This week the theme is shoulder mobility testing and external rotation.
Testing for basic wrist and shoulder flexibility is a good tool for teachers who teach aerial in a recreational setting. There are minimum standards of wrist flexibility and shoulder rotation that a student should have before they even consider hauling their body weight around in aerial classes. The two tests that will can quickly assess a student are basic prayer position (for wrist flexibility) and an arm overhead that wraps around to touch the corner of the mouth (best to watch the video for that one!).
The majority of the general population can perform these simple movements, but every once in a while, you may run into someone who cannot do these positions. This happened to me not too long ago. I was surprised to learn that a potential student could not bend at the wrists for prayer position. In this case, it is best to recommend remedial training (with a physical therapist or other movement expert) prior to aerial activities.
The other topic I want to address here in this blog is the idea of “break the bar.” Any time that you perform a pull-up, imagine that you are trying to break the bar in half as you pull. The goal of this image is to bring the elbows closer to each other and thus rotate the humerus in an external rotation within the shoulder socket. External rotation in the shoulder socket is a preferred rotation due to the way that it allows access into a greater range of motion. See the video for more on external rotation and how to find it in your body.
The theme this week is connection through the core from the upper body down deep into the hip flexor. While the goal of the program is to be able to a pull-up, it is best – no matter who you are – to be connected through your core. And to do that means that the hip flexors must get on board.
Rather than isolating each muscle group individually, the more of your body you can work at one time, the better! (Granted, there’s a time and a place for everything.) To be able to move all around aerial apparatuses, you need many muscles to be working at the same time and supporting a whole-body integration. So, that’s where why we are multi-tasking this week. We’re going to do some pull-downs while lifting the legs.
When we do the pull-downs, the focus this week is also to add more variety. While the main exercise is not too different than last week, making this small shift can have a huge impact. While staying in a rut can be more comfortable (we like to stick with habits and what we know), studies have shown that the body plateaus after doing the same thing for a period of time. It is important on a physiological level to give your muscles new pathways to work through. Instead of simply doing a linear pull down, try a zig-zag line as you pull down. This brings more challenge into the workout and you’ll notice your brain has to be more involved as well. Again, this will support your aerial work beautifully.
Lastly, we end with some classic shoulder stretches. Stretching while your muscles are warm, (prime time being after a good workout) is the BEST way to make flexibility gains. This is always my favorite time. I feel like it’s my reward at the end of the workout. I love feeling my muscles lengthen and open. In the video, look for the chicken wing stretch if you don’t already know it!
I hope you are enjoying these videos. We will have one more workout with the resistance bands and then we will move on to our next phase. Work hard so that you are ready to increase the challenge.
Again this week we are working with a resistance band looped over a pull-bar. This week I decided to back-track a little and talk about what kind of pull-up bar I like. I am a firm believer that every aerialist who doesn’t have a trapeze in their house should have a pull-up bar. Even though I’m not using the bar directly at this point, I will soon, and it is the surest way to help build healthy grip strength.
Speaking of healthy grip strength, my first big idea this week is to work with the resistance bands until you feel your grip wear out. The resistance should still be light so that you can focus on your shoulder positioning. It’s all about building healthy habits and you can’t do that with too high of resistance.
Although we want habits, we don’t want ruts, so instead of repeating the same motion over and over, you’ll see me change it up. What I do isn’t as important as the fact that I am wearing out my grip, while working my upper body and while I am exploring a varying pathway. This last point is important because varied patterns better reflects what you will be doing in the air OR if it’s something you’ll never do, then you are cross-training.Either way, your body needs it. Your upper body should be comfortable moving through a million pathways not just one or two.
After the pull-downs that have variety to them, the next task of the week is to perform the exercises without any weight. I love this part. Your body should feel light and as if you are floating through the pathway. What I want you to do here is to capture that light feeling. Once you get stronger, it will be easier to feel light. One day, that feeling of lightness is precisely what you could feel as you pull your entire body up! The mental aspect of this is just as important as the physical. This may sound weird, but when I get close to a physical breakthrough, I have dreams about it because it’s in my head just as much as it is in my body.
The next aspect of this week is to cover the classic injury prevention move: the external rotation of the shoulder with bent arms, moving through the transverse plane. Keep the resistance light to keep the muscle engagement in the rotator cuff rather than the deltoids taking over. Next, I show you a unique variation that may be one of those things that’s just for me, but I thought I would share. What I do is: Rather than rotate my hand outwards, I keep my hand where it is and move my body. Since the arm is not having to activate to pull on the resistance, it feels like it is able to focus more on the job that I actually want it to do: which is work on stabilizing. I wish I knew more about anatomy and kinesology to justify my intuition, but unfortunately, all my studies in movement have come simply from what feels good and works! And so I’m sharing what has worked for me. It may work for you and it may not.
The rest of the video after that shows me enjoying using the resistance band to stretch my shoulders. Some of the angles work to give me a stretch, and some are a flop, but I like to explore and see if I can find new ways to stretch and get into those shoulders.
I’d love to hear from you if you have an explorations that you have found working for you, etc. Feel free to comment or send me your thoughts at: rebekah@aerialdancing.com
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