What I learned in my flying trapeze workshop

I took my last workshop class. It was six classes on Sunday or Wednesday night. I think my big takeaway is that I have so much more to learn.

I started learning my one-handed take-off. I started learning my swing. I'm still working on both. But a swing does usually take a while to learn. Everyone told me this.

I didn't learn as many tricks as I thought I would over the 6 classes, because I had to learn so many of the foundation skills. And because after the front end tricks—the tricks get harder. They're not one-class tricks anymore. And towards the end of the workshop, I worked on perfecting my two tricks for the end of workshop show, so I could throw them even when nervous.

I did catch both of my show tricks at class tonight ;) (Woot! Only person with two catches tonight. Bonus: Two catches for two tricks)

Backend Straddle. 

Seat roll. Wonky catch. I need to straighten out after coming off the bar. 

Also, I got to swing with Kaz on the bar. I didn't think he was serious when he said we were both going to swing on the bar. But we did, so I could feel/see what my swing should be. Forward, backward, forward, extend, etc. Once I got over the extreme embarrassment of it, it was actually helpful. But it took at least five minutes to stop being embarrassed. (I still need to be smoother, one fluid motion, maybe more relaxed than I am now.)

It starts off okay and then my timing gets off

It was my first class with a rain delay.  The weather has been gross all week. The forecast for today was rainy but I was confident it would clear up for the class. The morning started out cold and rainy and then cleared up and got up to 75 by the afternoon. So it was beautiful at the rig. But about 30 minutes into class, I hadn't even had my second swing, it started sprinkling gradually. And then it was a light rain. (My iPhone weather app said CLEAR even though the phone was wet. It's in an Otterbox so it's fine.) But it's looking like the weather might not be great for the show Sunday. The forecast is currently 100% chance of thunderstorms.

Since it was the last workshop class ever, I did end up buying a T-shirt. And then since it was $5, another T-shirt. So I can look legit when I go to other rigs.

Here's what I learned in the workshop:

1. I started working on my swing. So I learned most of this. (Still on forward, backward forward, not Seven, Hollow and Sweep)
2. I learned how to take off my safety lines. And I got a lot better at unhooking them and walking them to the board. (This got noticeably better!)
3. Trick: Backend straddle
4. Trick: Backend split
5. Started to learn trick: Straight jump
6. That I'm still a belt hold. I can work towards not being a belt hold, but for now, I am.
7. The importance on filing down your calluses so your hands don't rip. (I don't need grips yet, but do make sure to chalk your hands before your swings.)
8. That going to the trapeze rig once or twice a week really helps. It's amazing how fast your muscles forget a trick.
9. If you take a night class, wear white or neon to show up in videos.

I think I am better than when I started the workshop. The safety lines might be the biggest difference.

I'm very glad I got the opportunity to do this workshop and to take trapeze classes this fall. I love it.

Circus Sunday

I had a fun Circus Sunday.

I took a 3 p.m. class at Leap. Today, I was just working on tricks for the show next Sunday. I've decided my two tricks are back end straddle and a seat roll.

Your show tricks are supposed to be tricks you feel confident in—that you can throw when your'e nervous. They're not necessarily you're best trick.

In a perfect world, I'd love to do my cutaway (but think that might take a few classes to get) and a straight jump, but I didn't work on those today. I worked on my seat roll, which I did earlier this summer.

I decided on that trick because it looks cool, isn't a particularly difficult trick and no one else in the show is doing that trick. (There are lots of similar backend tricks)

I went up and did my seat roll. Which I remember being an easy trick.

It's amazing how quickly your muscles forget how to do a trick.

I was slow to get up on the bar. I remember it being a slow trick. But it's not. I feel like I don't even have enough time and this is the slow version of the trick.

The trick is to go up into a pike, knees over the bar, sit, toes out to straighten and lengthen, lay back on the bar and hands.

I was slow every time, but I could save it by the time it's time to release hands for catch. I just need to calm down and realize I have enough time for this trick.

I also worked on my backend straddle. Only I didn't warm up my swing, so I had to muscle into the straddle, which affects the timing.

We practiced my swing once and I still need to work on my extend.

For catching, I caught my seat roll on the third catch.

I missed the first one because of a timing issue. (We had a guest from Club Med pulling lines.) The second one, I opened too narrow and got it on my third try. It was a little sloppy and I need to straighten out my body next time. I have a Wednesday and Saturday class before the show so hopefully I can get it.

Bloopers from today
1) I'm still a belt hold. They didn't do a belt hold one time and that felt weird. I'm not there yet.
2) Calling my own timing. What? They asked me to call my own ready once. I need you to just tell me what to do.

Battle wounds
It was the class of battle wounds. On my first time up doing the seat roll, I tore my tank top and got a red bruise on my upper abs. (I think my safety belt collided with the bar).

