Any aerialist out there?

2

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,871 Member
    Last parkour lesson on Monday evening: managed to get more bruises and seemed to have pulled a muscle on the upper part of my calf. More balancing, this time on higher obstacles, plus how to get up and down in cool, bonkers and downright fun ways. And what to do if you fall. Well, it's the fall that caused the injury. Ouch!
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    i teach how to fall in class too :smile: i tell them there is no falling, only ungraceful dismounts and flopping :wink:

    take care of that muscle @yirara
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,871 Member
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    i teach how to fall in class too :smile: i tell them there is no falling, only ungraceful dismounts and flopping :wink:

    take care of that muscle @yirara

    Will do, thanks! I should have fallen onto the bar with my upper thigh, but chickened out the last moment and ended up hitting my calf :s Glad the bar wasn't too high and other foot still made it to the ground to dampen the impact :D
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,398 Member
    @robertw486 - you should give it a try. It is a fantastic upper body workout. My son has been doing it for 4 years now and is crazy strong. He's lucky that he has a male role model in his instructor. It'd be nice to see more males doing it.

    I'd imagine that the body strength thing would end up similar to a gymnast. Lots of upper body but with balance and flexibility as well. It's cool that your son has found a place with a guy teaching it too. I really have no idea where anyone is doing it around here at all, but might look into it. Having variety is a good thing for me.

    On another note, does your name imply you have younger Mango's? And if so, are any on the site?

    yirara wrote: »
    Last parkour lesson on Monday evening: managed to get more bruises and seemed to have pulled a muscle on the upper part of my calf. More balancing, this time on higher obstacles, plus how to get up and down in cool, bonkers and downright fun ways. And what to do if you fall. Well, it's the fall that caused the injury. Ouch!

    The fall doesn't cause the injury. Stopping after the fall causes the injury. Hope it's not too bad.

    Though I've never done anything that I think resembles parkour, I grew up in Southern California as a kid when the skateboarding and BMX craziness all started. I would say that without doubt for any given sport or exercise, there is an art to controlled falls and minimizing the bad impacts. But it can also be a painful art to learn.

  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    robertw486 wrote: »
    @robertw486 - you should give it a try. It is a fantastic upper body workout. My son has been doing it for 4 years now and is crazy strong. He's lucky that he has a male role model in his instructor. It'd be nice to see more males doing it.

    I'd imagine that the body strength thing would end up similar to a gymnast. Lots of upper body but with balance and flexibility as well. It's cool that your son has found a place with a guy teaching it too. I really have no idea where anyone is doing it around here at all, but might look into it. Having variety is a good thing for me.

    On another note, does your name imply you have younger Mango's? And if so, are any on the site?


    Yes, the strength and conditioning required is very similar to a gymnast. That's why gymnasts are naturals at aerial. And yes, I do have little Mangos running around and one is on this site off and on. He's 23...the others are under 18 so not old enough.
  • kourtneywalsh
    kourtneywalsh Posts: 1 Member
    hi!! it’s so cool to find another aerialist !! and as far as trying to flip upside down, my teacher has us do workouts that focus a lot on our core, also while trying to flip upside try to use your legs and momentum to your advantage if possible :)
  • snemberton
    snemberton Posts: 175 Member
    I found a class in my town!! It popped up on Facebook. They teach a few different circus arts classes and aerial silks and yoga are two of them.

    But it’s pricey. $19 drop in to the classes or unlimited for $145 a month. I’m at least going to try one class and maybe find a way to fit it in at least occasionally.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    that seems to be pretty average if not low @snemberton sadly. i understand the reason why it's high. high overhead. insurance is pricey to cover this. space rental is never cheap. equipment isn't either.
    regular yoga classes are more than that by me. :astonished:

    open gym tonight. yay
  • snemberton
    snemberton Posts: 175 Member
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    that seems to be pretty average if not low @snemberton sadly. i understand the reason why it's high. high overhead. insurance is pricey to cover this. space rental is never cheap. equipment isn't either.
    regular yoga classes are more than that by me. :astonished:

    open gym tonight. yay
    True, pricey is dependent on area too. It’s on par with standalone yoga studios in the area. I’d love for it to be offered at my current gym, like the other included classes instead of an extra expense. It will have to supplement my current routine on a limited basis unless I get more cash flow moving to make it more than once a week.

    But I’m just happy to have found one locally to at least try. It will fulfill a fitness bucket list goal for me!

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,871 Member
    Wow, that IS expensive! I think the centre I'm having my parkour classes also does aerial. I'm curious about the prices now. But they don't seem to be on offer during the summer vacation. My parkour classes are £7 at student prices, and 9 or 10 for a full price, for 90 minutes.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,508 Member
    $20 is the drop-in price at my studio and it's one of the cheaper ones in town. My first pole studio was $200 a month and you only got one class per week!
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    the bungee class in our area is 35 dollars....
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    My drop in rate is $26 per class.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,398 Member
    robertw486 wrote: »
    @robertw486 - you should give it a try. It is a fantastic upper body workout. My son has been doing it for 4 years now and is crazy strong. He's lucky that he has a male role model in his instructor. It'd be nice to see more males doing it.

    I'd imagine that the body strength thing would end up similar to a gymnast. Lots of upper body but with balance and flexibility as well. It's cool that your son has found a place with a guy teaching it too. I really have no idea where anyone is doing it around here at all, but might look into it. Having variety is a good thing for me.

    On another note, does your name imply you have younger Mango's? And if so, are any on the site?


    Yes, the strength and conditioning required is very similar to a gymnast. That's why gymnasts are naturals at aerial. And yes, I do have little Mangos running around and one is on this site off and on. He's 23...the others are under 18 so not old enough.


