Backflips and a Forward Somersaults

hmmmm....

I learned gymnastics as a kid and will still, at age 34 and out of shape, attempt to do foolish things like back-flips. A spotter is a person who gives a gymnast a little support physically and lot of support phsycologically. The back flip is leanred at a point when the coach thinks the gymnast is ready for it. There are steps one should master before attempting to do the move.

Still, I think that as a bigger person, you'd be safer doing flips off a diving board or in a harness. The harness goes around your waist and crotch and is attached to a pully system by rope. The coach or spotter would hold the other end of the rope. Sort of like the contraptions used for rock climbers.

I'd advise caution and a lot of preperation before you try this.

Could you still do a back flip now, or have you not tried doing it in a while?

You should be able to handle a forward roll with a little practice. A mat wouldn't hurt.

BC, you're 5'8" and 170 lbs.
I'm 5'11" and 220 lbs, 39, and not in particularly good shape.

But in the winter I do flips and somersaults many times a week, usually while skiing or snowboarding. Having soft, deep snow to land on makes one almost invincible. Having speed, momentum, and a rolling environment helps a lot too.

I'd like to get some training someday because I wonder what the "supposed to" way is. It might give me some more ideas. Plus I usually ski and hike alone, so I need to be extra safe and training might help that. So far, I just do whatever I feel like doing. I've hardly ever try to do a flip. They just happen in the normal course of events, when a cartwheel or spin gets a little off, or if the ground moves further away than I was expecting.

If you're active outdoors, agility can be a useful thing. I often find myself moving in a random position six feet up in the air, and have to try to get down okay. Sometimes it's down a grassy hillside. Other times, with a bicycle or a motorcycle. Even indoors, I've slipped and fallen down a flight of stairs, but somehow just stayed loose and flexible and got a massage the whole way down.

For me, it's a matter of waking up to the world and restoring our instincts rather than hammering a clinical maneuver on a gym mat. I guess I should try Aikido. There's a fair amount of rolling, somersaults, and agility involved. Capoeira too. Anything that increases ones body sense will help to use the environment and momentum in natural, smooth ways.

A friend of mine was hit by a car going 40 mph, and because of her Aikido training she instinctively rolled off the hood and across the pavement. Witnesses thought she must have been killed, but she walked away with only a mild bruise, freaked out but okay. Tumbling can be very useful, not that we go play in traffic or anything, but life does have it's ups and downs.

Club Med has many vacation resorts that offer "circus training" or trapeze work, gymnastics, trampolines with harness, etc, for adults. I wouldn't expect them to be as serious as professional clown school (fairly common in larger cities and rodeos) but it might be fun. Anyone have experience with either one?

The gymnastics teachers in my area only work with kids. Such bores!

Another idea ... if you practice rhythm (hand drumming, African dance or even massage) you might find yourself connected to the environment in more rhythmic ways. Then the ground is not something foreign that can break your neck, but something intrinsically part of you that you can push, pull, leverage and throw. Seeing the music around us helps a lot. So it seems odd, but learning to play a musical instrument may help you do a running backflip better.

One of my favorite things is to put on rollerskates and go fast as I can, about 20 mph, straight off the pavement into a grassy field. I can trip about three cartwheels before planting my feet and launching a couple flips, then landing on an arm or shoulder and rolling into a crumpled mess. It's fun!

The more you put into it, the easier it gets! But still, start small and do only what feels natural and comfortable to you. Everyone's geometry is different.