My foot hit the bar and got a bruise on the inside of my right ankle

I opened my hands too narrow for a catch, and was caught one handed. It stung. I fell. There's a bruise on my hand.

And I came home with bruises on the fronts and back of my knees and generally felt pretty beat up the next day.

CANOPY SHOW
After the class, I went to the show at Canopy. A few friends were in it. It was awesome.

Shocking news: flying trapeze is closing

I am in shock right now. Shock.

Leap Trapeze is closing.

I was looking forward to having my birthday party there in the spring, to taking more workshops and learning so many more tricks. Short term goals: straight jump, half time seat roll, cutaway.

What am I supposed to do now? Go to Club Med? Ashville? Hope a new trapeze place opens in Atlanta?

I'm just so sad it's closing. I knew it was hard for them to run the rig with their full-time jobs, but I thought they were making money. All the classes sold out and I thought they were really close to being able to expand and do trapeze full-time instead of part-time.
• They had so many athletes willing to work for them. Especially college aged ones that wanted to learn.
• It's hard to get a class there they sell out so fast

I just thought the next step for them was expanding—doing workshops, camps, more classes.

But they're closing. Shain's been looking really tired lately. He's been running all the classes since Kaz broke his hand. And he can't do it alone. I just really hope that they all get the rest they need and open back up in the spring—because they miss it too much. Really hoping that.

They moved here to open the rig. So will they sell the rig? Move away? Are they doing more classes in November?

I wish I had gone to Leap sooner—last summer when I first heard about it, and then I could have done more. But I'm glad I went—and got to learn what I did. I've been bugging some of my friends about going—or going back and now they'll never have that opportunity.

And I had so much to learn. I guess I'll spend the weekend researching flying trapeze and where else I can go. I feel like I need flying trapeze in my life. It made me happy. A fleeting happiness, apparently.

Nerdy Girl's Guide to Finally Getting Your Pullup

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to do a pull-up.

Selfie pullup

I've never been able to do a pull-up.

I've been going to gymnastics and occasionally we do pull-ups for conditioning. And I could do assisted pull-ups. I felt like I almost had the strength to do one (rock climbing muscles) so I decided to work on it. (Also, motivator: My husband has to be able to do four pullups as part of the test to get on the SWAT team. I secretly wonder if I could pass the physical, the timed run, etc.  Minus the shooting. I hate guns.)

I did the usual:

1) YouTube how to a Pullup. That helped.

2) Assisted pull-ups.
I made a point to work on assisted pull-ups every week at  my tumbling class. This usually meant Coach Megan would help me up and down—holding some of my body weight—and making me hold it at the top and counting slowly on the down part of the pull-up.

3. Resistance bands.
Coach Megan or her personal trainer boyfriend (I can't remember whom) told me to try pull-ups with resistance bands. I got a three-pack on a deal with Groupon, and started to work on my pull-ups at home (without someone holding my feet or back). Wrap the band around the bar. And then put your feet (or one foot) or knees (or one knee) in the band. It will hold some of your weight so you can gradually build up strength and work towards a pull-up.

I got three bands, big, medium and slim. The biggest band holds the most of your weight. I started with that one, got up to few reps, then worked with the medium band until I was strong enough to do a few reps on the slim band. And finally a pull-up!

I've had a few almost-pull-ups. I kipped up one night at tumbling this summer. I've done a few with Megan, where she swears she wasn't holding me but I was sure she was.

My problem is the up: I could get 1/4 of the way up, and then I'd stall.

And tonight—I did one. I got all the way up.  I did another one to film it and ended up making four videos for four pull-ups in all. And it just kept getting easier. I finally got the motion. I heard it would be like that. I didn't have one last week—but tonight voila! five.

I did a happy dance. I was way more excited than I should be. Hooray for getting a pull-up.

Now, I think I need a "strong is the new thin" shirt.

Motivation tips

My sister asked for motivation tips to work out when you don't want to work out. So how do you stay motivated?

1. Make working out a habit—one where you feel bad if you don't work out. I used to go to the gym every day after work. It was my habit. It was the rhythm I got into. If I didn't hit the gym, it felt weird. Motivation wasn't needed here because it was a given. It's what I did. So make working out a habit. Even if it's something as simple as every Sunday you go to body shred.

2. Take a class. Taking a class is great when you don't have motivation. Just show up. Have someone tell you what to do and do it. It's practically brainless. And no, you won't look stupid. Everyone else is so worried about getting the motion right or surviving the workout that they won't notice if you use the opposite leg or don't squat as deep as the next person. Just go. Showing up is hard the battle.

3. Good music. Try the Pandora workout station or make your own workout mix (iTunes has plenty of suggestions.) It's easier to work out to upbeat music–with a good beat.

