Can you still do gymnastics at 38?

Hi everyone. My sprained ankle is slowly recovering, it has been about 26 hours since I've sprained it and by the time I got to the 16 hour mark, the swelling had gone down sufficiently to allow me to put some weight down on it. I have been able to walk around the house for the last few hours - phew, which has been such a relief as I no longer have to hop or crawl to get to the toilet or kitchen, but I have not tried to leave the house yet. From experience, it takes about 24 to 48 hours for the swelling to go down and I will not be able to do any sports for about a week at least.

On this occasion, I am going to answer a question that I was asked recently. This 21 year old gymnast at my gym asked me, "I don't mean to be rude but you're not young any more, isn't it dangerous for you to do sports like that? Wouldn't you get hurt?Can your body take the punishment? Is it safe for you to do sports like that at your age?" Well, yes I am 38 and the big 40 milestone is just around the corner. There's nothing like a badly sprained ankle to make you feel very mortal. But allow me to talk more generally today about middle aged folks like me doing sports. I am going to use gymnastics as an example but the general principles I will discuss applies to any sport.

1. Doing it regularly: commitment 

The more you invest in an activity, the more you get out of it. Sports becomes fun when you are actually very good at it - it doesn't matter whether you're playing basketball, learning to dive or taking up winter sports, this basic principle applies universally. Thus it is important to choose a sport that you like and commit to it - ideally doing it at least twice a week. This way, you will ensure that you will get enough practice to not just improve your fitness levels, but your skill level as well. This is important for us older folks - it is so important to maintain not just our fitness but ability. Sports is no fun when you are simply doing it to lose weight or when everything is just so bloody difficult. Thus it is important to commit to a sport - which sport you choose is up to you but any sport that involves motor skills will be good for you.

I still train regularly despite being in my late 30s.

2. Get the right instructions

It pays to spend some money getting proper instruction - too many adults simply think that they can wing it when it comes to play a sport, they will fumble their way through the session without any proper instructions but a good coach can do so much to help you improve. If you don't know what you are doing, you could fall into the trap of 'perfecting a mistake' - let's take tennis for example. Let's say you're trying to learn how to serve and you keep hitting the ball into the net. Without knowing what you are doing wrong, you could be perfecting the art of serving into the net if you just keep on fumbling around in the dark. You're never too old to take a class in sports!

3. Get the right equipment

Even if you are doing a sport on a recreational basis, do invest in proper equipment. Having the right attire and equipment would allow you to perform so much better at your sport and enjoy your training more. Conversely, not having the right equipment could result in accidents that may lead to injury. Let me give you an example: a friend of mine took up rollerblading but decided that she didn't want to spend a lot of money paying for all those knee guards, elbow guards, wrist/palm guards etc - she paid a high price when she had a nasty fall and broke her wrist. Now for the price of a pair of wrist/palm guards for rollerblading, she could have easily spared herself that nasty injury! As an older working adult, you should really be prepared to spend money when it is necessary for your choice of sport.

Always invest in the right equipment

4. Play to your strengths 

You can't be good at everything, so it is necessary to play to your strengths and understand what you are good at and by that token, what you simply cannot do. Thus by that token, it may make sense to discuss this with a sports coach who would be able to give you an honest evaluation about where you will get the best results and where you would simply be wasting your time (and money). There is only so much training can do if there is simply an absence of natural ability and talent. Nonetheless, there is an element of nurture vs nature - yes there is a lot we can do with training to improve but always pick your battles. If you are built like a rugby player, it is unlikely that you'll become an excellent figure skater - that is a no brainer.

5. Focus on your motor skills

Allow me to present you the case study of YS - an adult gymnast from my gymnastics club. On the surface, he may seem extremely fit: he has a six-pack, he has muscles and has some flexibility. However, he is surprisingly uncoordinated. He then had a conversation with me and another coach as to why he is so uncoordinated and clumsy - it's like the coach can tell him, "put your left foot on the bar" but his brain simply cannot get his body to follow that simple instruction. It turns out that YS has achieved his great body through working out in the gym and jogging - but he has never really played any sports that required a high degree of coordination (like basketball, table tennis, football, golf, hockey, archery, badminton etc). We then encouraged YS to try a range of sports that will test his motor skills more and spend less time on those weight machines in the gym, in order to improve his physical coordination.

6. Always stretch - warming up is important

This applies for everyone, not just gymnasts! As we get older, we need to prepare our bodies for physical activities by warming up and stretching. It is necessary to maintain the flexibility you have by stretching prior to exercising. Do not rush into any kind of exercise without first warming up your body - I have seen people turn up late for a football game, they skip the warm up and start playing immediately - that is when you are most prone to accidents because your muscles are simply not ready to perform the tasks your brain asks of them. This is especially important during cold weather as your muscles take a lot longer to warm up.

7. Don't be too worried about injuries 

As I discussed my sprained ankle on Facebook with my friends and family, I found out that my mother had recently twisted her ankle as well - was she doing any dangerous sports? No, she was coming out of a car park when she missed a step, rolled her ankle over and sprained it. Her accident is the classic inversion (lateral) sprain - ironically, that is the exact same kind of sprained ankle I currently have; except that I rolled my ankle after landing my round off 1.5 twisting back somersault on the edge of the mat. The fact is accidents can happen at any time to anyone, so whilst we can always try our best to avoid those dreaded accidents, you shouldn't be too paranoid about them either.

My rather swollen left ankle.

8. Always have fun: make it social

Oh yeah. Sports has got to be fun, otherwise you wouldn't want to do it. My sister used to go jogging but she described it as, "pain, pain and more pain - I was just looking forward to when I could finally get home and have a shower, so my agony could be over." It wasn't surprising when she finally gave it up and switched to classes at her gym which offered a more social environment - she had friends she saw during the classes and there was a social element to the class as well. I love the way there is great camaraderie in my gymnastics club and everyone is very supportive and encouraging. We have fun training together and this is why people keep coming back session after session. When I spot a newcomer to the class, I always make sure I introduce myself to them and make them feel welcome. This is a far cry from a commercial gym where it is fairly anonymous, where people come and go and mostly just listen to their music whilst working out. (Oh yeah, we all know commercial gyms like that...)

So there you go - that's eight useful tips from an ageing 38 year old man who has no intention to slow down. Are you an older person who keeps fit? What tips do you have to share? Do leave a comment below, thanks for reading.

Limpeh on holiday in Greece this summer