Fitting vaulting into adult life
Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 3:35 pm
Hello All,
I suspect there are a considerable amount of people in my situation, and we could help each other out. In short, I vaulted in college and it was the primary focus of my life for four years. Although I wasn't great, I loved everything about it, the highs and the lows. I used to get up at 4 am, 6 days a week during my summer breaks to lift, before landscaping for 13 hours. Now I am 30, I have a great life, but I have noticed recently that there is a distinct void left from a lack of vaulting. About 3 months ago I started getting back to the gym on a regular basis, and have been doing track workouts and plyo's for the past 2 months or so. I finally feel like I've gotten rid of the cobwebs and rickety joints, and am getting back in good enough shape to vault. I also find myself watching youtube videos of vaulters and reading this forum pretty much every night before I fall asleep.
Now that the background out of the way, my impetus for writing this post is to try to start a conversation for people in my situation, to trade training advice (as it is significantly different than it was in college in many ways), figure out how to fit it in a "regular" life, motivate, and maybe try to get some training partners. Another reason is that it turns out vaulting can be pretty expensive once you get out of the auspices of a college athletic facility. I have no poles (or spare cash to buy a set), there used to be a vaulting facility near me, but I remember that it was pretty expensive (although I do understand why the costs are high), and can no longer find it online. I guess to start things off, I would appreciate any feedback on how to keep the costs as low as possible, I used to know of some pole sharing programs (HIP) and wonder if they are still running, how they work, etc. Also, I live in southern NJ (Williamstown) and wonder if there are any pits around (backyard or otherwise) that are open to a friendly face, maybe for upkeep costs or work (or beer). I would love to start competing again at some point, but obviously need to get in a good bit of drill/vault time on a pit. Finally, it would be cool to share training programs or exercises we are doing. I hope there are others out there who can commiserate and we can start a smaller community here, as I don't see that there currently is one. Thanks a lot, I appreciate any feedback.
Jake
I suspect there are a considerable amount of people in my situation, and we could help each other out. In short, I vaulted in college and it was the primary focus of my life for four years. Although I wasn't great, I loved everything about it, the highs and the lows. I used to get up at 4 am, 6 days a week during my summer breaks to lift, before landscaping for 13 hours. Now I am 30, I have a great life, but I have noticed recently that there is a distinct void left from a lack of vaulting. About 3 months ago I started getting back to the gym on a regular basis, and have been doing track workouts and plyo's for the past 2 months or so. I finally feel like I've gotten rid of the cobwebs and rickety joints, and am getting back in good enough shape to vault. I also find myself watching youtube videos of vaulters and reading this forum pretty much every night before I fall asleep.
Now that the background out of the way, my impetus for writing this post is to try to start a conversation for people in my situation, to trade training advice (as it is significantly different than it was in college in many ways), figure out how to fit it in a "regular" life, motivate, and maybe try to get some training partners. Another reason is that it turns out vaulting can be pretty expensive once you get out of the auspices of a college athletic facility. I have no poles (or spare cash to buy a set), there used to be a vaulting facility near me, but I remember that it was pretty expensive (although I do understand why the costs are high), and can no longer find it online. I guess to start things off, I would appreciate any feedback on how to keep the costs as low as possible, I used to know of some pole sharing programs (HIP) and wonder if they are still running, how they work, etc. Also, I live in southern NJ (Williamstown) and wonder if there are any pits around (backyard or otherwise) that are open to a friendly face, maybe for upkeep costs or work (or beer). I would love to start competing again at some point, but obviously need to get in a good bit of drill/vault time on a pit. Finally, it would be cool to share training programs or exercises we are doing. I hope there are others out there who can commiserate and we can start a smaller community here, as I don't see that there currently is one. Thanks a lot, I appreciate any feedback.
Jake