so forth and follow what your physical therapists says for your arm and wrist to start building strength and flexibility. Believe me I know the frustration with flexibility. I've been working on ankle flexibility for a while now and it still is so stiff, you'll just have to be patient with your wrist (just don't give up). Again thanks for sharing you're story with us.
Oh and just wanted to ask littlelady something real fast. Since I'm going to be 30 next year what advice can you give to help me to keep going in gymnastics like you have and be able to continue to grow and get better rather than retire like most people would do by 30.
 

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