Best products from r/Aerials

Pleasers really are the best for dancing, because they’re structurally made for it. I’m not huge into wearing heels but even I feel far more stable in my 6in pleasers than I do in my 2-3in heels I wear for fancy work events. Pleasers do make lower heels, but 6in is where I really felt the most comfortable and stable.

These are really close to what I have and the clear straps are generally more sturdy than pleather. The ankle strap is a must. They aren’t made by pleaser, but are really similar in style.

If you’re not into the clear style, these are made by pleaser (or a company associated with pleaser?). The straps are thinner and just don’t conform to your foot as well as the clear straps. I have them and they’re good enough, but I’d still go for the clear straps.

These are a little lower, but don’t be surprised if the 6in heels are much more comfortable.

Boot styles are the most stable, but they are expensive and really only worth it if you’re committed to investing in a good pair and intend to use them frequently.

I don’t pole dance myself (my body just doesn’t play well with it) but my studio offers it along with chair dance classes and lyra classes designed for heels, so I use them from time to time and lots of my friends have many, many pairs. You could try character heel styles, they literally are made for dancing, but the good ones are just as expensive as pleaser, if not more. Very stable though.

Edit: the heels you’re showing do not look up to the job, without knowing anything else about them, the shank and the heel look way to thin and not stable and I’d actually be worried about them snapping. Since there’s no platform, the shoe might be flexible (in a bad way) and your toes wouldn’t be protected in moves where you’re dragging your toe across the floor, or doing some kind of a spin (we’ve got moves in chair where we actually flip off the chair and land on our toes). The outsole is completely flat too limiting your motion, and is going to make certain moves look and feel completely unnatural. Having a slight turn up at the toe makes a huge difference.

I promise this will connect, but it's a bit long winded:

Two guys decide to start going to an aerial class. (GASP: GUYS in Aerial?!? -- Yes, it happens) -- One, we'll call him Brett, does crossfit 6 days a week and played football all through high school and college. The other, Steve is an IT nerd who never got out of the chair other than to walk to the bathroom or car, although Steve used to imitate his sister when she would practice Ballet at home.

In this example, neither student has tried aerials before. Both have similar challenges to you: Stamina of Grip Strength.

Steve might have trouble getting off the ground, but his lines may look better than Brett due to having even a limited dance background. Brett might be able to get to the top, but his technique might be terrible and I'll lay you odds he just drops off the silk at a point far from the ground, as many crossfitters are not trained to come down slowly.

This is the challenge in teaching aerials. You never know who is showing up in class or what their background or experience is.

Things you can do at home to help yourself:

1. Grip training. Get these: https://www.amazon.com/Hotrose-Silicone-Resistance-Strength-Exerciser/dp/B00RWYM1PO/ -- Start with the lightest weight one. Squeeze 25 times on each hand twice a day. Really focus on working every finger and your thumb. Move to a stronger one as soon as you can. You want to build these small muscles in the fingers and hands. Your fingers will swell and may hurt from the exercise.
   
   
2. Pull ups. Get an over-the-door pull-up bar and put it near a high traffic area of your home. Every time you walk by, wrap both hands around the bar and do 5 pull ups fingers away from you and 5 pull ups fingers toward you. Aim for 20-25 a day. Even if you don't get your feet off the ground at first, gran the bar, pull. Feel those muscles tighten? You're doing work! With repetition you'll get off the ground.
   
   
3. Talk to your teacher/trainer. They may have modifications they can show you to help you learn the fundamentals of the moves they are teaching. They may offer extra spotting and encouragement.
   
   On any of the stuff above, break it down. Do 5 reps 5 times a day if you have to. Eventually you'll get 25 reps at once.
   
   Aerials are hard. Silks especially so. I feel like the bar apparatus are easier in some ways, because you are not holding your entire weight up the whole time you're off the ground. Once you get to footlocks, you'll find there are rest points in silk too, and that's where you add in some dance and style moves to make the routines look great. Some of my favorite performers have rest poses where they sit in the silk and flirt a bit with the crowd, and many times that is the moment the crowd feels most connected with the performer, so it works for everyone.
   
   I hope at least some of this helps. If you love silks, don't give up. I promise you'll get the strength and stamina with time. Although it's easy to compare yourself to the other students in class, this isn't a race or competition. You're learning for you and some people will take longer than others.
   
   Back to my story I opened on: Brett is thinking about quitting class because he doesn't have the long elegant lines Steve has. Steve is thinking about quitting because he'll never be as strong as Brett. -- Both are absolutely correct and wrong at the same time. They'll never be like the other unless they put in the time and effort to build the parts they are missing. Identify your weaknesses and ask people how you can improve, that's the best way to progress. Remember building muscle and coordination takes lots of time and effort. You'll be amazed in a year how far you have come if you stick with a regular training program.

• A small notebook and pen. Taking notes during/after class helps me remember things - not that I go back and review my notes very often, but just the act of writing it down helps. It's also good for recording any weird choreo ideas or sequences the teacher wants us to learn.
  
