Summer time in the US is the most popular season to travel with Fridays in June, July and August being the busiest travel days of the year. If you are planning on taking advantage of the long hot days and that accumulated vacation time by jumping on a plane to South America or Europe, New York or California, we have one question for you:
“How do you plan on maintaining your hard earned aerial strength?”
After spending months and even years dedicating yourself to regular classes and training sessions, you certainly don’t want to throw it all away with a month of partying in Ibiza without an aerial rig in site (although we have heard that Ibiza now has an aerial studio..). The challenge of getting back in aerial shape after taking extended time off can be grueling, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on that longed-for vacay either.
Here at Womack and Bowman we are all about the train-cation, or more accurately the gig-cation. While on a brief performance trip to a Cancun resort a few summers back, we snuck out of the dark, air-conditioned theater on our lunch break and into the beautiful infinity pool and sunshine, pretending we were tourists for a blissful 45 minutes! This may not seem like much time to some people but with a studio, an online business as well as aerial performance retreats to run, not to mention our busy performance schedule, we will take whatever vacation minutes we can get!
For those of you planning a summer get-away far from your rig or aerial studio but are still wanting to stay aerial-fit, we have come up with a few suggestions that will have you straddling back up the silks with ease upon your return:
1. Scout Your Location
As soon as possible after you arrive at your vacation destination, scout your surroundings. If you are staying at a hotel find out it if it has a gym and go check it out. If your accommodation does not have a gym, go exploring and see if there is a playground nearby.
2. Make Time For Daily Workouts
It is important to make time for your daily aerial workouts in addition to the fun activates you have planned with friends/spouse or family. Get up earlier then your party so you don’t miss out on the day’s events and go to the gym or playground to get your aerial workout on.
3. The Drills You NEED to SUCCEED
After a light warm up of 8-10 minutes of cardio as well as active stretching, go to the chin-up bar at the gym or monkey-bars/swing set (basically anything with a sturdy bar) at the playground…
…Perform this workout:
- 5 pull-ups x 2 sets
- 5 reverse grip pull-ups x 2 sets
- 10 hanging leg-lifts (arms straight, legs straight if possible) x 2 sets
If space permits at the gym or playground turn side-ways on the chin-up bar or playground apparatus and add on:
- 5 pull-ups into straddle back with right hand close to body x 1 set
- 5 pull-ups into straddle back with left hand close to body x 1 set
You can perform this effective workout in less then 15 minutes (not including warm up time), while your spouse/kids/friends are still snoozing back at the hotel!
Whether you are hiking the Andes, sunbathing in the south of France or enjoying a much needed stay-cation this year, don’t forget to stay aerial fit and healthy!
We will see you in the air soon!
