If you've ever experienced an injury in your aerial practice—whether it's a tweaked shoulder, strained wrist, or persistent discomfort—I want you to consider this: that injury wasn't just bad luck. It was a message. A wake-up call from your body telling you that something in your training approach needs to change.
I know this because I learned it the hardest way possible.
My Wake-Up Call: A Cautionary Tale
Let me share something vulnerable with you. Several years ago, I sustained the most debilitating injury of my aerial career—not from attempting a challenging drop, not from a dramatic fall, but from a perfect storm of neglect that I didn't see coming until it was too late.
It started with a speaking engagement over a long weekend. I was excited about the opportunity to get to speak in this new venue plus visit my son in Jacksonville, but the reality was exhausting: poor sleeping conditions on my son's couch, long hours cramped in a car driving to and from the venue from his apartment, irregular meals, and the physical toll of being "on" for extended periods. But here's the thing—this weekend wasn't the real problem. It was simply the final straw.
The truth is, the months leading up to that trip had been unsustainable. I was running my nonprofit business, teaching aerial almost every evening, trying to maintain my own practice, managing life responsibilities—and in the shuffle, my personal conditioning had taken a back seat. I told myself I was "too busy" to prioritize my own strength training. I was teaching aerial, so surely that counted, right? I was demonstrating moves, spotting students—wasn't that enough?
It wasn't.
After that exhausting weekend, I took an early morning flight home. I was tired, stiff from travel, and my body was screaming for rest. But instead of listening, I went straight from the airport to the studio to teach my scheduled aerial classes. I didn't want to let my students down. I didn't want to seem unreliable. So I pushed through.
During class, while demonstrating a simple movement I'd done hundreds of times before, I felt it: a sharp, searing pain in my lower back. Within hours, I was experiencing spasms so severe I couldn't stand upright. But the worst part? The pain radiated down my left leg in pulsating waves that lasted for twelve excruciating hours. When the acute spasms finally subsided, I realized I had lost feeling in part of my left foot.
That numbness? It's still there. Years later, after countless hours of physical therapy, dedicated calisthenics work, and specific conditioning protocols, I have regained significant function and strength. But that part of my foot remains a permanent reminder of what happens when we ignore our bodies' warning signs.
Here's what I learned from that injury—lessons that completely transformed how I approach aerial training:
The injury wasn't caused by one moment. It was caused by months of accumulated neglect. I had deprioritized my own conditioning. I had normalized being tired. I had trained myself to push through instead of listening to my body's signals.
Every "small" choice mattered. Poor sleep, inadequate recovery, skipping conditioning sessions, not taking rest days—each seemed insignificant on its own, but together they created a body that was vulnerable and depleted.
Teaching is not the same as training. Demonstrating moves for students doesn't replace dedicated conditioning work. It doesn't build the strength reserves you need to stay resilient.
No class or commitment is worth sacrificing your long-term health. I thought I was being responsible by showing up to teach. In reality, I was being reckless—both with my own wellbeing and with my students' example.
Recovery takes exponentially longer than prevention. I lost months to that injury. Years later, I'm still managing its effects. If I had invested even a fraction of that time in consistent conditioning and proper rest, I could have avoided it entirely.
This injury was my wake-up call. It forced me to completely restructure my priorities, my training approach, and my understanding of what it means to be a sustainable aerialist and teacher...and to eventually let go of my nonprofit so I could devote my time to my aerial business with the time and commitment needed to maintain a healthy balance in my personal life, teach schedule, and personal training needs.
Today, we're diving deep into injury prevention in aerial arts. Not because I want to scare you away from this beautiful practice, but because I care deeply about keeping you in the air for years to come—and I don't want you to learn these lessons the way I did.
The Reality of Aerial Injuries: What the Research Tells Us
Let's start with some perspective. Research on circus and aerial arts reveals that injuries are relatively common but largely preventable. Studies show injury rates ranging from 0.3 to 13.7 injuries per 1,000 training hours, with the majority classified as minor to moderate musculoskeletal complaints. The most frequently injured areas? The shoulders and upper extremities—accounting for a significant portion of all aerial-related injuries.
Here's what's crucial to understand: most of these injuries are not freak accidents. They're the result of inadequate preparation, improper progression, or training habits that don't support long-term health.
The Prevention Mindset: Shifting from Reactive to Proactive
In aerial arts, we often glorify pushing through pain, "earning our bruises," and working through discomfort. But there's a critical difference between productive challenge and destructive strain. An injury should never be normalized—it should be a clear signal that we need to strengthen our preventative practices.
