Mitch Gaylord: American Ninja Warrior?

Apparently according to his wife Valentina, at age 55, Mitch Gaylord is training for American Ninja Warrior:

TLS Co-Owner and my loving Husband, Olympic Gold Medalist, Mitch Gaylord is set to compete in Oklahoma City, OK on May 13th in one of the final regional qualifiers for Las Vegas. There were 50,000 applicants in total and only 500 applicants were chosen to compete - 100 applicants in each region. 

Mitch has been working incredibly hard to prepare for this competition in hopes to represent the love of sports, health and fitness of our hometown Austin, Texas! He looks and feels absolutely AMAZING at 55! We are truly so grateful to have found Lagree Fitness back in 2009 and to have it back in our lives now...it is truly the ABSOLUTE BEST full body workout out there! Thank you Sebastien Lagree for creating Lagree Fitness & The Megaformer!

You can see Mitch training and be coached by him at The Lagree Studios in Bee Cave & Downtown Austin!

Two Hearts

Xpodz Kickstarter Campaign

Some long-time readers of Gymnast Crossing may remember videos from Santa Monica Gymnastics Center of a old school gymnast named Rodger who the club owner, Al Luber, was friends with.  Both former UCLA gymnasts themselves, Al let Rodger come in to workout and relieve stress.  His daughters also took gymnastics, with the eldest on team.

Rodger Thomason is also a brilliant product design engineer. If any of you remember Mitch Gaylord's fitness product- I think it was called the Gaylord III that, if memory serves, was like one of those strength towers with a set of rings on it- Rodger was the guy who designed the prototype.

He was also the go-to-guy who made the prototype for the Perfect Push-up. He suggested ways to improve the design; but the clients were not interested. So Rodger came up with his own invention. Ergonomically easy on the wrists, Rodger's product is accessible to a wide range of people who need to stay in shape- from wounded vets, the elderly, those in physical rehab, to the hardcore athletes and fitness buffs. Check it out and support the Kickstarter campaign by making a contribution and/or by spreading the word:

Rodger also designed the prototype for the Strongboard Balance invented by his friend, Mike Curry.

Before "Stick It", there was....."American Anthem"!

A few weeks ago, 2 17 year old cheerleaders came to try the adult classes, to work on their tumbling skills. They pumped themselves up by watching the movie "Stick It" before coming. And they apparently watch it over and over again. As recently as this past Wednesday's class, they were still watching it. I've never seen "Stick It". But when I was a teenager back in the 80's, and still looked up to heroes in my sport, I used to watch "American Anthem". Right after the U.S. success at the '84 Olympics, it was cool to be a gymnast.

"American Anthem" was an awful movie. But it was a gymnastics movie, and for that I couldn't get enough of it ("Gymkata" could only take you so far....).

The kids at my gym who are into "Stick It" seem to be oblivious of "American Anthem" (that may be a good thing).

Last year, out of sheer nostalgia, I bid and won the soundtrack to the movie, for something like $60. (Ugh...the frivolous things we do with our money!) Anyway, these two music videos brings back memories of a certain time period in my life.