My coworkers know it. My husband knows it. There is no other place to find me on Tuesday nights than at Dynamite’s adult class workout. A few weeks after I started working at Dynamite, Michelle encouraged me to try an adult class. I was skeptical since I’d stopped doing anything gymnastics related in my twenties, except for a brief period when I helped coach a high school team while living in Japan. But I had loved the sport since age ten and something was definitely pulling me back to the gym.

Starting back up after an almost twenty-year absence was rough--I felt muscles I had not felt in years. I was taller, heavier, and slower than in my teens, and it took a while to adjust. But I conditioned, stretched, and hung in there relearning old skills and trying new ones. In the process I made some great friends and am doing skills I’d never done as a younger gymnast. Our Tuesday night crew is a great group! We shout encouragement, push each other toward our goals, and celebrate when one of us makes a skill for the first time. It’s like being on a team without the pressure of competition.

I realize that as an adult, I understand technique much more and the class has given me a lot of ideas for drills and conditioning exercises to do in the Saturday Rockets class I teach. Working out again has made me a better instructor. I love this sport and wish I had returned to it sooner, but either way, it’s great to be back! :)