When you suffer a life-altering injury, you have choices to make: to do or not to do. Four weeks after rupturing my right Achilles tendon, these are the choices I am making to recover well. January 12, 2025 In response to the title question, the answer is: I can do a lot. Even sporting a… Continue reading Achilles Tendon Recovery: What Can I Do?
Category: The Geriatric Gymnast
Overcoming Achilles Injury: My Return to the Gym
On one regular Sunday FUNday, I ruptured my Achilles tendon on a tumbling pass at the gym. Three weeks later, I returned to the gym to take back my life, one hobbling step at a time. When you endure an injury that requires surgical intervention, it seems to overtake your life. Everything you do is… Continue reading Overcoming Achilles Injury: My Return to the Gym
Achilles Tendon Recovery: From Cast to Boot
This is the ongoing saga of my recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon in December. Two weeks post-op, this is how I'm doing. January 2, 2025 It's my first post in 2025 and already the year is starting off...interestingly. Two and a half weeks ago, I completely ruptured my right Achilles tendon at gymnastics. I… Continue reading Achilles Tendon Recovery: From Cast to Boot
Weight Loss 13: Combatting Perimenopausal Weight Gain
Attention: perimenopausal warriors. Feeling the waistline expand? Yeah, me too. This is the yearly overview of my personal experience that includes helpful resources and health-management strategies. My last weight-loss post was a year ago. Sometimes, I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. I think it's safe to say that this year hasn't really been… Continue reading Weight Loss 13: Combatting Perimenopausal Weight Gain
Managing Risk as a Geriatric Gymnast
Why do I keep coming back to the gym after dealing with so many injuries? This article gets into that very question. This is the continuing saga of me breaking myself. Again. The first major foot injury from the gym starts here. This time, I completely tore my Achilles tendon at the gym. I was… Continue reading Managing Risk as a Geriatric Gymnast
Navigating Post-Surgery: Tips for First Day Recovery
Getting through the first night and day after surgery is one of the toughest parts of the early healing process. Here's how I managed the early obstacles. On Tuesday, I wrote Sometimes, You Break Yourself…Again, which told the story of rupturing my Achilles tendon at the gym. On Wednesday, I wrote Pre-op Hell and Surgery Heaven,… Continue reading Navigating Post-Surgery: Tips for First Day Recovery
Pre-op Hell and Surgery Heaven
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 On Sunday, I completely ruptured by right Achilles tendon. (Read Sometimes, You Break Yourself...Again for that story.) Today, my surgeon repaired it. This is my reflection of the ordeal. I saw the orthopedist on Monday afternoon. He listened to my story, watched the video of the event, and said "yup, that's… Continue reading Pre-op Hell and Surgery Heaven
Sometimes You Break Yourself…Again
Gymnastics is fraught with risk. Anyone who participates knows this. Once in a while, the risk catches up with you. No matter how careful you are, sometimes you break yourself. This is the start of another long road to recovery. December 15, 2024 I rise and shine, ready for another Sunday FUNday at Flipper's Gymnastics.… Continue reading Sometimes You Break Yourself…Again
Overcoming Gymnastics Anxiety: My Back Handspring Journey
The summer of 2024 was a bonanza of gymnastics progress. I managed to avoid injury, and I had some pretty cool successes. There was a ton of breaking through some deep-seated Mr. Lizard fear of going backwards on the TumblTrak. In this article, I share my progress and the personal strategies I've used to get… Continue reading Overcoming Gymnastics Anxiety: My Back Handspring Journey
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. Finding the words I found a new gymnastics group on Facebook where I started posting my progress videos. Today, as I was… Continue reading Inspiring Others: Adult Gymnastics, Resilience, and Shared Passion
FlipFest 2024: My First Adult Gymnastics Camp Experience
At 52, I attended my first adult gymnastics camp in Crossville, Tennessee. This is all about my FlipFest experience. You can see us, front row center Sometimes, your world can feel small. This is especially true when you leave for a bit to experience something on a much grander scale. In my case, I'd been preparing… Continue reading FlipFest 2024: My First Adult Gymnastics Camp Experience
Getting Ready for Camp!
Ready for an adventure! In July, I posted Preparing for my First Gymnastics Camp, anticipating my very first adult gymnastics experience at FlipFest. I am writing this on the eve of our departure and I must say I am shaking with excitement. This is going to be a road trip from New Jersey to Crossville, Tennessee… Continue reading Getting Ready for Camp!
