And welcome to the last week of Iquiring! I will say that I have really learned a lot about technology and I am very excited to use some of the different techniques as a teacher! Especially some of the stuff we did with screencastify and editing videos!
For my last inquiry I will just be sharing some Simone highlights because she is my favorite and I have not really enjoyed the last few weeks of this inquiry.
So I want to finish this up with a nod to the queen.
This feels like a sad ending to what started as an exciting project, but I think that what this has taught me, is that my interests need to stay as my interests. As soon as it became a ‘project’ it felt like something I had to do.
I did learn a lot and I feel that overall I did enjoy learning a little bit more about Gymnastics every week!
Welcome to another week of learning about gymnastics!
As you know from my previous blogs, I have not been feeling inquirious about gymnastics at all, but I am still trying to stick it out and get it back.
So, I have been trying to research something interest each week to talk about.
This week when I was looking through Gymnastics current events, I came across this article about a college athlete who actually makes a lot of money… just from sponsors and ads even…
Before reading this article, I don’t think I had even heard of this girls name, but I guess thats what happens when you are ‘famous’ on tik tok.
It’s kind of crazy because college athletes were not allowed to make money off of sponsorships before, and now they can make a full living with it, which obviously has its perks and downfalls.
But, she definitely works hard! Quite impressive to watch!
Welcome back to another week of not feeling inspired about Gymnastics!
I have a really hard time with giving up on things, but I really don’t feel like I have much to say about gymnastics anymore… I definitely don’t feel as excited that I did the first few weeks, but I am determined to see if I can get out of this.
This week, I was browsing through the web trying to find inspiration about what to talk about and I cam across this blog post that was written a while ago from a college gymnast.
It’s not very long, but it brought up a lot of feelings for me from my college sport days. In her blog, Tasha talks about the lessons and the skills she received from Gymnastics and that is something I have always felt really passionate about.
Sports can make really collaborative people.
I think they obviously cause a lot of stress and now more anxiety, but from a work ethic point of view and to be a working individual in society, sports taught me how to be on time, to try my hardest, to always work hard, and to respect your superiors. Playing competitive sports also taught me how to work with people; playing on a team was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had, knowing that you had another family that had your back, but it could also be really difficult at times. The fighting and the tension when the team is loosing is unbearable, but the more you are comfortable with your team and trust your team, the easier it is to win again.
Just like in the real world; working with other people will happen no matter what in your life and knowing how to effectively work with others is such an important life skill that is only strengthened when you play sports.
The greatest complement I have ever received as an athlete was being told that I was very coachable. I know that being coachable is the same as being flexible and adaptable; having the ability to receive feedback and make changes right away is really important in life and something that I think you can definitely learn from sports.
If I am being completely honest, I don’t feel ‘inquirious’ at all. I feel like learning about gymnastics has become a chore; I was never super serious about Gymnastics and I think that’s what made it fun. It was something that I did every once and a while that made me feel like a kid and care free, but now I feel like I have to rush around trying to fit Gymnastics into my schedule or I’m constantly worrying about how I “need” to do Gymnastics.
I think that as soon as you have the word “need” before physical activity its a negative; we shouldn’t feel like exercise is something we ‘have’ to do, it should be something we look forward to-something we want to do. I felt like that with Gymnastics last year, but I think that inquiring on it put a lot of pressure on the thing I had as carefree hobby.
I also think that this is kind of in the same category as when people start a business from their hobbies; sometimes when you turn your hobby into a job, it becomes work. Obviously this isn’t my job but I do feel like it’s an extra thing and a hassle, and I was really excited about this project so it does feel a little disappointing that I don’t feel excitement about it anymore.
This is how I felt at the beginning; it was so fun and I was really impressed with what I could. Even in this video, some of these individuals were attempting and doing flips and that’s something that I was really proud of learning too. I think that I feel sad with how this assignments is going because I loved how Gymnastics made me feel before, but now I don’t feel as excited and it feels like such a chore to try and get excited about it.
Hopefully by next week I will have some more motivation-but this is my true thoughts and feelings this week:/
This week I will be showing you so many gymnastics fails and falls:)
Something about that moment before everyone hits the ground seems kind of amazing; obviously scaring, but you probably feel like you are flying.
And so many can laugh at their own mistakes; although I will say that some of the falls don’t even really look like they hurt but that’s probably because I have actually never fallen like that…
Even the best of them fail… I mean fall!
Obviously this sport is crazy but I just have really appreciated it, I feel like a child when I try and do it and my heart races when I watch it; it’s exciting and scary.
But for now, I will stick to only jumping on a trampoline.
Unfortunately this week my blog is just a video; I really didn’t have a lot of time to take videos/pictures or do research (and honestly my muscles are so sore, there’s no way I was attempting gymnastics) so instead , we are going to learn some of the gymnastics moves together:)
Also, thanks to Hanna for her brownie video for inspiration here. I couldn’t have done it without her.
