All-Star Im Old And Out Of Shape, But I Can Still...

CatsCoach113 said:

There was a guy at a competition he was 48 years old and threw a full and Standing tuck.. Last year he threw his double!!!! He is on KC Cats open team!!!

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WOW Did he die right afterwards??? Just Kidding!

ctgatormom said:

WOW Did he die right afterwards??? Just Kidding!

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haha NO!! I saw him at the Coastal comp. in MA in Jan. They like announced it over the speaker that he was 48 and about to compete haha His name is Anthony! .. IDK maybe others saw him too!!

Not sure how old our tumbling coach is(I would say late 30's early 40's) but he can still do a double and actually won the standing tuck (stick it) contest against all of our Fame athletes. He is AMAZING. He has helped my daughter get her full, double, full to a full, punch through to a full!!! We love Coach Lewis!

Well I may be old and out of shape (certainly compared to how I was back in university) but I just keep getting slowly better.

I learned to do a standing tuck in my mid-30's (back in the day guys either stunted or tumbled, very few did both and I was never a gymnast) and started running tumbling at 39. Right now I can do a round off with as many back handsprings as will fit on the diagonal (usually 4), standing 2 handsprings to tuck and can throw a double toe tuck (when my groin pull finally heals) all on a sprung floor of course. My goal is to add a layout to my tumbling in the next year or two and start work on a standing full -- though my tuck has always gone through an up/down cycle and lately it's been down so the standing full is still a ways off.

Stunt wise I'm actually better than ever too. Rewinds, full-ups, tick-tocks... pretty much all the basic and intermediate skills as a base rock solid. I'm not one of the beast guys (I'm only 5' 7" and 185 lbs) so you won't see me throwing double back rewinds or one-arm rewinds any time soon (if ever). Not bad for only one practice a week and the occasional open gym.

I do have to say it does bug me a bit when I hear other people say "I'm too old for this" and it's coming from someone in their mid 20's. This certainly isn't easy for me, I do have to work on it and maintain a healthy lifestyle in general, but if being involved at a competitive level is important for you then it is possible to do it.

I do have some sympathy for people who have been injured and can no longer physically manage the skills; after all, this stuff isn't supposed to be easy, we only make it look that way. But, I've had shoulder issues my whole adult life (sub-luxation -- think of dislocating your shoulder and having it pop back in right away, all the pain and swelling of a full shoulder dislocation without the necessity of seeing a doctor to get it put back in), had ACL surgery on both knees (not cheer related), suffered a neck injury, and had my thumbs and fingers jammed, popped and dislocated more times than I want to remember (darn, now that I'm reminded of it my left pinkie is hurting as I type this -- stupid 'A' key, why do I need you so much?). Yet all of that is relatively minor compared to the guy stunting in a wheelchair!

I'm not saying that everyone should stay in competitive cheer -- there are lots of reasons to get out. For me, I've done the coaching thing, I've been 'retired' for a bunch of years but when it's all said and done I still love to perform so I came back and worked to improve my skills. I know that I'm likely to only give it a few more years from here but I intend to make them my best years yet. Other priorities will eventually pull me away and I'm ok with that, but it won't be because I'm "too old for this".

My heyday pre-dates spring floors. I'm 37. My back flexibility was shot after the epidural from my second child.
I'm definitely out of cheer shape but can still jump with the middle of the pack. I favor right leg jumps over left since I lack the same flexibility of my youth.

I'm still more of a level 4 stunting base/backspot.

My tumbling is very limited. Punch fronts and front handsprings are still good. Standing tucks are iffy when not on a spring floor. I haven't attempted a standing BHS or RO-BHS in at least 4 years. I landed the RO-BHS on a rod floor. I prefer to attempt all BHS on crash mats because they are super soft.

If I made time to work at it, I'm sure I could kick the rust off and pick up some new skills. I've taken a break from coaching so that I can focus my efforts on the activities of my children right now. I'd be motivated to work it out for a parent team at this point.

My age started catching up with me after I turned 35. The aches don't hit me until a full 24 hours post the activity. Then I spend the next day walking around like I need a cane. It's worth it in the moment.

CatsCoach113 said:

haha NO!! I saw him at the Coastal comp. in MA in Jan. They like announced it over the speaker that he was 48 and about to compete haha His name is Anthony! .. IDK maybe others saw him too!!

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Haha It's true! I was on KC Cats open coed 6 earlier this year as their alternates... He's one of the coaches and he kicked my butt just doing warm up drills!

R.I.P. any tumbling I ever had 1998-2008
I'm scared to even do a backhandspring anymore!

Oh let me tell you about my jumps, those I still have. My HS girls hate it when I tell them, "If my old, fat, wearing jeans rear-end can jump better than you tonight, it means extra conditioning!" That usually motivates them to give 100%! (cause they all KNOW I can out jump each and every one of them).

I can still walk down the street without my hip collapsing (bad case of bursitis at 14..I'm 21). Lack of flexibility (and not much of a physical inclination towards it) makes things difficult..I could probably do more of the muscle-y stuff like stunting..an extension?

I'm 21 and I'd say I'm gaining skills(flyer wish) but I was never good at tumbling so that's not longer there. although we have a 25 year old with round off back tuck and our 41 year old stil bases and stil has her cartwheel/roundoff and often has more energy than the rest of the team (13-41) lol x

RIP anything involving jumping ANYWHERE. I can still tie my shoes, though

I can still do the splits! Been married 13 years. Coincidence? I think not.

I'm 31 and I retired from cheer...no need to list skills...just depressing.....I will still to crossfit and power lifting....2 knee surgeries and back spasms told me to hang it up

welll i'm not super old... i'm only a freshman in college but i only did open last year and now i've lost my jump tucks and my tucks aren't very good anymore. they were the one thing i always held on to (since i never reached a full and the like haha it just wasnt in the cards for me) and i swore its something id be able to do forever or at least til i have kids and a family but even then, how cool a mom would i be still able to do a tuck welll, i had a private lesson on friday after doing nothing for a month since the last competition and not being able to land my jump tucks solid for most of the season.. and afterwards, i ached.. and ached... and ached... but i want to do it again, i NEEEED it back if its the last thing i do lol.

standing tuck 2005-2010/11
jump tucks 2009-2010/11

22 still going, i'm aiming to double till 26, but that seems like a long shot, had a short landing on a one to double the other day and it was one of those "yea....we cant mess up like that anymore"

Kudos to the people who make it look easy