    I just did a search earlier and found a local place that seems to have quite a few accomplished women doing aerial stuff. There are a couple photos that lead me to think they are downright gumby gymnasts, the balance and flexibility are amazing. It looks like a fairly large place as well.

    Which leads me to a question for all. Is flexibility a big factor in aerial stuff for the basics? I'm not and have never been very flexible, and will obviously never even think about the full on gumby stuff some can do. But how much does it play a part in the more basic stuff?



    As for the other Mango's, we have a mutual MFP friend that is a Mango, but apparently not one of yours. I knew your user name was more familiar than the forums, but it took me a couple days to figure out.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    Most beginners including myself are very inflexible unless they have a background in dance or gymnastics. Flexibility is worked on as part of the warmup every time. I have to fight for every inch of flexibility, but after several years of stretching, I finally got the splits on my left side for the first time in my life. If you put in the time, anyone can get more flexible. But it's not needed for aerial. It makes things pretty, which is why we strive for it. But there's plenty you can do with reduced flexibility.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,508 Member
    edited August 2018
    Agreed. I am not very flexible. I started pole at almost 38 with no dance background. However, I'm getting better all the time. I can get my right split about 80% of the time. Not today, though. :disappointed:

    ETA: The first time I tried the pose in my profile picture, I couldn't even bend my legs!
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,871 Member
    Right, question: How do you prevent blisters on your hands? I've lost the weight I wanted to lose years ago. Don't have much problems with saggy skin. But my foot soles and insides of my hands really suffered. I have excess skin there of all places and get blisters so quickly!
  • 1mumrevolution
    1mumrevolution Posts: 269 Member
    Trapeze for me ✊🏼
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    Right, question: How do you prevent blisters on your hands? I've lost the weight I wanted to lose years ago. Don't have much problems with saggy skin. But my foot soles and insides of my hands really suffered. I have excess skin there of all places and get blisters so quickly!

    You don't...you just do it frequently enough for calluses to form. You'll probably get some skin tears in the beginning.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    edited August 2018
    yeah, i have no dance background and am a clutz on the ground. so i make the strength and flexibility part of the classes i teach. i don't have the splits and my back is pretty inflexible not for lack of trying.

    yup. your hands will toughen up.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,871 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    Right, question: How do you prevent blisters on your hands? I've lost the weight I wanted to lose years ago. Don't have much problems with saggy skin. But my foot soles and insides of my hands really suffered. I have excess skin there of all places and get blisters so quickly!

    You don't...you just do it frequently enough for calluses to form. You'll probably get some skin tears in the beginning.

    This certainly doesn't work for my feet. The calluses I might develop basically lead to blisters on the edge, and then I lose the whole thing again. I guess loose skin just moves the skin around too much for this to work. So I'm not really positive this will work on my hands. Certainly, hiking regularly since having lost my bit of excess weight (18kg) about 3.5 years ago didn't help.
  • shepnic72
    shepnic72 Posts: 15 Member
    This is great. So fun reading everyones posts, seeing questions, tips and tricks.
    Was on vacation last week, struggling to get back on track with my workouts and meal plans. I had been adding plow pose to my yoga routine in hopes to work on my open V for pole .... i think this will also help with better mounting for lyra. Cant wait to get al. Cleared to start training inverts again!
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,871 Member
    Great! Sprained my ankle (and wrist) yesterday trying to jump from a horizontal bar onto another one about 1.30m away with a 180 degree turn mid-air. I basically missed the bar mostly and fell backwards in the most undignified way. :D Coach said my falling was very good though :p While I sprain my ankles regularly and was able to continue afterwards this seems to be a bad sprain as I still do feel some swelling and pain a day later. Oh well. part of the fun I guess <3
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    rice @yirara
    yay @shepnic72

    found this. i thought i wonder... and then i got this.
    4ulmc1gn11mk.png
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,398 Member
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    rice @yirara
    yay @shepnic72

    found this. i thought i wonder... and then i got this.
    4ulmc1gn11mk.png

    Is there a lot more angle to the hoop than it appears from this shot? There is so little deflection in the straps that it seems like the impossible!
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,871 Member
    Right. I injured myself Monday evening, was fine and could continue. Yesterday I was fine all day. Last night I woke up with a hurting ankle and thumb joint. Meh! First parkour injury it seems :D
  • felicianadine3
    felicianadine3 Posts: 64 Member
    Sorry for the bit of a late response but -- Ah! Can't believe I've found other aerialists on here (special shout out to my lyra folks!)! I have also struggled with my weight and strength, especially when it's destroyed my confidence to do what I love - aerial. Something that I found helped was talking one-on-one with my instructor. Beyond being just motivating and encouraging in general, she was able to give me some tips on what to focus on to help build the strength needed for aerial activities. It was also nice to pair that with a private lesson, so we could really focus in and work through some of those physical barriers that were influencing my mental blocks and vice versa. I hope things have been going well and keep working! You'll get it! :)
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    edited August 2018
    robertw486 wrote: »
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    rice @yirara
    yay @shepnic72

    found this. i thought i wonder... and then i got this.
    4ulmc1gn11mk.png

    Is there a lot more angle to the hoop than it appears from this shot? There is so little deflection in the straps that it seems like the impossible!

    xsj41koz86y0.png
    ew0ef1r10yf1.png
  • kcs76
    kcs76 Posts: 244 Member
    I had to come here and say, I took my first Aerial Yoga class on the 15th as a bday pressie to myself. As it was a beginner class or feet only briefly left the floor, but it was still fun...and challenging!!
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    yay. that's how i got started too