Local Faces
Up, up and away By Cara Cummings First things first - what is aerial fitness? Anything that gets you in the air and gets you fit! We do a number of traditional circus disciplines and try and bring them in to the mainstream things like aerial silks, which is lengths of material hanging from the roof where you can climb up, wrap yourself in knots and then let go and do drops, figures and tricks; through to rope, aerial hoop and trapeze. Our static trapeze class involves using two ropes connected with a bar, whilst our aerial hoop is a large metal ring and involves lots of spinning. It’s great for creating sequences and flows of different movements, figures and shapes. Why work out in the air? Fundamentally, using your body as levers to haul around in the air is going to get you fit. It’s an incredible workout for your upper body, your core and your legs. The fact that your bloodflow is having to change direction because you’re upside down is very good for your circulation - it wakes the whole system up. If you look at things like aerial yoga, there are some specific health benefits like decompression of the spine. It’s fantastic for depression as well because you have to concentrate 100%. Even if you’ve had a helluva day, when you get on the apparatus you switch off all your other worries and give this your full attention. You step away from your problems. It’s gravitational mindfulness. The exciting bit for me is falling through the air and completely defying gravity. It’s so exhilarating. Honestly, it gives me goosebumps every time. How did you discover aerial fitness? In 2008 my wife and I moved to South America to work for some charities. One day in Buenos Aires, I went looking for a gym and ended up at a small
8 URBAN FOX
London’s hottest fittest craze is coming to Peckham: Flying Fantastic aerial fitness. As their fifth studio opens, the Urban Fox sits down for an exclusive Q&A with founder and ‘Ringmaster’ Chris Wigan.
warehouse. There were crash mats all over the floor - you know that something exciting happens where there’s crash mats - and a load of ropes and material hanging from the roof, which was all completely alien to me. I’m not a gymnast; I’ve never done acrobatics. In my first class, we were all sat on the floor trying to touch our toes and I was about a foot higher than everyone else. They were all there in lycra, and I was in rugby shorts; it was all very embarrassing. But I loved it. I started going three times a week and it was hard - muscles hurt that you never realise you had, and you get the odd bump and bruise because that’s the nature of hurtling yourself around in the air. But
after about a month - and I’m not a particularly vain bloke - I looked in the mirror and suddenly thought: ‘Woah - abs! Where did they come from?’ Why should fitness fans try Flying Fantastic? We always say: anyone can come and give this a go. You don’t need to be classically trained with gymnastic background; we do all we can to make it as accessible as possible. If you can’t get on the apparatus, we will lower the apparatus. Our classes are flexible, so you can come and go whenever you want. We run all levels of classes - in a typical class of 12, we have two trainers working so that no matter who turns up, or whatever level you’re at, we’ll have students who are there or thereabouts too and a dedicated trainer looking after you. It’s a really sociable activity. You’re always working with a buddy partner and you’re relying on them as much as they’re relying on you. It’s not competitive; circus generally has a really supportive atmosphere and there’s such a nice sense of everyone helping everyone else out. What’s the best thing about helping people fly? The bit that I love is that people always exceed their expectations. It sounds very cheesy but I genuinely get goosebumps when people overcome their fears. Inverting in the air is a big deal - it takes something both mental and physical, and that’s a really big thing. When we get people coming to us who haven’t inverted, or who have maybe been coming for a couple of weeks and they can’t quite do it - when they get it, there is always whoops and cheers from the studio. It’s so supportive. That’s really, really rewarding.
Five classes for £65 launch offer. Studio at: Unit 1 Bellenden Road Retail Park, SE15 5BA. www.flyingfantastic.co.uk