There is a progression in fitness training: stability, strength, and power. If steps are skipped--in an anxious effort to reach a fitness goal--we don't benefit from our workouts. Stability is often overlooked and it is the most important; because without it, we use bad form, stressing out our joints and putting ourselves at serious risk of injury. When you hear "stability" you might think of your core muscles, and they are a big part of what we're talking about, though we're referring to isolated muscle contractions throughout your entire body.  Master these and you can build athletic strength (not bulk).

To isolate a muscle contraction, you hold your position rather than power through it.  Imagine holding a can of soup and keeping your arm straight out in front of you for, say, 15 seconds.  You're strengthening the muscles around your shoulder joint.  Hold the can out to the side and you isolate the muscles in a new way.  If those joint muscles are strong, you will be able work more efficiently and successfully through different exercises with less risk of injury.  If you have been injured, isolation exercises will help rehabilitate the weakened muscles so you can rebuild your body.  They can also be geared for specific sports like we do for our aerialists, making their tricks easier and safer.

Your core is your biggest group of stabilizing muscles assisting in walking upright, reduced lower back pain, reduced tendon injuries, and increased strength and power. Without any core strength (abdominals and back), what happens when you lift something heavy? You become imbalanced, correct? Depending on how you're lifting will determine the injuries you could get, but they will all involve your back and when that's hurt, your daily life is greatly impacted.

All of our classes strengthen your trunk in numerous ways, but let's discuss the other parts they stabilize; take BalletFIT and Poleates, for example. There's balancing work done on the balls of the feet, so not only is your core learning to engage--lessening wobble--you are strengthening your ankles and all the small muscles around your knee and hip joints. These muscles can mean the difference between joint replacement surgeries or not in your future. For the present it means: less slip and fall risk during winter, an easier/longer duration walking in high heels, keeping balanced when knocked into, and keeping proper form when exercising.

The same practice can be applied to your upper body, reducing strain when lifting heavy objects or yourself, if you are doing aerial or more traditional exercises. Handstand drills are only one of many excellent methods used for this and are done in our AerialYOGA and Boot Camp classes. Progressing at your level, you use either the silks or a wall for support, allowing your body to get used to holding its own weight. It is also helpful for pole work when learning split grip for spins, tricks, and floor work.  Without the proper muscle conditioning, you set yourself up for stress fractures, tendonitis, muscle tears, and even sprains.