Taking care of yourself is one of the best ways to make progress in your pole/aerial journey. Not to mention, it’s good for maintaining health and well being overall. Keep these tips in mind to help ensure that you feel your best.
Listen to Your Body
Know your limits and respect them. If there is something that you are physically unable to do (such as an exercise or trick), whether it’s something you’ve never been able to do or even if you’re just feeling extra tight today, don’t push yourself into it. Listen to your body’s signals to avoid injury. You can always ask or search for a modification that will work for you.
Typically, we want to avoid any pain when doing a trick or exercise. However, with pole and aerial, sometimes tricks are painful. It’s just the nature of the apparatuses – they can bruise and pinch, especially when a trick is new. We have to make a distinction between moves that are uncomfortable because of the apparatus itself, and moves that are painful because something is not quite working for your body. The first is okay, the second definitely is not. Be aware of the difference, recognize when something is just not right, and be gentle with yourself.
Balance Your Workouts
I know that it can be super tempting to just sign up for as many pole and aerial classes as you can. Why wouldn’t you want to? They’re so much fun! However, make sure that you are balancing your pole and aerial classes with other types of exercise to maximize your strength, endurance, and flexibility.
Stretching is really important to help maintain or increase your range of motion and to reduce risk of injury. Cardio is another beneficial fitness component. Especially if you feel like you’ve hit a plateau, doing cardio workouts will help to increase stamina and recovery. Get moving, go for a walk/run, or work up a sweat.
Rest Time
With the above said, make sure to include some down-time in your schedule. Getting rest is important to help your body recover and perform it’s best. This includes both building rest days into your workout routine, as well as making sure to get enough sleep. General recommendations advise around 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
Eat Healthy
Food is the fuel for our body – in order to feel our best, we need to feed ourselves food that makes us feel good. After all, our food provides us energy to get through the day. Focus on unprocessed foods, including healthy fats, proteins, whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Eating a wide variety of fresh food will help to ensure that you get all of the nutrients your body needs.
Stress Relief
Life can be so chaotic and overwhelming sometimes. Having an outlet to relieve stress is so important to help boost your mood and allow you to feel your best. Exercising is a fantastic way to help relieve stress. If you’re looking for an activity to help you wind down, try something that brings your focus into the present moment, such as meditation, journaling, or spending time in nature. These are all wonderful techniques for reducing stress and anxiety.
Self-Care Checklist
We’d like to share with you a free checklist that you can use as a guide to assist you on your path towards self-care. Don’t feel like you have to do all of these things every day, only take what resonates with you, or even add in your own tasks. Be gentle with yourself through this process. It’s okay if you don’t check off everything every day. Show yourself some love!