Prevention isn't about being overly cautious or fearful. It's about being intelligent, intentional, and respectful of the fact that our bodies are the instruments of our art. Without them, there is no flying.
Proper Warm-Up: Your Non-Negotiable Foundation
A comprehensive warm-up does far more than "loosen you up." It increases blood flow to muscles, raises body temperature, activates neural pathways, and prepares your fascia and connective tissues for the demands ahead. Yet many students rush through warm-ups or skip them entirely when practicing at home.
An effective aerial warm-up should include:
- Cardiovascular activity to elevate heart rate and increase circulation
- Dynamic stretching that takes joints through their full range of motion
- Activation exercises for key muscle groups: rotator cuff, scapular stabilizers, core, and grip
- Ground-based progressions of movements you'll perform in the air (hollow body holds, pike lifts, controlled inversions)
Research consistently shows that proper warm-ups significantly reduce the risk of strains, sprains, and other soft tissue injuries. This isn't optional preparation—it's essential injury prevention.
Conditioning: Preparing Your Body So It Can Support Your Passion
One of the biggest mistakes in aerial training is skipping the strength work and jumping straight into tricks. When the body isn’t prepared—especially the shoulders, core, and grip—it finds “workarounds” that might get you through a move in the moment but quietly build toward injury later.
Conditioning isn’t about being the strongest person in the room—it’s about being strong enough to support the art you’re hanging from. It’s how you make sure your body can handle the load, twists, drops, and holds you ask of it.
Why It Matters
If your strength, grip, or stability can’t keep up with the skill you’re doing, your joints and tendons will take the hit. Injuries don’t come out of nowhere—they come when we skip the steps that keep us safe.
So how do you know if your training is protective or risky? Ask yourself:
- Do I feel strong and stable—not shaky or rushed—when I move?
- Can I hold positions with control, not momentum?
- Do I train muscles off the apparatus, not just tricks on it?
- Do I warm up and cool down, or jump straight in and dash out?
If most of your answers are no, your body is working on borrowed time.
Core Areas Everyone Should Be Conditioning
You don’t need fancy routines—just consistent basics that target aerial's most vulnerable areas:
1. Shoulders: Your First Line of Defense
If your shoulders wobble, shrug, or collapse during hangs or inverts, you're not ready for bigger skills. Strong, stable shoulders protect everything above and below them.
Red flag: Your shoulders reach for your ears during hangs or inverts.
2. Core: The Bridge Between Everything
Your core is what connects your hands to your toes. If it's weak, your shoulders, back, and hips will try to pick up the slack—and that's how injuries happen.
Red flag: You rely on swinging or kicking into inversions.
3. Grip: Your Only Real Connection to the Apparatus
When your grip fades, everything else fails. Grip isn’t just about strong hands—it’s about endurance and control.
Red flag: You are constantly re-adjust because your hands are tired or spraying grip spray endlessly on your hands.
Simple Ways to Check If You’re Training Smart
Can you hang for 30 seconds with control, not panic?
Can you lift into a tuck or pike on the ground without momentum?
Do you train strength and mobility outside of skills?
Do you end practice with stretching and recovery, not just a quick exit?
The Goal Isn’t Just Skill—It’s Longevity
Aerial is beautiful, but it's demanding. The goal isn't to do every trick—it’s to keep doing what you love year after year without pain. Conditioning is how you protect your future in the air.
Train for the body you want to fly with.
Final Thoughts
Aerial arts are inherently demanding. We ask our bodies to do extraordinary things. But that doesn't mean injury is inevitable. With intelligent training, proper preparation, and respect for the progressive nature of skill development, we can dramatically reduce injury risk and extend our aerial careers.
I share my story not to discourage you, but to illuminate the path I wish I had taken. If my experience can spare even one of you from learning these lessons through permanent injury, then the vulnerability of sharing it is worth it.
Your body is not an obstacle to overcome—it's your partner in this beautiful practice. Treat it with the care, preparation, and respect it deserves. Listen when it whispers, so it doesn't have to scream.
I now approach every training session with gratitude that I can still move, still teach, still fly—even if my left foot reminds me daily of the cost of not prioritizing prevention. Don't wait for your wake-up call. Let mine serve as yours.
Let's make prevention our priority, not recovery.
Fly smart, fly safe, fly long.
With care, humility, and commitment to your safety,
The Eternal Aerial Arts Team
Resources for Further Learning:
- Work with trained aerial instructors who emphasize technique and safety
- Consider supplementary training: physical therapy, aerial conditioning, or calisthenics
- Keep a training journal to track progress, identify patterns, and stay mindful of your body's responses
Questions or concerns about your training? Reach out to us. We're here to support your aerial journey—safely and sustainably.
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