  
• Tissues. My nose drips in cold weather, in warm weather, and basically whenever it feels like it. I often have one tucked into the waistband of my leggings.
  
  
• A pair of heavy socks. There are a few moves on trapeze and lyra that are really hard on the feet, and thick socks can help. You're not likely to get to those moves in an intro class, but it doesn't hurt to have them on hand. You may want them during warmups too.
  
  
• Therapy balls like these. They're wonderful for working on tight spots in my hips as I'm trying to gain flexibility. I mostly use them outside of class, but there's a fair amount of sitting time in aerial classes. There's almost always more people than equipment, so you're taking turns, and you need time to catch your breath anyway. It's not like dance classes where you expect to be on your feet the whole time.
  
  That's pretty much it, other than water of course! My school provided rosin and chalk for grip aids, therabands for warmup exercises, and had a very well stocked first aid kit. If your school doesn't provide those, you may want to bring them yourself.

Garren Fitness Maximiza Pull Up... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RJFRV1K?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf this has served me well. I looked at cheaper ones like the above but settled on this because the customer service has good reviews (The company seems to stand behind their product) and I also didn’t want an eye sore hanging from my door frame. This one looks pretty good and and almost blends in. Also the foam around it is tough and comfortable on the hands at the same time. Been using it for several months now and it’s held up exceptionally well. It was easy to install and I did have a question which I asked the customer service team about and they were very responsive and helpful.

They are kind of expensive, but I really like my ThirdLove bras. They are stretchy, comfortable, give shape without being overly padded, and fit my itty bitties. They have a really good fit finder tool on their website and free shipping/returns. I also went for a fitting at a bra boutique and ended up buying this bra https://www.amazon.com/Betsey-Johnson-Womens-Forever-Perfect/dp/B00KM3WJ04 It fits great, but you have to size up one cup. I wear a B, even though I'm an A in literally every other bra in the world. If you are an AA, then you're probably an A in that bra.

Get a pair of gymnastics rings. They are like $20 and have a ton of carryover to straps in how they work and in exercises that can be done on them.

You really need all kinds of upper body and core strength for straps, not just pulling strength. Don't neglect you pushing exercises.

Given that here are some exercises you can do:

• Pullups and pull up variations ( Pull up negatives -> pullups -> L sit pullups -> Wide grip pullups -> Archer pullups -> one armed pullup negatives -> one armed pull ups) and weighted pullups.
  
• Rows and row variations (bodyweight rows, one armed rows, lever row progressions)
  
• Pushups and pushup variations (diamond pushups, ring pushups, Rings turned out pushups, pseudo planche pushups)
  
• Dips and weighted dips
  
• Handstand pushup progressions (pike pushups -> box pike pushups -> wall headstand pushup negatives -> wall headstand pushups -> wall handstand pushups -> freestanding headstand pushups -> freestanding handstand pushups)
  
• L-sit and V-sit progressions
  
• Skin the cat and German hang
  
• Hanging leg raises and variations (start with bent knees up as high as you can, work toward straight legs all the way to the bar. After that you can move to one armed hanging leg raises, hanging leg raises with ankle weights and one armed hanging leg raise to meathook.)
  
• Back lever progressions (German hang-> skin the cat-> tuck back lever -> advanced tuck back lever -> straddle back lever -> 1 leg back lever - full back lever)
  
• front lever progressions (tuck back lever -> advanced tuck front lever -> straddle front lever -> 1 leg front lever - full front lever)
  
• planche progressions (crow pose -> crane pose -> tuck planche -> advanced tuck planche -> straddle planche -> 1 leg planche -> full planche)
  
  
  
  /r/bodyweightfitness is a great resource and their Recommended routine is a fantastic place to start.
  
  
  
  These videos by Domink Sky show great exercises and their progressions for Pulling exercises, Pressing Exercsies and Core Exercises
  
  
  
  If you want are looking for something very in depth then the book Overcoming Gravity and it's subreddit are amazing resources on exercises, exercise progressions and making your own routine
  
  

My go-to is a quick bun held in place with two smallish octopus clips. It holds quite well if I just twist, spiral, and clip (no hair elastic necessary), and it takes like five seconds to do. I have to redo it if I do something bouncy like a mat run, but it stays for basically everything else.

Some of my friends have slipperier hair than me, and they find that two spin pins work better for them than two octopus clips.

If I want something more secure, I'll go full-on classical ballet bun. I'll get my hair damp with a spray bottle, ponytail, and pin the shit out of it. I find that two-stranded buns hold the best and look the nicest (personal preference, though). I'm sure it's not good for my hair, but it's practically indestructible. You can jazz it up by doing a braided bun, a twist-and-braid combo, twists or french braids into the bun, and a bunch of other things.

Ugh, this is making me miss my long hair. I just cut a foot off.

