Inspiring Others: Adult Gymnastics, Resilience, and Shared Passion

Sometimes, it’s hard to express what some things mean to you. Sometimes, the right words just come pouring out. And sometimes, you get to share that with someone who needs to hear it.

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Finding the words

I found a new gymnastics group on Facebook where I started posting my progress videos. Today, as I was engaging in a Facebook conversation with a new connection from that group, I was inspired to write this:

When you find something you love, you hold onto it dearly, fight for it, and find your way past the challenges. I’ve been injured and broken by gymnastics, but I’ve also been uplifted and validated by it. Going to the gym is my time to figure out what else my brain and body can accomplish. It is an ongoing, evergreen extension of who I have become in my adulthood. I will keep flipping as long as my body will allow.

This exactly summed up the past 16 years since my entry into gymnastics. It’s not just a fitness activity. It’s not just a way to compete. It’s not just…anything. Once you engage fully into this almost cult-like activity, you start to wrap yourself around it. Or, it wraps itself around you. Or both.

There’s a symbiotic feeling (as though gymnastics were a living creature) that you get at the gym. The flips need to be completed. The handstands must be improved. The trampoline combinations are yearning to be created. If there’s a skill you haven’t done for a while, you start to miss each other. When you finally get it done, it’s like an old friend that has come back to give you a hug. Or sometimes a slap in the face, if it has really been that long. But eventually, you get the hug, if you work hard enough for it.

My TumblTrak experiences have been like that. I was looking at old videos from 2017 where I was chucking things very easily. Then, injuries struck and suddenly, those old friends went missing for a long time. Lizard Brain got in the way of my ability to connect with them.

Summer is for strength

This summer has been an opportunity to rebuild, gain strength, and actually reconnect with some of those old friends. There’s been some excellent progress since breaking my foot last year. Since healing, I’ve had a bunch of breakthroughs, especially on the TumblTrak, but also in other areas.

For years, I couldn’t bring myself to chuck a back tuck on the scary surface. I can do a thousand on the trampoline, but this scared the bejesus out of me. It was a process, but progress was finally made:

All of that culminated in this:

Another mountain was chucking the standing back handspring. Past injuries put Mr. Lizard on high alert, to the point where I just stopped doing them altogether on the TumblTrak. I spent the spring and summer on my shoulder mobility and strength, as well as my leg strength. It’s working.

This is just one of those fun things that I used to do easily and stopped trying. This goes to show you that when you really have a skill, it’s never lost. You just have to work hard to find it again.

I’ve always wanted to try the back tuck dismount off beam. After my FlipFest experience unlocked it, I managed to bring it back to Flipper’s gym. We’ll see how long my courage lasts (lol)…

There are so many more achievements, large and small, that I’m proud of. I share my progress videos regularly at the links below.

YouTube Channel: The Geriatric Gymnast
Instagram: @staceywritesandflips
TikTok: @staceytirro
Geriatric Gymnastics Website: staceytirro.com

Enjoying inspiration

One of the reasons that I share so much is that others are inspired by them. This was part of the exchange I had with the former gymnast I mentioned earlier. His name is Joie. He shared that he suffered a bad gymnastics injury when he was 12 that ended his tumbling career. Sadly, he lost his right leg below the knee after that.

Talk about inspiration? This guy is not held back by his injury. He does all sorts of crazy active sports like snowboarding, skydiving, horseback riding and then some. He’s also an RN for over 12 years. The only thing he hadn’t ventured back into was gymnastics.

Now, Joie is in his “late” 30’s (I will not betray his real age). He tried flipping again in one of those trampoline sports places. Tagging me in a recent video of him chucking a back handspring on a bouncy TumblTrak, he wrote:

You’ve set the trend among the group! You’re so good! Gymnastics is like riding a bike huh? You never forget.

After watching the video a few times, I realized he was wearing his prosthetic! I was floored. He was saying how good I was, but he’s chucking back handsprings on a prosthetic leg!! Truly, inspiration is a two-way street.

I told him a bit about my start as an adult in gymnastics, to which he responded:

Wow!!! You’re fit; like it’s no one’s business!!!  Awww that made my entire month! You very rarely hear of older people picking the sport up because it’s so challenging and here you are Ms. Tirro making it look like a stroll in the park!!! Go on with that Simone Biles energy!!! A body in motion stays in motion!!!

Truer words were never spoken. Well, not the stroll in the park bit. But the last sentence rings true in my heart. If I keep moving, good things always happen.

We engaged in a little more back and forth. After seeing him flip with such ease, I encouraged him to find his way back to his passion. His response:

Well…after speaking with you I absolutely will! You’re absolutely right. Gymnastics is so much more than the physical talent side of it. Oh my gosh! THANK YOU! I figured I was way too old to get back in the gym. You’ve shown me otherwise! I’m gonna start looking into local gyms right away!!! You’ve sparked the flame inside. I may not be able to do all six events but my favorite and best event was floor! Thank you! 

Well, that just made my day. Thank you, Joie, for being quite the inspiration yourself. I look forward to following you as you embark upon your adult gymnastics journey.