Technique #3 Changing Run Up into aerial pt 2

         Welcome to my third blog! In my last blog, I went over what this blog was going to be on but for a recap, this is going to be changing my run up part two! There were two techniques in the book that I wanted to try, one was last blog and this is the second one. The second run up will be a chaines turn!

          The book this blog is based on, Top 25 gymnastics skills, tips, and tricks by Jeff Savage, had a lot of great information on chaines turns and using them as a run up. Instead of an actual run, a chaines is a type of turn. I chose to focus to focus on this because in a dance routine, a turn could look better than just running up. "A chaines is a three point turn that on the third step you use as a prep in to your aerial. The last step you need to make sure you do into a deep plie so you have enough power to do your aerial. Since you are turning in to it, it is very important to spot." (Savage 24). I think this will help me work on my strength in my aerial. Using just 2 steps and one prep takes a lot of strength for this chaines turn. Spotting is picking a point on the wall (or whatever you're facing) and looking at that point as you turn until your head cant reach to look at in anymore then whipping it around and continuing to turn and find that same spot (Savage 25). Spotting is very important when you add a trick after turning because it will help you not become as dizzy.

          Trying out this technique,  I went to  Metropolitan Gym. Using this skill was so far the most helpful. I would have never thought of turning into an aerial, but it comes very helpful in dance. Doing it on spring based gymnastics floor actually didn't effect the out come. I tried it on regular gym floor and dance floor and all three had the same positive outcome. I spotted hard so I didn't get dizzy and I noticed it worked really well. I tried not spotting and my aerial wasn't as strong and it was harder to do. Though it looks very nice it does take a lot more strength. In the book, Top 25 gymnastics skills, tips, and tricks, there are multiple workouts to help build up the strength needed. Even when I did spot, it still took a lot of strength. As you can see in the pictures, my head is pretty close to the ground compared to last week (you can see photos from then in my last blog), but i still feel very comfortable using this technique. It has changed me as a dancer/gymnast because it has made me gain more strength.

          Thank you so much for reading my blog! I'd like to end with the question of, what do you think the most used muscle is in an aerial? Why do you think the book says it takes so much strength to do this trick?


Savage, Jeff. Top 25 Gymnastics Skills, Tips, and Tricks. Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2012.