4. Try something new. There's always a new free class you can try. Get excited about trying a spin class or yoga class or the new workout place in town. This is a good way to get out of a rut.

5. Find something to get excited about. Today's the day to try the battle ropes. Or try the elliptical or rowing machine or that machine you don't even know what it does.

6. Set goals. Try to best your mile time or go up a level on the exercise bike. Try to do a perfect squat or lunge.

7. Bribe yourself. When you get your circuit done, you can pickup takeout on the way home, buy that new top, watch that trashy reality show—whatever your goal is. Sometimes we need an extra push to finish that last set.

8. Guilt yourself. Eat more pizza than you should have at lunch? Or a donut you regret? Work those calories off at the gym. I know if I eat bad during the day, I HAVE to work out. (I'm not promoting eating badly or feeling bad about the occasional indulgence, but guilt is a powerful motivator in some women.)

9. Wear cute gym clothes. There's something about working out in clothes you feel fabulous in. Maybe it can give you that extra boost? To work on in pants that lift your booty—as opposed to an old raggedy T-shirt that makes you feel frumpy. Gym clothes are the best. They're comfortable and colorful and my favorite thing to wear.

10. Partner in crime. Lots of studies have shown that working out with a partner is THE way to go. You hold each other accountable. So if I'm really feeling sluggish, I try to find someone to run with, so I won't slack off. Sometimes I'll run with my husband. And this gets him off the couch and working out too. It's a win-win.

Flying Trapeze: Straight Jump, Attempt 1

Another Saturday at Flying Trapeze. And I got some sun.

I thought it was going to be cold, but it was sunny and warm and I'm a tad bit tanner for it.

On my warm-up swing, I told the girl working lines to be ready for a shaky bullet drop. So of course, I nailed it. Ha ha. Juli said she didn't even use the lines to slow me down. I'll take that.

I'm still working on my timing on my swing and probably will be forever. I have awful timing.

I asked for a new trick today (I am sick of the backend split). Shain suggested straight jump, which is basically a swing and release to jump to the catcher.

And it looks so easy on Youtube.

It's not. It's a trick all about timing, which I clearly need to work on.

I didn't catch it today. I kept releasing late. I was never sure which was the swing I was going to let go on. I've watched the video of me back a few times, and think I understand the trick a little better now. And I think I have a better idea of what swing to release on (forward, backward, forward, hands!).

Class was fun. With 7 people it went by quickly.

There was a new guy working the board. He'd previously worked at a Philadelphia rig. He caught too. He caught a crazy cutaway.

One time on the board, he pulled the lines up, and clipped them on the net behind us. I reminded him that I am still in lines. (Yes, I'm the only one still swinging in lines.) Then, Juli called up to him that I was in lines. I laughed at yelled that I had gotten a promotion! I quickly told him that I was a hot mess and needed those safety lines. Which it totally fine with me. Safety first.

Another time he asked me if I needed a riser ;) I'll take that as a compliment. Melissa needed the riser for her cutaway. She's tall and thin and working on a more awesome trick. So no riser for me. I haven't tried that yet. (What is it for? There is so much to learn.)

Also, I'm getting better at unclipping my lines. I was really excited to walk my lines over to Juli. I unclipped them normal speed (not too slowly) and walked them over (not falling on my face.) The net is tricky to walk in. Definite progress here, if nothing else.

Working on my calluses.
Also these lulu pants are the best. 

Worries
I don't know what I'm going to catch at the workshop show. I feel like I don't have any tricks.

In a perfect world, I'd catch my cutaway. Because that would be a good show trick.

I talked to the owner afterward. He said I have my backend straddle (too easy. It's a baby trick) and my backend split (which I am sick of).

I want better tricks. (I want to be better than I actually am.)

Could I get the straight jump? Maybe.

I told him I might want to do my seat roll, because I really liked that trick. He said to just practice it before the show.

How does the show work? Do you show up and practice early? This will be my first workshop show. Everyone else has been in shows in before. I don't know what to expect.

Because I didn't catch my trick, here's Michele's beautiful layout.

Trapeze obsessed?

Last night I dreamed about flying trapeze. I'm flying this weekend and I keep double checking the time.

In my dream:

I was taking a quick power nap on the couch. I wake up and it's 7:30 p.m., when class starts at 7 p.m. I figure I can still make half of class so I scramble to find clothes and get out the door and to text them that I'm going to be late, but I don't know they're number. And it's this frantic, anxious dream.

I realize my class is 1 p.m. and I've missed the whole thing and am sad.

I wake up. And my class really is 1 p.m. this weekend. I haven't missed a class. But probably will check the time 17 more times before I go.

Actually, I better make sure I have cute clothes to wear. And my lucky socks. :)