Hang By a Thread

Tip Your Hips: How to Isolate Your Lower Abs in Knee Lifts

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Are you doing a million knee lifts but getting nowhere? Here's the tweak you might be missing to target your lower abs.

**Oh hey! This post contains affiliate links. They don’t cost you anything extra, and they help to keep me tangling from the ceiling. I like that.**

We need to talk about knee lifts. You know that exercise your teacher probably makes you do, hanging from the trapeze bar and lifting up your knees a million times? Are you feeling nothing? Or maybe just wearing out your thighs?

You’re doing them wrong.

This drives me crazy, because it rarely ever gets explained to new students. We’re trying to target those elusive lower abs, so that eventually you can invert (go upside down) easily.

But if you’re just mindlessly bending your knees, you’re wasting your time.

Here’s what I want you to do: right now, as you’re reading, think of trying to push your belly button into your spine. Without holding your breath or just sucking your stomach in. You should still be able to breath normally, but try to push your belly button through your stomach to your spine, and try to hold it there.

Do you feel those muscles that are working?

Hi lower abs!

(By the way, this exercise is great to do when you’re driving or sitting at a desk. Sneaking extra conditioning in whenever we can!)

Okay. Back to hanging from the trapeze bar. Or the lyra. Or the silks. Or your pullup bar. Whatever you’re hanging from.

I want you to think about those muscles you just found, and focus your attention on them. Once again try to pull your belly button to your spine. Those lower ab muscles are what should be initiating your knee lift, not your quads.
At the top of your knee lift, tip your hips back. That should dig into those lower abs even more.
If you’re not sure what I mean, I always tell students to imagine they have a tail coming out of their spine, and trying to pull that tail between their legs. Like a rolled up armadillo.

Reference.

 

Do that every time.

This is how your initiate going upside down. Most people think it’s all about throwing your body back, kicking your feet for all you’re worth.

Nope.

It’s rolling back. That’s how it can be done slowly, with no momentum. It’s how you will eventually be doing these with straight legs, if you aren’t already.

(Crappy quality, I know. But it shows the hip tip, and that’s what you need.)

Do you have a pullup bar at home? (If not, get one!) This is the one that I use. It can be placed in a doorway and is perfect for doing these at home between classes. Plus it’s great for like a million other exercises. Don’t worry, we’ll cover those soon.

If you’re still trying to get your invertions, start with 10 of these a day. Go slow and really focus on the hip tip at the top of the movement. Move up to 15, then 20 a day.

When that gets easy, start straightening your legs into a straddle instead of tucking your knees. Then continue to initiate the movement from your hips instead of throwing your feet up.

For real, guys. It’s all about those hips. Just like Shakira has been telling us all along.

3 Questions to Ask Yourself When You Learn a New Move

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Ask yourself these 3 questions to solidify your new aerial move and improve as as an aerialist and a performer.You have a new move! You’ve done exactly what the teacher said, nailed it with pointed toes, and have already posted that noise to Instagram.

On to the next thing!!!

Slow your roll for a minute, though. Want to make any move better? Figure out exactly what’s going on. Ask yourself these three questions for a solid understanding of the things you’re learning.

What’s Holding Me Up?

How are you staying up there? With some memorized hand placement, wishes and prayers?

I hope not.

What part of your body is supporting your weight? What part of the apparatus is supporting your weight? Is that hand currently a load-bearing hand? Are you pulling the trapeze bar or lyra toward you or pushing it away? Which silk post needs to be taut for you to stay in the air?

This is important! Don’t just trust that you followed the instructions (although you should absolutely follow them!). Feel out what is going on in your body and with your apparatus.

Where is My Center of Gravity?

This is a big one I see overlooked. Where are you balancing from? You really want to pay attention here, especially in inversions. When doing an inverted split in the trapeze ropes or in the silks, are you wobbling back and forth, tick-tocking your legs on your posts to keep from falling? Not good.

Although every move is different, check your core first. Tighten your abs. Don’t untighten them. There’s a very good chance that your center will be there.

If you cannot find your balance, you do not have that move down. I don’t care if you can recite the directions verbatim. You don’t have it.

How Can I Safely Alter This?

Well here’s a fun one.

Want to get creative in the air without looking like a windsock in a hurricane? Start playing with safely altering the move.
What if your feet were here instead of there? Can you open the silks tails and spin them separately? Can you go into another pose without getting tangled?
Slowly and mindfully changing a move or pose is a great way to get better aquainted with it and to start developing your own style. Once you know what is holding you up and where your center of gravity is, you won’t be relegated to the exact same 5 poses.

Fight the urge to simply memorize trick after trick after trick! Work to understand what’s happening and you’ll not only create a better foundation for yourself, you’ll be a lot more interesting in the air!

