Conditioning at Home

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Hi, everybody!  Soooooo, last week’s post was all about the importance of rest, and now that your little ones have hopefully had a few days/a week off, it’s time to get their butts up and moving again!  Trust me, three weeks away from circus is a baaaaaaaaaddddddd idea – just ask anyone who’s ever taken time off from climbing a fabric and gone back to it again.  It takes so long to gain strength and flexibility, but how quickly it goes away if we don’t keep up with it!  Don’t stress though!  I’ve got a whole list of at home exercises that can be done with minimal amounts of equipment.  Most of them are things that we do in our warmups anyway, so your kids should be familiar with them.  And hey parents, feel free to do them with your child so that you get some “together” time in while getting fit for the New Year (IF you’re healthy enough for exercise.  You know, “please consult your health care provider” and all of those disclaimers).  Ok here goes:

  • Pull-ups!!!!!!! If you haven’t noticed from reading my blog these past few weeks, pull-ups are kind of the the almighty exercise in the world of aerial arts.  DO THEM!  Need inspiration on modifications?  Please see the blog post from four weeks ago: https://akrosphere.com/pull-ups-2/. Don’t have a pull-up bar at home?  Take your child to the nearest playground!
  • Shoulder shrugs: again, can be done at home or at the nearest playground.  These are important for maintaining strength in the lat muscles, which are the muscles that we use to climb, invert, and hang with good enough technique to protect our sacred shoulders.  They’re also the stabilizer muscles in a handstand and in Partner Acro.
  • Monkey bars: (are you noticing a theme here?). Take your kid to the nearest playground and let them swing and climb on the monkey bars a couple times over break.  This is going to be crucial for those budding Trapeze and Lyra artists because it’ll keep their calluses conditioned.  Nothing quite like starting Trapeze or Lyra with fresh baby hands that don’t have calluses – OUCH!
  • Squats: I’m looking at you, Partner Acro students!  Keep those legs strong over break so that we can go right back into our 2-highs when classes resume.  Three sets of 15.  Your three sets can be sprinkled into your other conditioning so that your quads don’t die.
  • Circus Booty!!!  One of Tawni’s favorite conditioning series, these exercises work the glute muscles (or the “side butt” if your child works with Angelica).  The glute muscles are another sacred circus muscle because they protect our precious hips; keep those hips healthy and work those booties!
  • Hollow body: everyone’s favorite…not!  It’s not your kid’s favorite exercise because it’s difficult!  Hollow body works the transverse abdominal muscles, and these suckers are crucial for things like pullovers on a Trapeze or Lyra, pulling up into a cross-back straddle on Silks, and maintaining tightness during a handstand hold.  They’re not fun to train, but they’re oh so important!  One minute hold with PROPER technique, though I have to tell you that the length of time don’t mean beans if the technique ain’t right.
  • Tricep/circus pushups: these are different from military pushups in that we keep are elbows pinned to our sides/ribs as we come down.  Again, they work the lats, which for circus folk, are more important than the pecs, which are worked in military pushups.
  • Plank: another ALMIGHTY circus exercise.  Planks are EVERYTHING!  I like to have my students do them on their hands and not their elbows.  Again, technique matters, folks!  Fingers spread out, hands directly under shoulders, ribs tucked in, belly button up to the ceiling but butt down, butt cheeks squeezed (hello, Circus Booty!), ankles together, and gaze about 12″ past the hands.  Hold for about a minute.
  • Plank variations:
    • Plank with the hands gripping tennis balls instead of the ground.  This will help with shoulder stability (hello, Cyr wheel students!).
    • Side plank on one hand: again, helps with shoulder stability AND works the oblique muscles.  Bonus!
    • Shoulder taps: while in plank, tap the opposite shoulder with your hand and then switch (ie. right hand to left shoulder and then left hand to right shoulder), 20 times, trying not to sway from side to side.  Not only is this a wicked ab exercise, but it provides…can anyone guess?  SHOULDER STABILITY!!!

*Why am I harping on shoulder stability?  Oh, I don’t know, it’s kind of the life force for EVERYTHING in circus: Cyr wheel, handstands, aerial, you know it!  One of the most common circus injuries?  The shoulders.  How can we prevent that?  Increase range of motion and strengthen the stabilizer muscles. And now, back to your regularly scheduled program: 

  • Tuck, pike, straddle ups: these are done in a hollow body.  Start in hollow body and do a tuck up; return to hollow body.  Next, do a pike up (aka a V-up); return to hollow body.  Lastly, do a straddle up; return to hollow body and wash, rinse, repeat.
  • Handstand shoulder shrugs on wall.  My handstand students know what to do. 15 of them
  • Handstands: I promise you, handstand students, if you take three weeks off from handstands, it WILL feel like you’re starting at zero once classes resume, so do yourself a favor and get back on your hands NOW!!!!!!

Okie doke, everyone, you should have a pretty solid regimen for conditioning at home before classes kick up again on January 7, 2019!  Any questions, feel free to email me (info@akrosphere.com), and I can walk you through these, although your little ones should know the deal since again, we do these exercises like, every week in class!  OHHHHH!  I almost forgot, your kids have to stretch these next few weeks too!  That’s super important as well!  Pikes, straddles, splits, shoulders, wrists, everything.

Ok, nowwww I think I’m done.  For those celebrating, Merry Christmas, and I’ll see you all again here next week, just in time for New Year’s!

Peace out,

Angelica 0=)