Upperbody Strength: My Circus Obession

Hola fit friends,

I think I've said it before but I am obsessed with all things Circus related. I had planned to re-enroll in circus aerials by now, however I'm waiting until April for my friend, Mary, to catch up to my level. So I'm in a little bit of circus withdrawal.  Fortunately, April is JUST around the corner and I'm gearing up to get in shape for Aerials.  Which means, that I need to stop slacking on upper body days.  Last time I talked about upper body strength, I focused primarily on biceps.  But obviously, you need more than strong arms to balance yourself on someone's forehead. You know... if you're into that sort of thing! ;)

Admittedly this is hand balancing and not aerials, but its still requires a level of strength, balance and grace that I don't have... YET!  Not to mention, I would love to one day take a photo like this.  Although, I know for a fact, that RR will not let me even attempt to balance myself on his forehead, ever.  Yes, I know this because I asked him, LOL.  Fortunately, balancing on one of his shoulders isn't currently out of the question! So in preparation, I'm working on my handstands.  A few months back RR found the picture on the left, and sent it to me as a challenge. His exact words may or may not have been betcha can't do this! After a quick test to see whether or not I could do it, I dragged RR into one of the empty rooms at the gym and made him snap the picture on the right.

I then posted this photo on my facebook page with the caption, "The Challenge and The Victory" (or something cheesy like that).  The very next day the Alvin Ailey facebook page posted the picture below, which I've decided to take as a personal challenge from Alvin Ailey to me. LOL.

I'm clearly not ready yet, but I'm working on it.  If I can do this, I can probably strike this same pose on RR's shoulder, provided he stays VERY still.  So in preparation, I'm working on my splits and flexibility, but more importantly working on my core, shoulders, lats and back muscles in addition to the standard bicep and tricep work. But first things first, I can't hold a handstand (without a wall for support) for more than 3-4 seconds.  I need more control! To help me get ready to accept my Alvin Ailey Challenge, I'm currently working on these.

Yep, I can do these! :)

 I did about 3 of these yesterday.  One to make sure I could do it without falling on my face, the one RR recorded for me (above), and then one at the end of ballet class, because my ballet, circus and boot camp buddy, Mary, simply couldn't envision my verbal explanation.  I'm rather proud of myself for being able to do 3 of them, after a full shoulder and laterals workout last night.  I think I'm going to try my hardest to do 10 of these a day.  I think it'll also help with my pull up goal. I want to be able to do 5 pull ups in a row by the end of April, I can currently do 3.5.  (feel free to hold me accountable fit friends!)

 I stumbled across this video, its occasionally a little awkward, but overall I think its got a lot of good pointers for learning how to do a handstand.




Also as a bonus, and to further emphasize my love of all things circus, here's the video I forgot to post about my flying trapeze experience!  I think this was my 1st run, I don't know if my SIL or Brother have video of my 2nd run which I think/hope was a little better. (hint, hint Ms. Jackson! You should share all of your videos and photos from this trip!)  I don't really like the way I flop around when I bring my legs back down.  Dah well. Enjoy!

Keeping life challenging,
Candydiva04

Posted in: abs,Acro,Aerials,alternative fitness,circus,Circus Aerials,dreams,finding balance,flying trapeze,lateral workout,motivation,shoulder workout,Upper Body strenght