From The Dictionary of Modern Medicine by J.C. Segen

• Active Flexibility The ability to assume and maintain extended positions using only the tension of the agonist and synergist muscles whilst stretching the antagonist muscles
  Example Hoisting the leg and holding it without external support.
  
  
• mobility [mo-bil´i-te]
  the ability to move in one's environment with ease and without restriction.
  
  But note this is talking about general mobility - In the context of physical fitness, physical mobility is a given...While there was no direct definition of physical mobility, there was a definition for the lack of which works just as well.
  
  
• physical mobility, impaired
  A limitation in independent, purposeful physical movement of the body or of one or more extremities.
  
  So breaking this down - Mobility by itself is a more general term.
  
  When you read the first definition "he ability to assume and maintain extended positions using only the tension of the agonist and synergist muscles whilst stretching the antagonist muscles"
  
  it sounds more complicated and thus different - but what their detailing is called a cocontraction and it happens everytime you move purposely for the most part and thus applies to the definition of physical mobility as well. (note that a muscle can contract while stretched, and in order to maintain a flexy position like the splits, a cocontraction is pretty importiant to ensure stability in said flexy position, despite the stretchy tension on the antagonist)
  
  So basically, when you get past the fact that one definition is worded with more specificity, they really are the same thing.
  
  
  Physical Mobility - The ability to maintain and move your body through increased ranges of motion using only muscular contraction
  
  Active Flexibility - The ability to maintain and move your body through increased ranges of motion flexy positions using only muscular contraction.
  
  
  If there IS a difference, I think it is incredibly small and any sort of significant disagreement would be an exercise in ultimate pedanticism

I have a pair of leggings from Old Navy that day they are spandex and polyester but they are soft like cotton. If that's true, I got lucky, because everything else I get with that blend is "slippery". I think they were just brushed to make them soft not shiny, but there was no indication of this in the description when I ordered them. Target sells some leggings over by their regular women's clothes that are a blend, but feel cottony. I have found them to be see through in the bum under stretch though! 😂

I prefer high waisted, I do have a son and stuff has shifted. I found these on Amazon through trial and error, and they are thick, cotton blend and awesome!

Baleaf Women's High Waist Yoga Pants Non See-through Fabric Charcoal Size S https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GFEKEIW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_At-7yb62P9QPE

Since they're high waist, getting them over my hips was precarious(similar to putting on compression leggings), so if you have a very pear shape, order a size up

I wear a sports bra, a fitted bra cami tucked in, and then a tank. This is a lot for some people, but multiple layers is my thing.

Bloch footless tights were my favorite for performing, soft and almost cottony, nearly opaque, thick and not slippery!

Yes, all the ginger. I found these to be the most effective for me.

It sucks, but you just need to keep doing it to build up tolerance. Set aside five minutes at the end of each training session and just spin on your hoop to both sides. Focus on your hand or a static point on the hoop instead of staring off into space.

I'm really sensitive to motion and unfortunately because spinning is so crucial in straps, I really had to really work to build up a tolerance for it. I would force myself to spin every time I trained and then immediately go throw up, no joke. It's gotten better. Still not perfect, but I don't need ginger anymore and don't need to sit down the second I start spinning.

Good luck!

I have these and I honestly love them, plus they're very reasonably priced. Sound quality is pretty good, as is battery life, and they don't fall out easily.

I actually got comply foam tips to use with mine and they make everything better I promise.

A wood Metolius climbing hangboard. It's not really a pullup bar, but it can be used as one, and it looks nice.

https://www.amazon.com/Metolius-Grips-Compact-Training-Board/dp/B001PPOCJE

I had a Gorilla gym pullup bar, which was a good bar, but I wanted a bar that looked nice enough that I could leave it up all the time, which is I why I switched over to the hangboard.

If you take the pills before class, make sure they're not muscle relaxers (aleve has naproxin which is a muscle relaxer) lol.

Here is the book I mentioned in my comment to you (I'm not a sponsor or anything, I'm just finding this book to be really valuable and it's filling in some of the gaps for me while I look for a solid private instructor. Right now, I just drop into group classes.) https://www.amazon.com/Applied-Anatomy-Aerial-Arts-Illustrated/dp/1623172160/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1L9KKLE4MN5NZ&keywords=applied+anatomy+of+aerial+arts&qid=1551311745&s=gateway&sprefix=applied+anatomy%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

I had the same issue - I have a slippery nylon/spandex unitard and my routine has a drop that ends with needing to grip/pinch behind my knees or else I land on my head. I picked up Cramer Firm Grip Spray http://www.amazon.com/Cramer-Anti-Slip-Enhancer-Activities-Gymnastics/dp/B0001DK088 and it has been fantastic. Added benefit beyond good stick is that there is no visible residue

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073WXMPR4/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Dunno any apps that do that however this tripod come with a tiny remote that might be helpful!

You might be interested in: https://www.amazon.com/Applied-Anatomy-Aerial-Arts-Illustrated/dp/1623172160