Aerial Physique

The FREE 5-Day Straight-Arm Inversion Challenge begins September 1st! 💪🎉 You in?

For 5 days, I’ll send you one effective exercise you can do from home to work on the strength, stability, compression and movement patterns that support a stronger straight-arm invert.

Just a few minutes a day + a pair of light weights (water bottles work too!).

Let's give your straight-arm inversion some focused attention!

Join here: https://www.aerialphysique.com/join-straight-arm-challenge

Happy Friday friends! 💛

This week we are so excited to feature Ollie Ollie Witney whose aerial practice is so full of joy! 💛

A few of Ollie’s own words:

“I was first introduced to aerial silks on a night out in my early 20s, from that moment I knew that’s what I wanted to do!

I dabbled a little over the years until 2020 where I finally moved near a big city and started taking it seriously.

Two babies, many trophies, sashes and some aerial retreats later you can still find me competing, performing or just playing around on my backyard rig with my family in tow ❤️”

Inversion progress is possible even when you’re not in the air! 💪

With focused conditioning and the right movement patterns, you can work on the key ingredients that help make your inversions stronger, smoother and more controlled.

And I think a lot of us are guilty of this: we want to improve a skill, try it once or twice, and then wonder why it still feels hard. 😅

Or we keep repeating the skill itself with the same movement patterns, without taking the time to work on the individual pieces that may be holding us back. I know I do it too!

Sometimes a skill lives in our mind as something we want to be better at ... but have we actually given it focused, intentional training?

Straight-arm inversions are more demanding than bent-arm inversions because you have farther to travel to get your hips up and over.

They require shoulder stability, grip strength, compression (how well you can “sandwich” yourself by bringing your legs toward your torso), front-body strength, back-body length and technique all working together.

It’s not just about getting stronger. It’s about developing the individual pieces that support the skill.

And that’s what the FREE 5-Day Straight-Arm Inversion Challenge is all about! 🎉

Starting September 1st, I’ll send you one effective exercise each day that you can do from home to work on some of the key components that contribute to a stronger straight-arm invert.

All you’ll need is a few minutes a day and a pair of light weights, around 5 lbs / 2 kg is ideal. No weights? Water bottles work too!

Want to give your straight-arm inversion some focused attention?

Join the free challenge here: https://www.aerialphysique.com/join-straight-arm-challenge

🌀Technique Tip - Hip Swivels

Hip Swivels are a fun, dynamic way to change direction between inversions, but they’re definitely what I call a journey skill!

This is an Int/Adv skill, but you can absolutely start working on the progressions that build you toward it. 💪

Here are a few things to focus on:

1️⃣ Learn the leg pathway
The leg closest to the silk leads, the other leg follows. As your legs travel, turn your hips to the side to create space around the silk.

Think:
Lead leg → turn hips → follow leg → invert

2️⃣ Build your straight-arm hang
Hip Swivels require grip + straight-arm strength. Work toward a strong 15–30 second hang (on both sides! 🤪)

3️⃣ Practice straight-arm pike lifts
These help strengthen the leg lift while maintaining long arms, a big piece of this skill!

COMMON MISTAKES:

❌ Not turning the hips enough
Stay too square and you may kick the silk. Rotate your hips to create a clear pathway around it.

❌ Bending your arms between sides
Not necessarily wrong, just different! Bending your elbows breaks some of the momentum. For continuous straight-arm swivels, focus on keeping the arms long.

❌ Leading with the wrong leg
The coordination takes practice! Remember: the leg closest to the silk leads.

❌ “Let me try one more time…” 😅
…when your grip is already toast.

Hip Swivels are demanding on your grip. Give yourself enough rest between attempts. Unless you have cat-like reflexes and claws 🐱, losing your grip mid-skill can result in a fall!

Stay consistent with the progressions and over time your Hip Swivels can become smoother, stronger + more dynamic! 🌀

And since a strong straight-arm inversion is an important piece of this skill…

Want to strengthen yours? 💪

My FREE 5-Day Straight-Arm Inversion Challenge starts September 1st!

You’ll get one effective at-home exercise each day to work on key components of a stronger straight-arm invert.

Sign up and get the details here: https://www.aerialphysique.com/join-straight-arm-challenge

What’s one aerial goal you’re working toward right now? Share below! 👇

A little reminder from someone who has tried to improve ten skills at once: you can do it all, just not all at the same time. 😅

Pick one goal, give it your focus and let yourself make real progress. Then it’s about maintaining what you’ve built while moving on to the next goal!

If only there were more hours in the day and our bodies could keep up with all the things we want to do! 😂✨

🚨 FINAL CHANCE! Our APTV 10-Year Anniversary Sale ends very soon!
Join us here: https://www.aerialphysique.com/aptv-10yr-sale

If you haven’t explored Aerial Physique TV yet, now is the perfect time. APTV is available as an app and desktop site, giving you access to step-by-step aerial tutorials anytime, anywhere.

Inside, you can:

✨ Learn skills across silks, sling, rope, lyra and straps
✨ Create playlists for your training goals
✨ Watch live class and masterclass replays
✨ Download lesson plans
✨ Build strength, confidence and creativity in the air

Start with a free 3-day trial, then get your first month for $10 USD, normally $30.

Learn more & join here: https://www.aerialphysique.com/aptv-10yr-sale

⌛️ The anniversary sale ends Monday, August 3rd at 11:59 pm PST.