Rebuilding Confidence: How to Overcome Fear After an Injury
Coming back from a physical injury is a great feat. Conquering the mental fallout is like winning the Olympic gold medal. This article chronicles the steps I took on the long road to overcoming fear. Trust the process. I’ve written a lot about managing fear and the effects our Lizard brain has on our ability… Continue reading Rebuilding Confidence: How to Overcome Fear After an Injury
Geriatric Gymnasts in the Spotlight
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!! My Geriatric Gymnast story is highlighted in the Atlantic! Read on for more information. I am fully entrenched in all flippy things Paris 2024. Like the rest of the world, I love watching the glory of Golden Girls Simone, Suni, Jordan, Jade and Hezly, and the greatness of the bronze boys Paul, Brody,… Continue reading Geriatric Gymnasts in the Spotlight
Preparing for my First Gymnastics Camp
Stepping out of your comfort zone is always a challenge. This article talks about preparing to take a giant leap out of mine. While I've been flipping for 16 years now, I have never flipped anywhere but my home gym. In the past year or two, I've seen lots of adult gymnastics "camp" and competition… Continue reading Preparing for my First Gymnastics Camp
Promoting adult gymnastics
Gymnastics is not just for kids anymore. This is a story of a recent encounter I had with a fellow writer, athlete and coach who is doing a deep dive into the expanding realm of adult gymnastics. I recently made a new flippy friend! Out of the blue, I got an email that caught my… Continue reading Promoting adult gymnastics
Inspiring Through Adult Gymnastics
Last June, I published Why Do I Post So Much?, a reflection on all of the gymnastics stuff I put on social media. At the time, I had posted a video that was getting some attention (over 140K views, which is gargantuan for my little account). As others commented how inspired they were by the… Continue reading Inspiring Through Adult Gymnastics
Validating Fitness Strategies: Gymnastics, Nutrition, and Bone Strength in Perimenopause
Back in 2022, I wrote an article called Keeping the Bones Strong, which was an overview of the science behind bone building and how gymnastics activities really helps achieve strong bones. This article tracks my recent DEXA scan and looks at the strategies I've been using to maintain strong bones. I've spent the better part… Continue reading Validating Fitness Strategies: Gymnastics, Nutrition, and Bone Strength in Perimenopause
Hot June Challenge, Geriatric Gymnast Style
What do Geriatric Gymnasts do in the heat? We pull it back a bit, but we still know how to have fun. Read on for some tips and examples of how we navigate class in the hot summer heat. The heat is on! Tuesday was one of those long, hot days just before summer begins.… Continue reading Hot June Challenge, Geriatric Gymnast Style
Empowering GenX Women: Navigating Perimenopause with Expert Guidance
On one of my recent long walks, I was inspired to commemorate some thoughts on my iPhone. Seems as though walking gets the brain juices flowing and that's when many of my thoughts spill out. Dictating through heavy breaths, I waxed philosophical about being smack-dab in the middle of the menopausal transition. Living in perimenopause… Continue reading Empowering GenX Women: Navigating Perimenopause with Expert Guidance
Practice makes habits
Whether you are a newbie or veteran gymnast, this article might be helpful when you consider how you create consistency in your training habits and why the journey is so darn hard. Gymnasts, particularly those of us “of a certain age,” work to develop complex physical skills through the obstacles of body limitations, fear and… Continue reading Practice makes habits
A Primer for Back Tucks on the Trampoline
This article is designed to help gymnasts who are struggling with their back tucks on the trampoline. It offers lots of how-to tips and detailed, step-by-step descriptions of the hows and whys of the drills I've personally used to improve my technique. One of the main questions I often get relates to getting over the… Continue reading A Primer for Back Tucks on the Trampoline
Improving back handsprings, part 2
This article was actually written and published in February 2024, before my April version of Improving Back Handspring Technique. For some reason, it got lost in the WordPress ether and I had to do a lengthy archive search process to find it again. When I read it through, there was even more useful information than… Continue reading Improving back handsprings, part 2
Improving Back Handspring Technique
If you are looking to solve your back handspring issues, this article might give you some food for thought. Back handsprings are one of the harder basic skills to acquire, especially for adult gymnasts. The idea of hurtling yourself backwards onto your hands, then snapping your feet back down to the ground and rebounding back… Continue reading Improving Back Handspring Technique
The Power of Yet
This article is the convergence of all areas of my life experience: teaching, parenting, singing, and being a Geriatric Gymnast. No matter what the effort is, I have found myself feeling like I am lacking in more ways than one. I've mused a lot about impostor syndrome. I published a meditation about it, talked about… Continue reading The Power of Yet
Commit to the Fundamentals
In gymnastics, every choice you make is an important one. Each skill, whether a handstand, salto (flip) or a complex combination of moves, requires a laundry list of technical requirements. When you are first starting out, that list can be very intimidating. I coach adult gymnastics at Flipper's Gymnastics in Ramsey, NJ. We now offer… Continue reading Commit to the Fundamentals
Mental Breakthroughs 2
Two years ago, I wrote an article about some of the mental blocks I've managed, largely due to injuries sustained, and the mental breakthroughs I've made in trying to overcome them. Months later, I did a little research and realized that the reason for the blocks was due to our lizard brain, the part of… Continue reading Mental Breakthroughs 2
Weight-loss 12: Tricky 2023
It seems I’m posting these weight-loss journey reports biannually now. Apparently, I wax weight management when my work life wanes; during winter break and just as summer starts. A year ago, I recalled in part 10 the food challenges during my November reverie (birthdays, anniversary, Thanksgiving) and into the winter holidays (Chanukkah latkes and Christmas… Continue reading Weight-loss 12: Tricky 2023
Sometimes you break yourself, part 8
I'm approaching the end of week seven post-fifth metatarsal break and the foot is healing, slowly but surely. My follow-up appointment was on Friday morning, just two days before the end of the seven-week mark. Another set of X-Rays were taken and unfortunately, it didn't look that much different from the one taken the week… Continue reading Sometimes you break yourself, part 8
Sometimes you break yourself, part 7
It's been a couple of weeks since my last update. I'd been putting it off until this week's doctor's appointment, the anticipation of which was a source of anxiety and a bit of dread. I finally returned last week to the gym, not to flip, but to coach. It was good to breathe the air,… Continue reading Sometimes you break yourself, part 7
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