On one of my recent TikTok posts of my work on bars, someone commented: What’s your goal? Very impressive. I liked that question. Made me think for a minute.
My reply:
Thank you! I’ve decided to participate in a couple of competitions this season for the first time. Working on these routines helps give me direction, motivation and specific focus when I go to the gym. I can be more directed in my training with performance goals. At 54, I need to be as wise as possible when I train. 👍💪🤸
And then, I started to think about it a little more. I think the answer to this question deserves more space.
Owning the athlete moniker in midlife
For the past eighteen years (this month), I have been on a long, fulfilling journey finding my footing as an adult recreational gymnast. Once in a while, someone refers to me as an athlete, and I blush a little. I don’t necessarily disagree, but sometimes my body often feels more like a sloth than an athlete. Even as a lifelong dancer and dance teacher, I never called myself an athlete. I moved because it felt right.
I’ve always loved movement and physical expression. I love being creative and exploring new things this brain and body can do. Even through past injuries and aging, I’m still learning new things. The incremental stretching past perceived limitations is energizing, especially at a time in life where the body seems to want to slow down and shrink.
In my last post, I revealed that I had signed up for my first gymnastics competition this coming May. Shortly thereafter, I signed up for another competition in February. I figured, if I was going to do all this work for a performance event, I might as well do it more than once.
I even purchased my first sparkly competition leotard!
Building back from big injury
My decision this year to compete as an adult gymnast didn’t come lightly. I’m just a year past Achilles rupture recovery, where I needed surgery to sew my tendon back together. It’s an injury that can easily sideline anyone, including athletes more seasoned than myself. I’ve documented my recovery process, the challenges and milestones extensively.
Once I was around the 11-month mark, I started to realize that as part of the process, I built strength and ability that wasn’t there before. Honestly, the recovery of one body part can do wonders for the rest of your physical and mental well-being. The video below shows skills I couldn’t do before I got hurt.
As I slowly built back the tendon and strengthened my ankle, I focused on building up the rest of my body structure. The strategies I was already employing to maintain strengthen in midlife were also beneficial for my recovery:
- Adding collagen and creatine to my diet.
- Increasing my protein consumption.
- Lifting heavier things.
- Supporting my depleting hormones with estrogen and progesterone.
- Challenging myself to improve my handstands and shoulder mobility.
- Taking bars work more seriously and building skills that I had set aside because I thought my body (and brain) couldn’t handle it.
As I worked through recovery, I realized that my body was actually capable of doing more. Over the months, I saw the progress with each video I took. I saw how my musculature was changing.
That’s the thing about doing the consistent work over time. You don’t see the improvements right away. The gains are incremental, but they build up over months of dedicated work. I learned this most in the first six months of my Achilles recovery. When you’re in a cast, non-weight bearing and miserable, it’s hard to visualize a “back-to-normal” outcome. But when you do something to promote recovery every day, the small efforts pay off. In a big way.
This is my return to vaulting after a year of recovery:
Going back to the question: What’s your goal?
I don’t think it’s right to reduce the answer to just one goal. There are always small progress goals that I’m looking to achieve at the gym.
The video above was my official return to the vault as I mentally and physically prepare for this competition. That was a goal that I’ve been putting off out of fear. But, I knew that my recovery was strong enough to withstand the impact. So, I decided to get back to it, with focused intention.
My competition goal is to face the fear of doing something new, perform all of my routines as well as possible, and feel good about the effort. For now, that’s pretty much it.
I’m not looking to be a high-level competitive gymnast, but the creative performer in me is piqued by the possibilities of shining in this new environment. It’s something that motivates me in a way that nothing else does.
The life goals matter most
There is a bigger, lifelong picture here. Looking forward, my overarching goal is to maintain the gains and keep growing them every day.
I don’t really have specific skill goals in mind. As I see a skill that I think I can work towards, I try it, evaluate it, and then I decide whether it’s worth pursuing further. Instead, I have long-term life goals that will ultimately assist the acquisition of new skills in the gym:
- I want to have the ability to try new things without being sidelined by injury.
- I want to be able to recover well if I do get injured.
- I want to maintain strong bone density to avoid a broken hip if I fall thirty years from now. Or tomorrow.
- I want to live in my own power, that I created myself.
- I want to be independent, capable, and show others how to do the same.
- I want to choose to do difficult things and go into them with confidence.
I hope that better answers the question. After eighteen years, I’m still following the flippy path with these lifelong goals in mind. When wisdom precedes impulse, and motivation is backed by consistent effort, adults can enjoy gymnastics as a lifelong activity.
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