where to start?

mercurysfire

Hey my name is Ashlay. I'm wanting to start taking aerial classes in November (they're pretty pricey here, so saving up money is a must...) but i figured since i have a few months to train i've deperately been trying to find a workout to help me get the most out of the classes.

does anyone have a workout routine that they follow to train for aerials? or any suggestions? i'm pretty strong but still can't do a pull up as suggested by the aerial trainers and i've been working on lower body flexibility but i'm kind of flailing.

any pointers?

husseycd

For pullup stregth, start with holds. Basically get youself into the final pullup position and hold there. Make sure the lats are engaged. You can also do negative pullups once you get strong enough.

Grip stregth is important, especially for silks. Most people struggled with their forearms. It really comes with time. A beginner class should give you enough time to build up to it.

Rows. Those little tiny muscles in your back can be easily strained (especially those rhomboids), so exercises that focus on them would help. I strained mine early on and it took forever to get them to not hurt.

Lots of ab work. You can combine your holds with mermaids (lifting legs to horizontal, tucking knees, and lowering. Also the reverse). You can also do them on the ground. Especially for things like lyra and trapeze, you've got to be able to go upside down just to get started. For silks, you really need to be able to do a hold to do much of anything.

I train for splits daily. I'm also always working on improving my straddle, which was horrible and is now so-so. I'll never have a horizontal split. Don't neglect your upper chest, shoulders, and abdomen. A lot of aerial moves look prettier with flexi backs. Mine is mediocre, but it's getting better with stretching.

I personally would love to see a "build aerial strength" class that actually worked with aerial equipment. Most classes here are 1.5 hours and just tend to exhaust beginners. A class that was 45 min (and cheaper) and focused on low level poses would build strength while still being able to learn the art. It would also be more fun.

husseycd

Whoa. Typos. Please ignore. Too lazy to fix.

mercurysfire

Fantastic- thanks for that!! I've been kind of working on the pull ups (I'm on negatives now-my whole upper back is sore) but I never thought about the grip. Food for thought and a great place to start.

LaurenLPitt

Things that helped me with Aerial Hoop:

I did 1 hour to 1.5 strength training every second day for 8 months (and still do now) leading up to starting Aerial Hoop classes.

I'd definitely recommend owning a pull up bar for anyone wanting to do Aerials-
One of the ones that slots into your door frame is Awesome. Practise every second day. Holding and negatives. Master chin ups first (fingers facing towards you) then pull ups after that (fingers facing away from you) Put a chair in front of the bar, grab hold and hoist yourself up hold for a little while and lower down slow as you can, also another method is getting someone to help lift you up as you do a chin up by lifting from under your knees, and as you gain strength they push less till it's all you. I'd try do a bit of both methods. Ideally 4 sets of 8 with a few minutes rest in between each set, but in the beginning it's just a matter of doing the best you can. And for grip strength hanging for as long as you can over and over. Also helps if you can build up calluses doing all this if you plan to do Aerial Hoop as it's very painful in the beginning on your hands.

Push ups 4x8

Count down sit ups (we do these in every class and I added them to my regular strength training routine) 12 normal crunches 12 bicycle crunches 12 side crunches left & right 12 dish taps (lay down lift rib cage and legs up just off the ground in a dish shape then tap the ground with both hands either side of you) 12 butt lifts (lying down legs in the air, lift your butt off the ground) then 11 normal crunches 11 bicycle crunches 11 side crunches 11 dish taps 11 butt lifts, then 10 of each, 9 of each, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Counting down aloud or in your head as you do them.

Upside down sit ups- go to some monkey bars or playground equipment of some kind with a horizontal bar, hang upside down by your knees and do sit ups. Also while you're there practice hanging from one leg at a time. And elbow hangs, hanging from your elbows, one at a time. Really painful at first but gets easier with time.

Yoga classes as often as possible.

You can do stretches for aerials from a few videos on here: Poleandaerial.com

Also the Brazilian Butt Lift ab workout video is good too

Plus I do weights and fit ball core exercises and planks 3x as long as you can hold.

Oh and there's some video links on here for some exercises and stretches too: http://aerialhoop.blogspot.com.au/

mercurysfire

Do y'all do cardio at all? I have been but I'm getting less benefit from it as I go along. I was thinking of just swimming or rowing a couple of days a week and strength training the other days.

There's a pull up machine at the gym and I've been using it off and on- do y'all find that machine helpful at all or not?

LaurenLPitt

Yep I do cardio, I normally aim to do every second day in between strength training, so I try to alternate cardio day, strength day, cardio day, strength day etc

Usually I prefer an hour at the gym with 10 mins on each cardio machine, bike, treadmill, stairmaster, rowing machine, elliptical and double on one. That's just my personal preference, I like to mix it up a bit so I don't get bored.

Though that's more to lose weight, I'm not sure if it helps me with aerials specifically. Probably helps with stamina though which would help with aerials I guess, not 100% sure though. Mostly I feel like being light helps with hoop as it's all body weight type exercises for tricks and the lighter I am the easier it is.

If you mean the assisted pull up machine? I recently started using that too on my strength training days, I do 4x8 assisted chin ups, 4x8 assisted wide grip pull ups, 4x8 assisted dips. I have it currently set on 43kg and I weight 55kg so it's like I'm pulling just a bit less than my body weight, and makes it possible to do more so eventually I'll be able to gradually add weight till I'm lifting my whole body weight for that many sets and reps. At the moment I can only do 3 unassisted chin ups in a row, working on improving that number!

Besides that I also do:
4x8 Barbell Squats 20kg
4x8 Barbell Deadlifts 20kg
4x8 Barbell Chest Presses 20kg
4x8 Fitball Jackknives
4x8 Leg Press 55kg
4x8 Front & Back Lunges each leg

If you have a trainer at the gym I'd recommend talking to them to help tailor a routine for you to help with whichever aerials you wanna do