I wonder where this little girl went . . .

[MaryGilbeaux]

I was watching little girls turn cartwheels. At that age, I was turning cartwheels without using my hands - you just had to believe you could do it. I believed it and so I could do it.
I don't know when this stopped.
When did I become timid? I wish I was intrepid

"I can still lick both big toes" Ddear god, why?!

The only thing that changes is you stop doing it. There’s cheerleaders and gymnasts still training in their 20s and 30s and yoga coaches still doing god knows what way past 60

I stopped all athletic and gymnastic stuff when I left school, then aged around 40 decided to show my dd how to do a headstand was going to do a hand stand but decided to start with a headstand and I’ve never felt so dizzy as I did when I stood back up. I can still do cartwheels though, but worry I’m going to go my back in.

I loved gymnastics, every now and then I check if I can still do a one-handed cartwheel (I can, yay!)

I’m too scared to re-try my teenage party trick of a front somersault into the pool off the diving board though and haven’t done it in years.

😲😳

It’s the crushing weight of responsibility, OP. The whole “what if” thing.

I ride horses, have done my whole life and still do, but what I don’t do is happily fling myself and half a ton of snorting mania over a 5 foot fence, with no stirrups, one hand and a ‘higher, faster, more” attitude. Fifteen year old me would be horrified and ashamed of my horse activity now. We go for walks, we meander about and occasionally we bounce over a wee fence. Generally I don’t push the rocket booster buttons.
The old me is still in there. If I feel comfortable she sometimes comes out in a blaze of over-competitive thrill seeking. My instructor says she can actually see the switch in my brain flick, my horse can certainly sense the gears change, but most of the time the boring, nearly 40 personality taps me on the shoulders and reminds me about work, and school runs and all the other stuff that’s difficult to accomplish while in traction.

I’m more sedate now. Sometimes it bugs me; as can be seen by this rant you clearly touched a nerve, but whilst I’m glad I did it am also generally glad that I no longer need to.

I am actually a physically timid person now, despite youthful gymnastics, riding, rollerblading. But you can learn to get it back a bit; I learnt to ski as an adult and it was frightening, and I won't be chucking myself down off-piste vertical mountains off the back of a helicopter, but I'm pretty good now. If you take it slow and have proper instruction you can remember how to feel the fear and do it anyway. It's just that I'm afraid of much smaller things than I used to be!!

I used to do gymnastics as a child / teenager. I was surprised when I went again as an adult just how hard I found it. I was fit and relatively light but I felt so heavy when I tried to do anything and that, in combination with my pelvic floor struggling with it too, meant I just couldn't do the things I used to do.

Off the back of this thread, I just did a handstand up the wall to see if I still could, and I think I've fixed my prolapse grin

Crying😂

I could never do a free cartwheel, but I can still do handstand press-ups at 48!

I'm small (particularly of nork) with short legs, and adventurous... sadly I was built too inflexible to ever achieve a cartwheel, or the splits or anything fancy and bendy.

I can still do a headstand up a wall though which was the height of my gymnastic prowess.

I'm 50 something and overweight but I obviously think I'm 10 and can still do this stuff because on holiday in May when the kids were doing front flips into the pool I decided I could still do this There had been wine taken and luckily there is no video footage - but I did it !!!! (I thought I was going to die when I hit the water mind you) Go me !!!!

Please, please don't try the YouTube stuff posted above in a car park. Maybe on a highly cushioned padded cell. Note the gymnast is a mere child posing as a young adult. There's the clue.

Enjoy happy memories and try something safer, ballet, yoga or Zumba. Whatever floats your boat but not so many mature adults do acrobatics. Value your head.

I learned to ski as a teen and loved racing down the hill as a 20 something. Now my kids say I ski like a chicken and all I can think about is what if I get hurt, who will do the school run and cook dinner. Now I might do 1 run if the slopes are empty and then head in to watch my kids bombing about like I used to. Maybe we need to slow down to give them the space they need to try the crazy stuff. They wouldnt think it was cool if Mum was still doing it!

I cant remember the last time I ran properly

I often think about this when I go past the Green where I used to do cartwheels and back bends when I was young. Apart from the fact my wrists couldn't take the strain now I think self-consciousness is a huge factor. The idea of failing at something and everybody seeing stops me from doing lots of things. It's why I don't drive.

I see the danger of things more now I am older too, especially since having a child. I used to have no fear of roller coasters for example and now I'm very cautious.

I miss being a child. I miss gymnastics, roller skating, playing on the bars, spinning, racing, jumping...

Being middle aged & over weight sucks big time.

I could never do any gymnastics , but i swam in the sea for hours. In the U.K. I'd swim through choppy waves and come in when I was hungry. Was never much for diving but I would explore the water as long as I could.
40 mins in the pool and I need 2 days to recover. The thought of 11 year old me diving through waves far from shore is bloody terrifying. I don't remember any sticky situations but maybe cause there would only have been 1.

I was doing cartwheels until last year..I was 39. Don't do them now though last one I did I was drunk, did it in bare feet on a cold floor and tore the ligaments in my ankle

I miss being young and able to climb trees and walk along the top of walls and jump down

However, Society loves to tell Women what we can't or shouldn't be doing, especially as we age.

First reply - I knew this thread wouldn't be a let-down

More men die at work because they do more dangerous jobs. It has nothing to do with the patriarchy stifling women's right to be in industrial accidents. It's because dangerous jobs are often more physically suited to men and, undeniably, testosterone helps people react in dangerous situations.

I think that both sexes feel that lack of fear and physical ability slowly ebbing as they age.

I've never been able to do a cartwheel but I used to spend a lot of my childhood hanging off metal barriers and turning somersaults I still get the urge to do it now but don't as I couldn't bear the indignity of getting stuck

@MatildaTheCat Seriously!

All I could think watching that was... a car park?? Not even on GRASS?

I could never do a cartwheel.

My boobs give me a round of applause every time I go upstairs. They’re obviously impressed. Me, not so much!

I'm sure this is why obstacle course racing is so popular. It gives you a reason to spend time on the monkey bars, climbing ropes and trying to run up a 45 degree slope on a slippery surface.

As I've got older I've become more aware of the dangers, of what could happen if it goes wrong. But, I've just taken up climbing so I'm having to override my fears.

Flying splits. I used to be able to jump of anything, do the splits in the air, land safely and roll. I was a theatre kid though. These days I imagine the flying splits would render me in hospital.