How to Learn to Skateboard In 30 Days Even If You’re Old and Broken

I wish my skateboarding journey had started like the opening lyrics to Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick, Push,” but I wasn’t 6 years old when I got my first skateboard. Hell, I wasn’t 16 or 26 either. I was, in fact, well into my thirties when I started skateboarding… about a month ago. So, how’d it go?

I recounted my adventure for Lifehacker’s Fitness Challenge, starting with how I felt about getting on the board at my age and ending with how I had progressed after 30 days. But it can be hard to visualise someone’s progress through text, especially when you’re dealing with abstractions like “comfort on the board,” so we made a video to help. Now you can see me busting my arse… but maybe also feel inspired that I managed to learn to cruise, ollie, and shuv-it in the span of a month.

Did I fall? Yep, a ton. Did it hurt? Absolutely. But — and I know how unlikely this sounds — after falling a few times, I got used to it. It learned how to fall a little “better” so that it hurt less, and even on the gnarlier falls, it was over before I knew it. Once I fell a few times, the anticipation of falling wore off, and I could focus more on trying to do simple challenges like the one I wanted to accomplish in the video above: simply going on a ramp and turning around.

Check out the video to hear me talk about my goals and the lessons I learned, and to see how “good” I got in a month (or to see me falling on my hip a few times). Want to see me learn a single trick? Here’s a quick montage on Twitter of my efforts to figure out how to shuv-it. And if you’re looking to start skateboarding yourself, do what I did: Buy a board, make a few skate friends, and get to it. You’re never going to feel “ready,” but that doesn’t have to stop you from getting started.