“Are you using your time wisely?” was the irritating favorite question of more than one of my junior high teachers.  Thirteen year old me would die if she knew I actually ask myself that as an adult.

I had a bad habit of showing up to open gym and doing all the things I already knew how to do.  Why nearly bring myself to tears working on those dastardly meathooks when I could laugh through spinning technique?

Leg lifts?  How about I just stretch my shoulders again instead…

I love being at our studio.  There are fun things to climb on, fun people to talk to, fun music to bounce to.  But every time I turned on my carefully curated Beyonce Pandora station, it got a little too easy to focus on the fun instead of on the training.

I plan my training sessions now.

What move is making me crazy during class?  What transition can I technically do but only if I look like a dying spider?  What part of my body is not as strong as I want it to be?  (I’m looking right at you, lower abs!)

These annoying questions are what I ask myself before showing up to the gym.  I pick two or three things to focus on, and I make myself work on them.  Since this obvious revelation, I’ve been a lot more productive and I broke through my rut.

The fabulous Ms. Laura Witwer even offers a killer “Kick Tushie Work Sheet” at the end of this post on planning training sessions to get you started.  (You haven’t been to Laura Witwer’s blog?  You’re seriously missing out!)

What about you?  Are you a die hard, protein shake bringing, train in sweats in July, side crunch ’til you cramp up gym-goer?  Or, like me, do you need a little help to focus your training?

I’m having a time of it lately. Major life changes, including prematurely quitting a job I (mostly) loved, moving out of my apartment, only to have an engagement end two months before the wedding, leaving me in a worse spot than before.

There have definitely been bright spots, but suffice it to say that I’m frustrated. And when I’m frustrated, I tend to shy away from some of the very good things.

And being in the air is one of the very good things.

(Hang with me, yo. I get a little deep here.)

Constant worrying about the future (which is stupid, because the future is just a thing that doesn’t even exist yet) has left me feeling guilty about doing things I enjoy. And again, that’s stupid.

I made myself take a corde lisse workshop put on by my amazingly talented friend. And only three weeks in, I love it. LOVE IT.

https://youtu.be/SHA7N6IF4Lc

I walked in that night in a very bad mood. But aerial class makes you focus on exactly what your body is doing. You have to think, but instead of downward-spiral thinking, you think of how to make something work. Which way to move your body, how to balance yourself better, where exactly to put your leg to stay in the air. It forces you to focus on your physical self. I can’t think about the future, I have a rope to worry about. It’s empowering. Even the small stuff.

Hanging out with friends who also find joy in climbing and tying themselves in knots is therapeutic.

I walked out that night feeling relaxed and excited. And oh, how I’ve needed to feel relaxed and excited.

This is my reminder to myself not to back away when I get stressed out, but to throw myself in even deeper. You can’t control the stressful, stupid things in life. And worrying about it does no good. Having aerial as an outlet lets you remember how strong you are, how much you’ve learned, and gives you something to constantly be working towards, even when everything hits the fan.

So although I’ve been teaching, I took a break from active training and performing for a few months.

Well I’m over it and ready to be back. (Also, guess whose rib seems to have lost its wanderlust!!)

I’m lucky, because I teach and am at the studio a few times a week. I haven’t been away from the trapeze, I haven’t lost my pullups or my calluses, I still get to play on the silks. But active training is a lot different, and I have lost some of the progress I was making.

It’s still frustrating, especially since I had just started getting into straps. (I could show you nothing impressive, but I was and am proud of the massive personal gains I made there.)

But tomorrow I start a corde lisse workshop, and I am incredibly excited. And on that note, let’s talk about jumping back into training after taking time off.

Ease In

You’re going to be sore again. You remember the crazy way your shouders felt the day after your first aerial lesson? Who knew that armpits could even get sore?? Prepare to feel that again.

You’re going to be bruised again. Remember those suspicious questions from your doctor about why your thighs are bruised and your wrists look like they’ve been tied? They’re coming back!

Give yourself a day or two or six between training days at first. You’ll get back to where you were soon (much sooner than the first time, I promise!), but not if you kill yourself first.

Don’t compare yourself now to yourself then

I am SUPER BAD at this. But it’s important, especially if you’re easily discouraged.

You probably lost some strength. It will come back! And probably much quicker than the first time around.

You probably forgot a lot of moves. Grab someone who knows what they’re doing and go over them again. Muscle memory is a powerful thing (it’s why I can recreate so many of my high school cheer routines still, 15 years later). You likely haven’t “lost” the know-how, you’ve just buried it a little deeper in your brain. If you used to take notes during class (you should!), these will be immensely helpful.

Realize that you can carry on just like before

Why is this a thing? Why do we believe that taking a break equals stopping? Sometimes you just need a break. In my own case, I had some personal stuff that needed dealing with and just didn’t have the mental reserves to devote to training. Maybe it’s money or time related. Just come back when you’re ready and get in the air.

Take a couple of weeks to go over what you forgot and to get your muscles used to working again then carry on like you never stopped.

 

Really, don’t overcomplicate this.

And I will happily keep you updated on my corde lisse progress 😀