Feb 6, 20243 min read

Student & Adult Gym😉nastics

Updated: Feb 12, 2024

Think Again!!

This is actually Fitness and Conditioning Classes "in a Gymnastics setting".

The perfect combination of strength, flexibility, and cardio.

If you’ve never done gymnastics before you will probably argue “I’m too old to start with gymnastics”, but that is just not true - a person is never too old to take on any new challenge, especially Gymnastics. There are a lot of benefits in participating in gymnastics classes, like building a lot of muscle, losing body weight, toning muscles, impressing friends with some new moves, increased flexibility, better coordination, overcoming basic fears, learning to fall, learning to laugh at yourself and bringing out your inner kid.

Gymnastics has a lot of health benefits, especially at this age!

Gymnastics is all about resistance training. Studies have shown that resistance training improves joint health, maintains muscular development, and improves cardiovascular fitness. The conditioning involved in a progressive gymnastics program focuses on functional strength. This is what enables elite gymnasts to perform skills that seem humanly impossible. Even though all adults have not been training like that since they were a child, with a focused gymnastics program you can learn a lot but mostly become stronger than you have ever been. Not only will this conditioning enable anyone to perform moves that will make most teenagers stare with amazement, but it will also prevent injuries.

Stretching and flexibility are areas that are lacking in most fitness programs. Unless the person is a dancer or does activities similar to yoga, the 5 minutes spent concentrating on stretching before practice is simply not enough. Being flexible allows for greater joint mobility, improves circulation, and helps to prevent joint injuries. There is a strong focus on flexibility in gymnastics because a lot of gymnastics skills are simply impossible without flexibility. As people age their flexibility tends to decrease, this is usually due to the lack of stretching and physical activity rather than simply a result of aging. Gymnastics stretching is taught by coaches who understand how to improve flexibility quickly and safely, and flexibility like that can be maintained.

Adults are sometimes ashamed to admit their fears, but in gymnastics that is not the case. Doing gymnastics, you have to face a lot of those fears, whether it is the fear of heights or rather fear of falling, fear of getting hurt, fear of being judged, and sometimes even the fear of growing up / losing your youthfulness. One learns in a safe environment to overcome all of these fears. And how can you feel old, while jumping on a trampoline?

To quote the movie Stick It: “It’s not called gym-nice-sticks” would be entirely wrong when it comes to gymnastics for students and adults. The best and most important factor about gymnastics is that it is FUN. Besides learning how to tumble, flip and swing, gymnastics is at this stage all about socializing and meeting new people. In South Africa, there is also a competition for adults called USSA (University Sport South Africa), although it says university sport, anyone over the age of 18 is usually allowed to join this competition. Universities like Tuks, Maties, Pukke, etc. all join in this competition once a year.

In this competition one can compete in every event of the different types of gymnastics, there is artistic, rhythmic, trampoline, tumbling and then there are the group routines where everyone representing the same university joins in a group performance on the floor. There is a lot of socializing, and cheering each other on, teambuilding, and events like the final dinner to make it all the more fun.

Gymnastics is the “mother” of all sports, it is an activity serving as a foundation for all sporting, fitness, and athletic development. It consists of fitness, strength, coordination, and flexibility, and these elements can be used in any other sport. Gymnastics can help improve a person for other sports. There is no other sport that focuses on such a variety of elements as gymnastics.

If you are a student or adult thinking you are “too old” to start now, think again. Gymnastics can be beneficial for persons of all ages! Safety is always a priority no matter one’s age, the coach will do everything they can to make sure the gymnasts are safe and that the exercises that they are doing won’t hurt them.