The Age- Defying Benefits Of Aerial Fitness

Aerial fitness classes burn 320 calories, firm every inch and supply a unique kind of exercise high. Want a lift? Of course you do.

- Caitlin Carlson & Estelle Low

Your first look at the latest fitness trend might have been on Instagram (#AerialYoga), where pics of gorgeous, gravity defying yoga poses have been proliferating. But you don’t need to be an acrobat – far from it – to learn and love aerial, or antigravity, workouts.

The classes really started gaining traction in the form of yoga a few years back (they’ve since branched out to include hybrids, including aerial barre) and began attracting newbies and devoted yogis alike. The gist: Hop into a silky sling-like hammock, which is draped from the ceiling and supports your full body weight. You’ll manoeuvre the fabric so that you hold poses (like headstands) or perform tricks (swings, backflips) inside it, or you’ll use it as you would a TRX suspension trainer, to support your feet for exercises like push-ups or your palms for triceps dips.

These out-of-the-box workouts are no gimmick: A new study from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) found that women who did three 50-minute aerial yoga classes a week for six weeks lost an average of 1kg, 2 per cent body fat, and about 2.5cm from their waist, all while amping up their VO2 max (a measure of fitness) by a whopping 11 per cent. In fact, aerial yoga qualifies as a moderate-intensity workout that, at times, can veer into vigorous territory.