As a child, I remember spending an entire summer learning to do a cartwheel, & then practicing every single chance I got in order to perfect it. I think that kind of dedication is pretty common in children. Many of my favourite activities involved functional types of fitness like this.  No one thought of it as fitness though so it remained fun. Recently, we’ve gotten back to those roots.

I read about Kyle Shewfelt’s latest gymnastics classes in the Herald this summer. They’ve offered non-competitive gymnastics classes for kids since they opened their doors, but last spring they added a few adult options. I immediately knew this was something I would love to do, & told N about it. When my birthday rolled around, he gifted me a class. I was ecstatic! Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one who thought this would be an amazing opportunity & the class was full before I had a chance to register. Members get first dibs so I missed the winter session as well. A coworker of mine did get in, however (the only non-member to make it!), & convinced N & I to come down for Open Gym after his class a couple weeks ago.

Open gym gives you supervised access to the amazing facility. We tumbled, swung, climbed, jumped, & flipped our bodies around for an hour & a half. You couldn’t wipe the goofy grin off my face the whole evening. It’s a little bit like being a kid again. Tanis teaches the Adult Gymnastics class from 6:30 – 8:00 pm followed by the Open Gym session.

The gym features a tumble track, ring, uneven bars, parallel bars, beams, a plyo floor, foam pit, vaults, & tons of different shaped mats like octagons & wedges. We’ve been to two sessions so far & I already feel like I’ve learned so much, all while getting great workouts. I only wish I’d started going sooner! My coworker has brought his Go Pro & recorded some of the stuff we’ve done. You can follow him to see more but I’ve posted a couple of my favourite videos below. I’m excited to see how we improve as time goes on (N & I both have 10x drop-in passes now).
Donkey kicks & a flip by me:

Nathan flips:

My coworker:

As someone who wants to get into an adult class, it probably isn’t the best idea to blog about this fun new workout find, but I couldn’t resist sharing. If you’re looking to try something new & challenging, while feeling a bit like a kid again, I highly recommend checking out Kyle Shewfelt Gymnastics!