Words by Kittyhawk |Content by Mia Maraschino
Good grip strength is really important to all aerial activities, so that you can actively hold your weight, invert and be confident with your hands while you fly through the air. Grip strength develops over time with practice and experience with your apparatus. At the start, you’ll find your hands and forearms become sore super quick because you are over-gripping. That is completely normal as your body is not sure how hard it needs to hold on to keep you safe! There are lots of positive habits you can start early to build a solid foundation of grip strength to keep you on the bar or fabric longer.
Stretching
Regular stretching and rehabilitation are great ways to keep your joints and muscles happy. The muscles we use too generate grip strength live in our forearms so while it is great to stretch sore fingers, targeting our forearms is going to give you a great sense of relief from soreness.
Hand & Forearm Stretches
Rock climbers rely on their grip strength more than aerialists do and spend a great deal of time stretching and rehabbing their tired forearms. Try these ‘rock-climber-approved’ stretches in addition to what your instructor shows you in class.
Hand warmups
Warming up your hands before aerial sessions will increase the amount of time you can spend gripping onto the bar. Try the great exercises in this video.
Strengthening
It’s all about hang time! The more time you spend hanging from your hands, the better your grip will become. Try these exercises:
Dead Hang from a Towel
If you have something safe at home that will carry your weight (like a portable pull up bar or a ceiling beam), hang a towel over it and hold onto the towel for as long as you can in a dead hang. A dead hang is feet off the ground, with your arms straight and relaxed but not feeling like they are being pulled from the socket. The towel mimics the sling and is much harder to grip than a bar. Hold on for as long as you can and keep trying to extend the time by 5 seconds each time you practice.
Monkey Grip Dead Hang
During practice time at Sky Sirens, allocate some of your warmup to a monkey grip dead hang. This is the same technique as described above for dead hanging but you’ll be holding onto the bar with just your fingers and not the palm of your hand as you would with an overhand grip. Hold on for as long as you can and keep trying to extend the time by 5 seconds each time you practice.
Pinch Holds
Find something thin with a bit of weight (ideally a weight plate) and hold it with thumb on one side and fingers on the other (pinched) down by your hips. Hold for as long as your can and then change hands.