One of the best things about Aerial Yoga? It’s an incredibly well rounded, low impact exercise that enables us to build strength and mobility in one modality, and you may just be surprised as to its effectiveness in building our muscles! Especially those muscles that can quite often be neglected in other forms of movement. Try these 5 aerial yoga poses to help you build strength!
Building strength is a goal for many of us, though in many types of exercise this process can be tough on the body, repetitive and only work in one regard, often leaving other bodily requirements such as mobility and flexibility out. This is why the aerial hammock is such an incredible way to build up those muscles; getting strong in a low impact, well rounded way!
Try these exercises as they are, or increase that burn by adding in safe and controlled dynamic movements!
Forearm Planks
We may be familiar with planks on the ground, and how they work the core and arms, however using the aerial hammock along with some controlled movement, we can add strength and stability to our hip flexors at the same time! Give this exercise a go with the hammock set at low height.
Begin in front of your hammock down on your forearms. Extend one foot back at a time, inside the hammock so that it sits at your ankle creases.
Push through the forearms, the core and the tops of the ankles, so that your knees lift from the ground. Slowly and with control, extend the legs back into a plank position
Table Top Tugs are a great way to work the lower and upper body in one exercise, working into the legs and glutes as well as the biceps! Set your hammock up to high height for this and the following exercises.
Start by sitting behind your hammock and plumbline and grip the hammock in a high reverse or basic grip
Have your feet on the floor in front of you at hip width with knees bent
Keep the arms straight as you engage the legs and glutes to bring your hips up in to a table top position. Hold here and add tugs, bending the elbows and lifting the chest up towards the hands
Lower the hips while keeping the arms straight and repeat both movements
Working on standing balances is a great way to encourage core stabilisation along with strength in the lower body. Scale is a great pose to practice on its own or one that can be built upon to add in even more dynamic movements.
Come to standing behind your hammock at the plumbline. Grip the hammock in a push grip, palms facing down shoulder width apart
Begin moving by bending at the knees and hinging at the hips and extending the arms out in front
Shift the weight into one foot and extend the other leg back. Either keep the big toe rested on the floor or float the leg
Firmly activate the standing leg and encourage the back leg to lift while maintaining core stability; feel a long line of energy from the arms and crown of the head to the back heel
In yoga, Chair pose is known for its strength and stability building qualities; in aerial yoga, we can use the hammock to assist with that stability to make this pose even more dynamic and challenging.
Stand at the plumbline with the hammock behind you. Bring your arms to a T inside the hammock, in a Backwrap position
With the arms extended, bend the knees while keeping the heels on the floor. Keep the shoulders in line with the pillars of the hammock. Be careful to not let the top body lean too far forward
Ensure the core is engaged and the pelvis tucked to prevent arching in the lower back. Hold here or add in some single leg drills to intensify this pose
Enjoy that satisfying feeling of an intense muscle building workout with these aerial yoga poses to build strength, and notice how your practice and your muscles change over time! Our Aerial Fitness, Aerial Sculpt and Aerial Core classes will challenge you and give you that workout you‘re craving. Book in through our timetable below:
The aerial hammock is a great tool to aid in building strength.
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