(Part 2) Top 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.

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

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 bought these from Amazon. Washed and worn several times and I like them a lot for more slippy types. Witkey stirrup leggings

These are definitely a bigger hit in the pocket but they’re grippier and do a lot of nice shaping as well as having a great company ethos. GRRRL clothing

My book BEGINNERS GUIDE TO AERIAL SILK and online videos may be able to help. They are great tools for those new to the beautiful yet challenging art of aerial.
Check them out!
YOU TUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsv_GqL575lWivFqi8LZ8XA
BOOK:
http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Aerial-Silk-Franklin/dp/0692288236/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421477792&sr=8-1&keywords=beginners+guide+to+aerial+silk

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.

I have long dreadlocks (a little past my hips) and I flip my head upside down and twist it tightly into a bun on top of my head securing it all with an elastic. Actually I use a headband due to the thickness, but if you don't have dreads then a regular hair tie would probably work. It usually holds pretty well.

They wouldn't work in my hair, but my aerial instructor usually puts her hair in a low bun using spin pins like these https://www.amazon.com/Goody-Simple-Styles-Assorted-Colors/dp/B003FVDNO6?th=1

I started using palm guards when I started swinging. I'm 100% doing trapeze for fun but they seem to make my hands rip less and make me more confident in my grip.

I'll probably switch to dowels (almost everyone I see uses them) at some point but I hear the gripping feels weird.

From what I hear, everyone likes different things and you should try things out.

Here's the ones I buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JMLX7AS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_v8EJGatMBCGrq

Thanks everyone for your responses! I went with these and absolutely love them! Also working on making some boots

I have steel one as well, I think this is the one

pull up bar

I installed it over the door frames which gives extra height and a bit more security (of course not for inversions)

Looks like this - older picture of me dangling

pull up bar in use

Can you tell if they are rigid or flexible? I wonder if they are triangle rings taped up like a trapeze bar. Or are they more like wrist straps with something springy inserted to make them open up if there's no weight on them?

https://www.amazon.com/CanDo-TheraPutty-Standard-Exercise-Yellow/dp/B001763OS6

My therapist has me training with de blue one and the black one.

Also, you can Google on exercises for climbers, there is a lot more to find there then if you search for aerial hand exercises.

I have super sweaty palms, and was causing a lot of trouble for lyra. About 2 months ago, one of my teachers recommended dry hands, and it's basically changed everything.

51M flying trapeze instructor here. We get all sorts of ages and body types. Sam Keen started at the age of 61. Still flying at 83. https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Fly-Sam-Keen/dp/0767901762

Even the kind you don't have to screw in can damage your door frame. If you're really worried about it, you could try a pull-up stand like this.

That being said, I have this pull-up bar and it works for me and hasn't damaged my door frames yet.

I have this pull up bar The cushioning on the sides of the bar sit against the sides of the door frame, and the top plastic bar sits on top of your door frame. A small metal clip slides between the back of the top door moulding and the wall. The clip keeps it all in place. I haven't had my bar very long, but unless you are really bouncing off the thing, I highly doubt it will do any damage. May get some marks from the foam resting against the door frame, but that can be fixed with a magic eraser/paint. Worst case, the clip may dig into the door moulding, but unless your landlords are walking around with a stool and checking a few inches on the very top of the door moulding where it sits flush with the wall, I think you'll be fine.