Week One

Well, I hadn't been that nervous for years!  There's something about teacher turning pupil that is very scary!  I know what to do, know how to do it and tell the children what to do, but could I do any of it??  Could I even do the warm up?  When was the last time I did a forward roll??  Can I still do a forward roll??  Just how much would Steve laugh?? lol

It wasn't until I lined up to start the warm-up that it suddenly dawned on me - forget the forward roll - could I even hop the length of the two floor mats???  Eek!  I just about managed it, and most of the rest of the warm-up, but the forward roll was a bit of a wake up call!  I could do it (although I can't stand up at the end), but oh dear, how dizzy does it make you feel???  I really felt for the lady who was doing the class with me as she had to sit out for a while she got so dizzy.  It took four or five attempts to put the dizziness at bay, after that, it wasn't so bad.

We were doing trampette work today.  Starting off with just jumping onto the mats, going on to forward rolls.  I have to say I absolutely loved it!  Looking at the photos I do feel sorry for the poor trampette, but it just about made it I think!

 

 

At the end of the session we did some stretching and I thought I'd see if I could still get down into the splits.  I've tried it a few times when helping the kids in class, but not really got down that far.  Here I am giving it another go.  All I can say is that it's a blooming good job I can laugh at myself - the first photo is priceless!

 

 

 

 

Still a bit of work to be done, but not too bad!!

 



The Fat Gymnast

Hi.  This is me.

As you can see, hardly a picture of peak physical fitness or the ideal gymnast!  I used to do gymnastics when I was a kid, but gave up when I was about 12.  A mixture of puberty, putting on weight and being bullied (by the teachers as well as the kids - my trampoline teacher used to make comments about me going straight through the trampoline in front of all the other kids!!  Wouldn't be allowed today of course!) made me turn to laying on my bed reading books in the safe haven of my bedroom rather than put myself on display as it were.

Anyway, fast forward 28 years (I was 40 last year) and I have found myself back in the gym hall.  My son showed a talent for gymnastics, so I have been taking him to this gym for about two years now.  I just sat and watched for a long time, but eventually asked the Head Coach if I could help and he took me on as a volunteer assistant coach.  I absolutely love it, love helping the kids, and love it when they improve in something and their faces beam with pride.

So, in my head, like I'm sure is the same for a lot of us, I am still a teenager, and I watch the kids and think "is there any chance I could still do that??".  In my head I can still do it, but my head isn't often the most reliable of indicators!  I ummed and ahhed for ages and then a couple of weeks ago decided to bite the bullet and join Steve's (the Head Coach) Adult class, having been assured he wouldn't laugh at me (yeah, right!).

And I'm loving it!  Obviously there's loads I can't do now that I used to be able to, but I'm constantly amazed that my fat, heavy, stiff old body can still do some of it!  This blog is for me to chart my progress, because I might be forty and fat but I still aim to progress, get better, make the moves I can do look better, try new things etc.  Show the world that it really doesn't matter what size or age you are, we all can give anything a go!

What did you do as a kid??  I think everyone should take up a sport or hobby when they're forty that they used to do as a kid!