The Circus Workout

Helen Whitaker

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Roll up, roll up: Helen Whitaker reveals how you can trapeze, trampoline and tumble your way to a leaner, tighter figure!

Pink pulled off amazing aerial moves in her Funhouse tour, while Britney is playing ringmaster in The Circus here in November. As a fitness trend, it covers all major muscle groups and will break an exercise rut. And while Aussie gyms are still warming up to circus-themed classes, there are now more places than ever to throw your hat in the ring.

Trapeze
Stars are leading the way with trapeze, which provides a great upper-body and core workout; even before you master the more complicated “release and catch” manoeuvres, you’ll be toning muscles by hanging on for dear life. Anna Paquin recently flew through the air with the greatest of ease in Los Angeles, Amy Winehouse took trapeze lessons during a trip to St Lucia, and Trapeze School New York is a celeb hotspot (remember Carrie’s foray into the aerial arts in SATC?).

Mischa Barton is hooked on Reebok’s new trapeze collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, Jukari Fit To Fly, which is currently rolling out in select gyms around the world. Using a “FlySet” apparatus suspended from the ceiling, it works abs, glutes, lats and legs.

Best for: flexible body types. To go through the movements, flexibility is more important than having huge upper-body muscles
Great for: upper body (especially back and biceps), abs, coordination
Kilojoules burned per hour: up to 2100, which is the equivalent of a 10km run

Trampoline
Aside from giving happy childhood flashbacks, trampolining is a great fat burner. “Rebounding” (straight bouncing) is low-impact on knees and joints, so it’s good for people who are overweight or have joint problems, and it’s a full-body cardio workout – as fan Reese Witherspoon can testify. Basic tricks are relatively easy to learn and trampolining promotes “cellular fitness”, improves bone density and stimulates the lymphatic system.

Best for: people seeking a fat-burning, low-impact, full-body workout
Great for: back, stomach muscles, hamstrings, quads, calves and hips, as well as the shoulders
Kilojoules burned per hour: 1460-1800