Tuesday, July 21, 2015

How to Get Your Splits FAST – You Can’t!

Lately I see in many of my YouTube wanderings, videos on "How to get your splits FAST".
You can't get your splits fast

Getting your splits, like every flexibility skills, takes time and work.

In order to be able to do your splits you need to take your time and start with a good warm up. Hence you need to stretch, keeping in mind the difference between a good stretch and a bad one (one that feels like a pinch or a sharp pain).

Working on splits can take several months and it is OK. It should take time and you mustn't put too much pressure on your body, as it may cause injuries.

Take your time, inch by inch and you will see the different. Practice at least 3 times a week, and keep a day of rest in between each session. If your muscles are too stiff, breath in and while letting the air out, try to intensify the stretch. Be patient with your body and it will be kind to you :-)


When I started to work on splits, I was able to reach a split of 90 degrees approximately. I never thought I will be able to do a full split, but after a hard work of several months, I got there.
It is usually easier for one leg to do the split than for the other. When my right leg's hamstrings got injured due to an excessive practice on my splits, a friend advised me wisely to take the opportunity to work on my other leg's split, and therefore today I have good splits on both legs.
It is always better to work on flexibility on both sides of the body so that everything will be balanced and just as strong. Imbalance can cause back pains and posture problems.

Another important thing that helps is magnesium.
Magnesium is a supplement that I take every day before going to sleep. It helps to relax the muscles and this way, the day after a workout, your muscles are ready for the stretch again. I never work out if my muscles are cramped.
You can check the warm up for splits and the splits on my "Warm Up for Aerial" video starting at 08:40 min.

Send me your stretching photos and I would love to post them, and always remember to be kind to your body!

xxx
Emily Cage

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Today Is The Day That You Will Do Your First Pull-Up!

I am going to create a video soon to show some aerial conditioning exercises that will make you stronger. Meanwhile, I've found a very good YouTube tutorial for "How to do your first pull-up".

Pull ups are really important for the overall aerial conditioning that you do.
Always remember, start small, not everything at once.
So here is something to encourage you:


Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Keeping Your Balance – Aerial Tutorial

The first thing I teach, after teaching How to Get on the Hoop, is how to keep your balance.
Finding your balance is very important both physically and mentally. You need to learn how to find your balance in each position on the hoop (as in life :) ) and so this is a good way to start.


Also, when you take 1-2 minutes to find your balance, you actually prepare yourself to start practice. It's like the mental process you go through when you warm up.
This balance that I bring on this tutorial is similar to the Navasana pose in yoga:
photo was taken from Wikipedia

You sit on your sitting bones, which is the lower part of your pelvis:


photo was taken from the website yoga.about.com

So here's the tutorial, please let me know what you think:

xxx
Emily Cage

Sunday, July 5, 2015

The Ball – Pike – A beginner’s position

The Ball - Pike Mount - is a beginner's pose.
That was my nemesis when i just started learning aerial hoop.
The hardest thing with this position is that in life we are not used to make our abdominal muscles to work in this way, so please, don't get upset if this doesn't work for the first time.
Practice again and again, do only part of this exercise if you can't do all of it, and i promise you that in time you'll get there.
*This video contains annotations so the best way to see it is on full screen mode and not on i-pad, i-phone etc. because annotations need flash.
If you have any questions, i will be glad to answer!
 xxx
Emily Cage

Still Posting On This Blog

I have noticed that many of you still visit this blog, so i'll be posting my tutorials and articles here as well as on my website www.flyandfit.com .

I would love to hear comments from you guys!

xx
Emily