By Micaela Myers
Photos by Ashley Breeding

I’m scared of heights and uncoordinated. So what better class to start this blog off with than aerial fitness?!

Luckily, I’m a writer, and I’ll try almost anything once. So with my coworkers in tow, we headed to an aerial fitness class with trainer Doug Schulein of Aerial Fitness Orange County (the classes are offered in Costa Mesa and Newport: aerial-fitness.com,
backbayfitness.com, athleticclubforwomen.com).

Here’s how it works: There are two really long pieces of silk hanging from a super high ceiling. The idea is to use them to climb, swing and do tricks from. Think circus.

I didn’t have high expectations for myself. My butt tends to act as a giant leaden anchor in situations like this. And because I went to a hippie school without a playground, I’m not adept at childhood acrobatics like hanging from the monkey bars.

Luckily, Doug is pro. Coming from teaching trapeze at a Club Med, he’s used to dealing with out of shape and uncoordinated tourist types. After some brief stretching, he got us climbing right away. The hard part was holding the silk on top of the climbing foot using the other foot – that is supposed to keep you from sliding down. But Doug spotted, and each of us were able to make it well past the halfway point, giving us at least a small feeling of success right off the bat.

Then it was right on to hanging upside town. Upside down! Here’s where the butt anchor came in. Once Doug helped me heave the thing in the air, it actually was all about balance. Balance is not a strong suit of mine either, but with some expert guidance and coaching, some semblance of success was again achieved! And it was fun trying, which is the point to a class like this – fitness that doesn’t feel like a forced routine of torture. Instead, it feels like something totally out of the ordinary and daring (that just happens to be a great workout at the same time).

We finished by tying a foot in and performing a few simple tricks followed by some ab exercises and a final stretch. We couldn’t have done any more in that session, as our arms felt like overcooked noodles – proof of the fact this is indeed a good upper body workout.

Would I recommend this class to others? Absolutely! Plus, it’s cool to show your friends photos and say, “Oh, yeah, I do aerial fitness. I can hang upside down from silk ropes. No prob.”

Fit to Be Tried

Newport Beach Magazine and Laguna Beach Magazine managing editor, Ashley Breeding, scours coastal Orange County for everything “Fit to be Tried.” Follow her fitness shenanigans here on OCinSite.com.