Adults, Get Ready To Tumble!

(CBS)  There are a number of American adults who have been rediscovering their youth by running, jumping, and tumbling their way through gymnastics classes geared toward grown-ups.

Early Show fitness expert Minna Lessig recently caught up with one such group taking part in the growing trend of adult gymnastics.

Gymnastics have always been popular amongst children, but at New York's Chelsea Piers and at gyms all across America it's the adults who have taken to the mats.

"I've always wanted to do gymnastics, but as a kid it just wasn't possible and when you get older you think, me do that…no way," says gymnastic enthusiast, J.C. Morrison,

Angelina Melton another aspiring gymnast adds, "I get bored lifting weights or going to the gym or running. So doing gymnastics really keeps me in shape."

Peter Kormann, who in 1976 was the first American male gymnast to win an Olympic medal, now runs the gymnastics program for New York's Chelsea Piers.

"We used to have 10 classes a week, now we have 21. So it really is an unbelievable growth phenomenon in the sport of adult gymnastics," he says.

A gymnastics workout builds strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, balance, courage and is beneficial for beginners and experts alike.

"It really is a sport that anyone can do. It really is a sport for all ages," Kormann ensures.

You don't need an apparatus or even a state of the art facility to get started with gymnastics.

"We get a lot of adult members who used to compete when they were younger or took some classes and they're a little hesitant to get back into it, but after four or five lessons they get their flexibility back, and they get their strength back and they find themselves doing tricks like they did when they where teenagers. So it's like a great return to youth," says Kormann.

Here are some exercises you can do in your own living room. Minna will show you how to do them on The Early Show:

The Pike Press: Works your quadriceps, the front of your thighs and really targets your abdominal muscles. Hands by your side, try to lift your whole body off the floor and hold it. If you can't do that you can take it in stages. First practice by lifting your buttocks off the floor; hold while contracting your abdominal muscles. You're definitely going to feel the burn. Little by little, try and get those feet off too.

Back Bends: Strengthen the entire backside of your body and stretch the entire front side of your body. Again you can take it in stages. First practice placing your hands right by your ears and see how far you can push off the floor. If you can't get to far, hold where you can and come back down for a rest. If you can get all the way up, go for it.

Handstands: Require total body strength. They work your shoulders and abdominal muscles. Everything has to stay tight. If you're shy to try it, try it against a wall. Kicking your feet against a wall and seeing if you can hold it.

When you're ready to take it to the next level and push your body beyond where you thought it could. Find a trainer and have some fun.

There are adult gymnastics classes at every level of experience all over America so there is no excuse not to hit the mats.