Class Is Only Once a Week! Can I Really Improve?

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How to supplement your beloved new aerial class when it's only once a week

Over and over again, we have new students ask how they can possibly improve when class is only once a week.

  • Should they go ahead and hang a trapeze in their living room?
  • Should they do a million pushups everyday?
  • Should they really even bother, since obviously they can’t learn a new skill only coming once a week?

Well, as tempting as it is, please don’t hang a trapeze after one class. I’m never going to argue with someone who wants to do pushups. And for God’s sake, DON’T convince yourself that improvement is impossible when class is only once a week!

It’s completely possible to keep improving in aerial classes when class is only once a week. In fact, when you’re just starting out, it’s kind of perfect. You have plenty of time to digest the new information and it gives your body some adjustment time.

But there are a lot of things to do in those sad, sad six days when your feet are on the ground.

Conditioning

Aaahhh, who just cringed? You knew it was coming!

I know. This is not as fun as swinging from the ceiling. But this is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE.

Does your teacher do ab exercises on the floor? Do those at home!

Does your studio offer a conditioning class? Take it! Our studio offers aerial conditioning classes three times a week. They are open to every student, and are required for our performance company members. New students are oftened intimidated by these classes, but chances are, if you’re at a safe school, they’ll be tailored to everyone’s fitness level. Ask your teacher.

Can you get a pullup bar? I have one that hangs in the doorway at home. It’s great for, duh, pullups. But when I started focusing on trapeze, this came in really handy for static moves under the bar.

Seriously. Condition.

Take Notes During Class

Bring a pen and a notebook and take notes during class. Write down what new moves you learned, what conditioning exercises you did, etc. Ask your teacher if you can take pictures or record yourself or them doing that new silks wrap. I’m a visual learner; video plus notes helps me a lot.

Mentally Practice

This is far more helpful than it sounds. Mentally walking yourself through the physical steps of a new trapeze transition or silks move is huge. Where should I place my hand on the rope? Should my leg be in the middle of the trapeze bar or near the thimble? Which side am I placing the fabric on before my knee hook?

If you can work these things out on the ground, step-by-step, in your head, it will be so much easier in the air.

Eat Well

This means actually eating!

Aerial classes are physically demanding. You need those calories. Don’t fear them; good calories are your friends!

The key here is good calories. If you eat like crap, your physical performance will likely reflect that.

Stretch

Finally, make stretching a habit. Just like you want to build strength for aerial, maintaining and increasing flexibility is really important. Focus on your shoulders, hips, and everyone’s favorite, the splits.

Make sure to stretch after you condition. Stretching temporarily weakens your muscles, so save it for after all those pullups. Because you are definitely conditioning, right?

What to Do After an Aerial Class

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How to get the most out of your aerial class AFTER it's over.

Have you just taken your first aerial silks class? Just climbed off the lyra or the trapeze? Still wound up and wondering what to do with all that lingering energy? Make it work for you!

Cool Down!

This is the first thing you should do after class. Cool down whatever you have just worked. Stretch! Your muscles have just worked hard, and they need some lovin’. Pay special attention to your shoulders (I say this from experience), and any part of your body that you’ve worked a lot (which in aerial, tends to be everything).

Don’t skip this!
With all of the strength that silks, trapeze, lyra and whatever else you choose to climb on is building, loss of flexibility is a constant threat. It will also help your muscles be less tense the next day.

Eat Protein

Protein builds and repairs muscles, and after you’ve worked them so hard in class, your body is probably craving some. Eating protein after a workout speeds up recovery and can help you gain strength faster (which means nailing that climb sooner).

You’ve got options here. I eat eggs CONSTANTLY. I love them. Red meat! Any meat! Tuna (seriously, this stuff is almost pure protein). Greek yoghurt.

Looking for vegan options? Lentils, quinoa, tempeh, tofu… You’re not off the protein hook.

Take Notes

If you don’t already take notes during class, jot some down after while the material is still fresh. Include what you worked on, what conditioning you did, and especially helpful, any tips you figured out. Does this transition go smoother when your hand is facing forward? Does this silk drop go land better when you imagine you’re a board? That stuff is helpful. For real.

Mentally Review

This goes along with taking notes, but it’s a big one. Take some time to mentally review what you’ve just learned while it’s still rolling around up there. In your head, walk yourself through the steps. It will help solidify what you’ve just learned, which will give you a BIG headstart the next time you’re in the air.

Epsom Salt Bath

It eases sore muscles, and it’s a bath. And you shouldn’t need any more convincing than that.

What about you?

Anything you find helpful after class? Give us your own tips.