Thanks for watching, I hope you learned something!
Look at that beautiful bridge <3 (the longer you look at it, the more you realize it’s not actually that beautiful so don’t stay too long)
Welcome back friends!
This week I definitely went in a different direction and I don’t have much handstand content for you. I did however, find out that I can do a back bridge! Probably sounds silly, but this is a win for me, because it means I can hold some of my weight with my arms!! I honestly didn’t even think that I could do a bridge or even hold it so that was pretty exciting!
I would say that I feel a lot more excited to do more gymnastics now and that makes me pretty excited because it makes me feel strong. I was really hoping to see some results like this throughout my journey; feeling excited and proud about a physical activity again. Gymnastics is a risky sport with lots of jumping and throwing yourself through the air and I think every kid has pretended they were good at gymnastics once in their life. I think that’s what makes gymnastics so amazing; gymnastics is a really difficult sport, but the skills are so special that once you have perfected it, you feel like the most amazing athlete ever.
I think we can all admit that we have seen/heard some pretty nasty parts of gymnastics and the history of the discipline, and it’s not something pretty.
I feel sad for a lot of those athletes, but I do feel really passionate about making a change in sports and coaching and watching athletes get hurt by those they trusted the most really breaks my heart. Sports and exercise should be fun and shouldn’t feel like a chore. I talk a lot about how gymnastics makes me feel like a kid, and it does; I feel unrestricted, and so strong for doing things I have never been able to do.
in gymnastics you can stand on your head
in gymnastics you can hang upside down
in gymnastics you can fall
in gymnastics you can do whatever you want
Gymnastics got tarnished, I can’t really think about the sport or Simone Biles without thinking about all the bad that comes with it. Gymnastics is such a beautiful sport and I think it could fix something in a lot of people; I definitely feel better about myself now.
I see you are back, so obviously you liked what you saw last time and want to see some more gymnastics.
This week, I focused more on the handstand part of my goal. I think that starting there will give me the best shot because as you guys saw last week, I can’t quite get straight on my cartwheel either. So becoming comfortable being vertical was my goal for this week!
To start it off, I have created a screencast going over some of the exercises I have been doing!
I really liked this one because, I have always seen handstands as a gymnastics element which always makes it seem more daunting. Practicing a handstand with the yoga perspective embraces the calm flow of the entrance to the handstand and gymnastics involves more of a kick up which made me realize why getting up into that handstand is so scary.
If you kick up to fast you might over rotate and fall…
progress
Week 1, I can hold a handstand against a wall for 40 seconds…
I still don’t like being upside down and my shoulders and arms are so sore.
But, it feels good to have some muscle soreness again! I haven’t done activity like this in a while so those muscles that weren’t normally used aren’t too happy with me right now.
Over the next few weeks I have decided that I would like to teach myself some gymnastics for my Free Inquiry project.
A little backstory:
Four years ago, while playing at my university, I tore a muscle in my shoulder and have not been able to do nearly the same things as before:(
So, for my Free Inquiry, I wanted to work on getting some of the strength back in my shoulder by trying to re-teach myself handstands and cartwheels in the hopes of restoring my pride (and strength of course). I was in my third year of my undergrad when this happened and it was really hard for me mentally to go from playing the sport I loved, to not even being able to tie my shoes without help.
Although I am now at a pain free point with my shoulder, I have always been really sad with the amount of strength I lost in my arm; the actual ability to hold myself up with that arm.
This project initially got me really excited, because after learning some basics gymnastics last year, I realized how much it was able to fix some of me mental struggles with sports as well. Since my injury, I haven’t really been able to enjoy my sports the same and this was really hard for me. Gymnastics made me feel like a child again and I started to get excited for physical activity again. So with this project, I am hoping that I can combine some outcomes and fix some of my love for sports that I’ve lost and gain some strength back in my upper body.
My goal by the end of this is to be able to do a handstand (hopefully) and also a cartwheel because I just think they are so cool.
Problem areas I can already tell you:
legs need to be much straighter and in a line for my cartwheel 🙁
need to get much straighter for the handstand (I feel like I am going to fall backwards even though I am not)
So, every week I plan to share with you:
Exercises I have been doing to help
progress picture or video
Something new I learned about Gymnastics that week
a reflection of my week
To close it out, here is a video showcasing all of my talents as of now:)
until next time,
xoxo
Also, during my gymnastics phase last year I got really interested into how Gymnastics can be really beneficial for students with cognitive limitations and attention deficit disorders (ADHD) so here’s a little peak of a lesson plan I incorporated into my project on students with ADHD! I loved how gymnastics made me feel really care free and I couldn’t stop researching different uses; the original study I found focused on kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and found that because these kids were encouraged to stomp around, they expelled a lot of energy which helped with their focus throughout the rest of their classes!
