Have you tried aerial fitness yet?
With Selena Gomez, Pink and Mariah Carey showing off fitter, more muscular bodies, lots of people ask me how they have managed to sculpt muscular bodies whilst retaining a feminine figure.
Well, one of the ways that these stars have been achieving results is through aerial fitness – a core-conditioning method that takes fitness to the sky… Literally!
Want to know if it works? We tried out Aerial Sling with top aerialists Flying Fantastic. Here’s how it went…
Review: Aerial Fitness at Flying Fantastic
What is aerial fitness?
Aerial fitness classes are in-air exercise classes that combine acrobatics routines with strength training and core-conditioning. There are many different varieties, including aerial silks, aerial hoop and aerial Pilates. We tried aerial sling.
What is aerial sling?
Aerial sling is a large silk sling that hangs from the ceiling. By bunching it up or opening it, the list of positions, balances and tricks that you can perform are endless. It’s great for all abilities ranging from beginners to advanced.
(First timer? This is a great skill for you to start with as the sling will provide you with additional support and, until you get stronger, it can be lowered from the ceiling to help you get into it for the first few sessions, or until you have mastered the moves.)
What are the main benefits?
Doesn’t feel like exercise.
Aerial slings is the perfect exercise solution for the ‘exercise-phobes’ out there who want to tone and sculpt their bodies without ‘feeling like they’re exercising.’ It might not cause you to break a sweat but don’t be fooled! This workout will have you hanging upside down, strengthen and tone your WHOLE body and make muscles work that you didn’t even know you had – even if you exercise regularly!
Improves core upper-body strength, sculpts and elongates your limbs, improves your posture and evenly conditions your whole body.
Within as little as 3 sessions, we really saw a difference in our upper body strength. To begin with it was quite frustrating not to be able to lift ourselves into the high sling as we thought we had good upper body strength but you soon realize that aerial uses different types of muscles and the core, back, arms and general upper body strength needed to lift ourselves up on the sling and control our abs to tuck our legs up and roll over into an upside down position to get into the sling was quite surprising. It requires a lot of technique and control and that’s even before you get into tricks, positions and balances. Although, admittedly, they are a lot easier and enjoyable that getting into the sling itself.
Don’t worry if you can’t get into the high sling in the first session though as there are lower options available so you’ll still be able to practice the technique and try some of the positions from your first class. Stick with it and you’ll see how quickly your strength increases. Then, when you finally are able into lift yourself into the high sling, you’ll see that the feeling of achievement makes it all worth it. It’s definitely something worth trying.
Note: To see improvement, you would need to go every week and combine with other exercise (especially cardio) if you are trying to lose weight as, this class focuses on body conditioning and learning the new skills, so it won’t help you to burn fat.
It will shake up your workout
Often when we exercise, we forget that it’s not just the exercise that will make a difference to our fitness but, importantly, it‘s the workout itself. The more we do a particular exercise, the better we become at it. This means that our body has to work less to perform the exercise so, although we will remain fit, we’ll struggle to get fitter. This is a common mistake but by incorporating variety into your workout, you’ll continue to see improvements.
Aerial is brilliant for this as the different skills (silks, hoop etc.) will work different muscle groups, elongate and tone you so, as you learn more, you’re body will adapt and you can try new moves to improve your fitness. Perfect!
Would we do it again?
Definitely! We found our experience at Flying Fantastic fun, rewarding and loved the sense of achievement that mastering the techniques gave us. Aerial is challenging but that’s one of the things that keeps us coming back. If we found it too easy, it wouldn’t be challenging our bodies. Add the fact that it’s a whole lot of fun and this is definitely something we’ll be trying again.
Where can I try it?
We attended classes at Flying Fantastic (www.flyingfantastic.co.uk) in London but lots of aerial workouts are springing up nationwide so anybody can give it a go. (Classes last approx. 1hr 30mins and cost £20 for drop-ins.)
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