Aerial Silks & Gymnastics

[WonderNatarella]

Dear Community,

 

2 years ago I came accross the article on Maya who performed aerial silks. I got very intrigued and I decided this week to take my 20 sec of courage and do a class. 

 

It was a disaster, I was unfit, I could lift myself and it was a horrible experience. I quit the training after the 2nd session, but I don't call it quit. I am really out of shape, and I would like advice on what I should train to be able to actually take a beginner class. 

 

If someone has any tips that could help me, I would really appreciate! 

 

Thanks !

[CheshireCrab]

Everyone's bad when they first start out, don't let that discourage you. Don't also let being unfit be a barrier to stopping you from training. A lot of people go in with the mindset that they shouldn't train for something until they're fit. The problem with that mindset is that people who wait to train once they're fit are setting an ambiguous goal for themselves and end up never training at all.

 

Keep on taking the classes. The more you train, the fitter you will become, and the better you'll be at doing it.

[Anim07734]

You don't get better at something by not doing it.  If you want to do aerial and gymnastics, find a good beginners class and stick with it, that's how you'll get in the best shape for aerial and gymnastics. 

 

If money is a concern, or you're looking for supplemental training, there are plenty of beginner's resources online.  I always start with Startbodyweight's training plan for bodyweight strength and control, but google will find you plenty of other resources.

 

Also, keep in mind that diet is 80-90% of the battle, so don't forget to eat balanced, nutrious foods, cut back on empty calories, and plan meals to meet your goals.

[dancezwithkittehz]

My first aerial class I could do pretty much nothing. Couldn't lift myself at all or even climb up just one on step on the silks. BUT I LOVED IT. I kept going every week and eventually that 0 steps up the silks became 1, and then 2, and then 3. Aerial is HARD. You will gain strength in it but it takes time! 

 

If you are too shy to go to classes when you can't really do anything yet (which I totally understand!) you could work on strength training at home. Basic bodyweight stuff like push ups and squats and bodyweight rows will help sooooo much with aerial. And yes, with these you will likely also have to start with a more basic version -- when I first started push ups I had to do wall push ups and then slooowly work my way down to lower surfaces over a long period of time, but I did the work consistently, at least a few times a week with a few days between.

 

Steve's basic bodyweight workout could be a place to start, or following the progressions on Start Bodyweight is also a good way to go (gives you lots of variations on difficulty starting with very basic to very advanced!) Here is the one for push ups, for an example:

 

http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/push-up-progression.html

 

 

[dancezwithkittehz]

Also!   Get a pull up bar and just hang from it! For now that might mean having your hands on it and then bending your knees until you have put as much of your weight on the bar as you can handle. It takes time to build up those aerial muscles! Some day you can do all the hanging and pull ups and chin ups, but that takes TIME and effort and consistency over time!

[Hazard]

@starsapart

 

[WonderNatarella]

Thanks for your replies and encouragements! 

@Hazard I wrote to starsapart already, thanks!

 

On 03/03/2017 at 9:01 PM, dancezwithkittehz said:

Also!   Get a pull up bar and just hang from it! For now that might mean having your hands on it and then bending your knees until you have put as much of your weight on the bar as you can handle. It takes time to build up those aerial muscles! Some day you can do all the hanging and pull ups and chin ups, but that takes TIME and effort and consistency over time!

 

Pull ups and everything that implied those muscles have always been a torture for me! I am pretty bad at push-ups (but I know that when I get back to it after some time I become better at it. 

The bar seems a very good idea to train those muscles home as well.  Thanks for your advice again!

 

[raptron]

Yes, definitely train at home if you can! Core work will also be clutch for aerial silks and any other gymnastics pursuits you have in mind. There are lots of YouTube videos are go over exercises to help train you up, but I do agree that you should stick with class even if it feels too hard, as other people have noted, the best way to get better at things that are hard for you is to keep doing them.

 

 

 

[dancezwithkittehz]

7 hours ago, WonderNatarella said:

Pull ups and everything that implied those muscles have always been a torture for me! I am pretty bad at push-ups (but I know that when I get back to it after some time I become better at it. 

The bar seems a very good idea to train those muscles home as well.  Thanks for your advice again!

 

 

DO THE THING. And yes starting out working on this stuff is HARD but to get to where you can do aerial you pretty much need to work on pull ups and a ton of core stuff.

Push ups are good to balance out from all the hanging and pulling you do and I really think all aerialist should do them (or bench presses/something press related); I've had a few friends who gave themselves injuries because they never worked on push ups and they weren't using muscles evenly/correctly because of it, so yeah -- start out with balanced working all the muscles NOW when you suck at them all equally and build it as a habit!

 

Also, if you have access to a gym and want to start doing lifting -- squats/bench press/ deadlifts -- that will help a ton. Starsapart started doing aerial about 6 months after I had BUT she started out with a base of having been lifting for a year? or so before she started. She surpassed my skills super duper fast because I started out with zero strength training base. I still progressed, but progress was slow for me because I had to build the muscles from zero as I went.

 

I finally started seriously lifting back about a year ago and it has helped SOOOOO MUCH with progressing more quickly through aerial stuff. I took a year off aerial for a year and recently restarted. It's come back much faster this time with the muscle base I built in my time off (and I also still have some skills in my muscle memory at least a little. But yeah I have to practice practice practice to get things back still!)

 

Bodyweight strength training without much in the way of equipment is great too and you can make gains there as well, so don't feel like you have to lift! Regardless if you go bodyweight or weights based training just make sure you are working on building a strong muscle base!!!

[Mad Hatter]

Besides all the AWESOME advice you've already gotten, maybe see if they offer trapeze or aerial hoop. You might find them just as fun but somewhat more accessible.  Either way I'd recommend just doing what you think is fun and progress will come sooner than you think!

[Haloquin]

I really want to know how this went!!! 

 

I've just started at an aerial/pole fitness class and my friend has a hoop up that I can use for practice on occasion. Really enjoying it but there is so much I can't do... Like pull myself up, bend in half, or cope with going upside down because I'm terrified! 😂 I'm having fun just playing about with poses in the hoop and trusting that the fear will fade with familiarity (and that the discomfort will lessen, ow my tailbone!) 

 

It seems like a playful way to build strength, flexibility, and confidence tbh. 

 

But yeah... How'd it go @WonderNatarella? 

[MsAllegraFox]

Both my Aerial Sling instructor and Head Coach at the Aerial Studio have said that Silks is one of the hardest aerial disciplines to try. I've only had one lesson myself and man, it was something else entirely. I would definitely recommend starting something like Aerial Hoop/Pole/Aerial Sling first to start to build up the muscle groups if you can (plus there are a lot of overlapping positions from what I have seen), but failing that a good strong gymnastics program will set you up nicely for all things Aerial! 😊

[vever1]

Thanks for suggestions