Hey guys, it is unpopular opinion time…

specifically about this stuff

I have seen spray rosin becoming more prevalent in aerial class rooms. I notice students slathering up in the sticky substance before even trying to climb the silks. Rather than gliding up the silks it sounds like you are rolling up Velcro curtains. And let’s not even discuss the residue that is left of the fabric.

Spray rosin definitely has a time and purpose but every class should not be one of them. I know you all think that the rosin is improving your grip but the truth is the spray is not doing you any favors. It is a temporary and artificial solution at best.

If you are a habitual user of grip aid you are not training your grip to the maximum potential. I see students who are progressed to the more advanced levels but do not trust their inversions without sticky assistance. Their training session is crippled if they forget the rosin bottle or if it starts to wear off after a few minutes in the air.

I don’t want to offend or shame anyone but please consider if you would benefit from focusing on grip and see if there are changes you want to make in your training. If we put the same effort into training our grip that is often reserved for the core we would all be much safe and confident aerialists. As aerialist our hands are one of our greatest tools so make them one you can rely on!

Here are some suggestions for improving your grip strength.

• Take your first set of climbs without rosin and then shoot for longer and longer sessions without it. We don’t start with killer grip but you can work up to it.

• Tap into your inner sloth and try just hanging from the silks. Challenge yourself and see how long you can go.

• Be cognizant of your grip and make every finger contribute. Start with your pinky and roll up through your index when grabbing the silk

• Tiny finger exercises such as repeatedly pretending to flick water from your fingers or grabbing and releasing something imaginary can help warm up and work those muscles associated with grip.

Photo by Dan Funkhouser

The One About Splits...kind of

I have neglected my blogging duties but I assure you it is not due to any inactivity. I have been trying to navigate a number of new opportunities this year and I am not entirely sure yet what my take away has been. I feel like I have yet to synthesis some useful bit of information I might impart. So instead of some technique or theory I have been pondering I want to take a second to remind people to celebrate accomplishment no matter how small and love the process.

My example came yesterday while practicing a new aerial dance when one of my instructors mentioned that my splits are improving. Because historically splits are my worst skill I was confident that she was just be being polite. For the last year I have spent my time with dancers who have had effortless perfect splits and over splits. During the first few months I lived in abject shame when it came time to stretch. All the girls would fan out their legs perfectly and I would be sitting on the floor with my legs at an acute angle. To an outsider it probably looked like I was militantly resisting the exercise when in reality I was trying my damnedest and failing spectacularly. I have continued to work in tiny increments towards being more flexible but I have accepted that a full split is not something I am likely to achieve. Despite a pessimistic outlook, my curiosity was piqued by the comment so I decided to compare my splits from last night to where I was last year. To my surprise, while I am still a few inches shy of flat splits, my best effort has significantly improved.

This isolated example reminds me that during all the time we spend training it is easy to focus on what we can do today and want to achieve tomorrow. Sometimes it is easy to forget where we started and what we should be proud of.

Have you ever focused on a goal so much that you missed the other accomplishments along the way? What are you proud of today? Leave me a comment below.