Conditioning exercises on the Aerial Hoop/ Lyra

There will come a point where strength becomes a limiting factor in mastering new Aerial Hoop/ Lyra moves, so try to squeeze in a good conditioning session at least once a week! If you're consistent with it you'll get noticeable results and start really surprising yourself. And remember: the only person worth comparing yourself to when doing these exercises is YOURSELF - the week before!

This isn't meant to be an exhaustive list, and I'm still working on these myself so certainly don't demonstrate perfect form... but they are some of the exercises that I have found most helpful and so am sharing with my students:)

STRADDLE TILTS: You can build these up from a very gentle tilt to a full straight-arm straddle invert. To start with, just go as low as you can while still being able to pull back up again, focusing on keeping your back as straight as possible. And anytime you are lowering down from a straddle or pike during practice, aim to do it as SLOWLY as you can manage! As long as the intention is there, the muscles will be activating and be a tiny bit stronger next time.. even if it still feels as if your legs are slamming down without any control! Keep at it and you'll soon find yourself lowering with strength and control :)

REVERSE STRADDLE LIFTS: Rotate until your bum comes past the bar, then straighten your legs. Try to tilt the pelvis to lift the legs up (I'm still working on this!) and be careful to keep your head in line with your spine and avoid straining it upwards). Again, only go as far as you can, and build up slowly.

FULL EXTENSION SKINNING THE CAT: If you're new to this, make sure you have a spotter. Lower SLOWLY into full extension, bringing your legs back in line with your torso and rotating your shoulders externally once you're there (this is a good stretch too!) Then work on lifting back up from full extension. As you can see, I'm still building up the getting-back-up bit too.... MY NEMESIS!!! :)

ROUND THE WORLDS: You can build up to these by starting with bent knees and smaller circles, gradually working towards straight legs and bigger circles.

BACK LEVER PREPARATION/ PROGRESSIONS: The first step is just to hold yourself horizontal from the floor in a basic tuck position (rounded back). Once you've built up some strength in this position, work towards holding yourself horizontal in a flat-back tuck (as in the video), keeping the tailbone up and the spine flat. Then you can start extending one leg (be sure to work both sides) or progressing to diamond shapes.

BEATING: Focus on keeping the legs straight at the back of the swing! I recommend videoing yourself... most people are CONVINCED their legs are straight until you show them video evidence!!

SIDE SWINGS: You can also do these as static lifts, which is more demanding, but swinging is a good (and fun :) way to start and helps build up grip strength too...

NEGATIVES AND/ OR PULL-UPS TO STRAIGHT ARM HANG: If you're still working towards your first full pull-up (from straight arm hang), then start on the negatives first... lowering yourself down as from a seated position as slowly as possible (but don't do too many reps - just two or three, really slowly and with control). These will build up the strength to eventually allow you to pull back up again! If you're already able to do a pull-up, lower down and pull back up again equally slowly. In both cases, imagine you are trying to break the top bar in half with your hands. This will help achieve the correct external shoulder rotation.

HANGING LEG RAISES: If straight-leg raises are too much to start with, you can build up to them by lifting up in a tuck position (knees are bent up into chest), and aiming to get your knees up between your arms. In both cases, avoid using momentum from the backswing; keep everything tight and squeezed at the end of the lowering phase to halt any momentum before you lift up again.

MEATHOOK LEG TRANSFERS: If you're just starting out with these, recruit the help of a spotter and just aim to tap the other side of the hoop with each leg without dropping down. Focus on keeping the hips HIGH! Once you get comfortable with this, you can build up to bringing both legs together each side (the top leg comes round and down to meet the bottom one, don't lift the bottom leg up!) You can also remove one hand and go into full meathook each side if you want. The long-term aim is to build up to doing windscreen wipers ... the same thing, but with legs TOGETHER, eeeeeeek!!

SINGLE KNEE HANGS: Again, if you are just starting out with these or building up your strength still, make sure you have a spotter! To begin with you can just work on straightening one leg up to the ceiling - you don't have to remove it completely/ swing it round to the back. Remember to lift your hip a little to get the leg back on fully, otherwise you'll find the bar resting dangerously on your calf muscle rather than in the back of your knee.

Видео Conditioning exercises on the Aerial Hoop/ Lyra канала Clare Watkinson