Flip your workout on its head at AIR Charlotte

I’m trying out a different workout class each week and reporting back for your entertainment every Wednesday. Homegrown fitness concepts all the way up to the big national franchises. Follow along here, browse our fitness archives for more, send class suggestions to [email protected].

Vitals

Name: AIR Charlotte
Class: AIR® CORE
Location: 1043-C Providence Road
Class schedule: see schedule here
Class duration: AIR Core is 35 minutes; other classes are 50 minutes
Drop-in rate: $30
Monthly membership: $175 monthly unlimited pass ($100 first month special for new clients)
Pros: Playful workout with the added challenge of balancing in the aerial silks
Cons: Unfamiliar equipment (aerial silks) that might take some getting used to. There’s also the potential risk of falling onto your face which is not so pleasant.

How to dress and what to bring

Since you’re working in the air with the silks, I’d recommend fitted clothes that won’t get tangled up. You’ll be barefoot for class and should take your shoes off outside before walking into the studio. A mat is provided.

What to expect in class

Here’s how it’s described on the website: “What’s a floating sit up, you ask? Welcome to AIR® CORE, the ultimate core workout on aerial silk hammocks. A 35-minute total core workout designed to strengthen + tone your abdominal, obliques and lower back.”

We started with some light stretching and a quick aerial trick (flipping upside down into shoulder stand in the silk) before moving into the core-focused workout. There were some familiar moves (like planks and lunges) with one foot in the silk to throw off your balance and engage the core.

There were also trickier aerial-specific moves like a V-sit balancing on the silk and hanging sit-ups where you dangle with your feet hooked into the silk and head hanging upside down near for floor and have to sit all the way up. Not easy.

If you ever feel uncomfortable being off the ground, the instructor provides optional modifications for doing all the moves on the mat instead.

Where you’ll feel it the next day

Core, ideally. But there’s also a good bit of arm work involved in holding yourself up on the silks.

Locker room situation

There’s no shower but they’ve got a small bathroom and two changing rooms.

My take

Aerial workouts offer a welcome playfulness I don’t always find in all my workouts. The unfamiliar feeling of instability while trying to balance in the silks is a new kind of challenge that calls on strength in a different way than working out on solid ground.

None of it’s easy but for me it’s also not a heart-pounding, sweat-dripping workout. Aerial workouts are more of that calm, controlled muscle-shaking kind of experience you might recognize from something like barre or pilates.

The CORE class I did was an express bodyweight workout so I’d love to get back in and try one of the full 50-minute tabata classes that combine high-intensity interval training and static holds in the silks.

Connect with AIR Charlotte

(Each location has its own social accounts so I’m linking to corporate)

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