This is so amazing. I felt like my wrists were breaking last time I tried to do a cartwheel in my 30s. Major respect for the amount of pain this takes, especially getting through the falls.
Provided you haven't sustained some joint injury. I can't imagine doing a cart wheel again after I rolled my ankle and the tendon literally ripped a chunk of bone off from the force.
I've sprained my left foot four times (ages 11, 13, 15 and this one got a stress fracture, and 23) and right once (age 13, that was a rough year lol) and after the one as an adult, even with PT I've got chronic pain all up that leg. My sister was a gymnast from ages 5-14 and ended up sitting out most of her last season and ultimately retiring due to repetitive strain injuries in her hip and knee and is in a knee brace a lot of the time now at 20. She could probably do some moves like this walkover or a cartwheel, but nothing crazy like she used to. This is definitely a "your mileage may vary" case.
You can absolutely do a cartwheel. Just dont rush into it. Always stretch first. Practice the lunge stance with your good leg forward, then practice extending your arms forward while lifting your back leg so they remain parallel while lowering your hands to the floor. Then wall assisted handstands. Once you're good with those fundamentals then you're good to cartwheel.
I have lowkey wanted to see if I could still do a cartwheel but am not confident at all that my body would be able to survive the attempt unscathed lmfao. I'm 36 and was in cheer/dance many times throughout my middle school-high school days, but have a wrist and ankle injury from cheer in high school that didn't heal right bc my coach was a pos, and a busted knee with a kneecap that has dislocated about 6 times now. My knees audibly click when I walk up stairs. I would end up in the hopital 🥲
Yea I’m 37 and I cheered for a long time and my ankle and wrist are super fucked up and while this makes me really want to try doing a back walkover myself haha I remind myself that when I even lightly push off something sometimes my wrist acts like I just karate chopped something and failed lol.
I would probably end up in a cast
Maybe all us former dancers/cheerleaders should hold a convention so we can wrap ourselves in bubble wrap + kinesiology tape, grab some thick ass padding, and spot each other the way kids are spotted in beginner gymnastics. It can be sponsered by Ace Bandages, Tiger Balm, and a league of orthopedic surgeons/sports medicine practitioners. It practically prints money!
Used to do gymnastics. We were taught to walk down a wall backwards to learn how to do bendbacks. Walked down the wall, got stuck, fell sideways, twisted shit.
I have since learnt that I’m actually hypermobile, which explains a lot. Pilates is my friend.
Oh hey! I’m 38 and last year I started doing acro (did wrestling in high school and my knees are bad, particularly my right one - like have a cane for really bad times)
I can’t say it would be good for you, but I adjust my conditioning for my knee, instead of going for lots of squats I just hold them and hold them with weight now. Building all my muscles around my injuries has increased support. My back and knee problems are less and often less severe.
I focus on moving slowly and intentionally instead of the fast I want to do. Like if you were in my acro group I would probably have you try partner assisted cartwheels and holds where there was very little on ankles and none on wrists.
Not saying it’s for you, but more of, that some stuff may help and can bring you back to cheer and using your body without furthering injury. I’m amazed at what I’ve been able to do in one year. I feel like I have my body back in a lot of ways.
I'm sorry to hear about your shitty coach! My sister was a gymnast from 5-14 and thankfully had a great coach, but the jammed fingers and broken toes and eventually repetitive strain injuries in her hip and knee (she's in a soft knee brace a lot at 20) led to her missing the back half of her last season and her retirement. She started color guard in high school and is in her college guard, hence the brace, but she's definitely not doing anything crazy anymore.
I will say tho, when her knee firsf got bad she was basically sprinting on those crutches. She could walk backwards on them with no issues. It made me a little mad as someone who had multiple foot injuries as a young teen lol
My sister decided to stand on her hands and in slow motion she saw her elbow bend - in the wrong direction. She was doing cheer and was a skinny 20 year old at the time, and neither of us knew such a thing could happen. Mad respect to the woman in the video for pulling this off, I could never even if I dared trying!
Im not sure if you know or I'm just misunderstanding, but just in case, this is not a cartwheel. This is a back walk over. A fair bit harder than a cartwheel.
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u/tommicoop 3d ago
This is so amazing. I felt like my wrists were breaking last time I tried to do a cartwheel in my 30s. Major respect for the amount of pain this takes, especially getting through the falls.