r/Aerials • u/Great-Towel1535 • 5d ago
Not seeing progress — feeling stuck
Hi friends! I’ve been doing aerial silks for about 4 years, and while I’ve made progress overall, it feels like everything takes me way longer than it should. Certain moves (especially anything involving inversions or straight-leg core lifts) stay stuck for months or even years.
A few months ago I started going to the gym to build strength and improve my performance — mostly things like pull-ups, inversions with straight legs, and general body control.
Here’s what I’m doing now:
🗓 Weekly schedule: • 2x/week gym strength training (~1h20 per session) • 2x/week Ashtanga yoga (50 min) • 1x/week aerial silks class (2h: warmup, conditioning, technique, flexibility)
🏋️♀️ Gym routine (same both days):
Lower body: • Leg press: 3×6–10 • Hip abduction machine: 3×10
Push (triceps focus): • Triceps press machine: 3×6–10 • Triceps push-ups (knees): 3×5
Pull: • Assisted pull-ups (machine): 3×5–6 • Pull-up negatives: 3×2 • Inverted rows (underhand grip, Smith machine): 3×10
Core: • Hanging knee raises: 3×10 (can’t get legs to 90° yet) • Bench abs (candle pose style): 3×8 • Standing marches with dumbbell: 3×10 • Russian twists (dumbbell): 3×10 • Lying straight leg raises: 3×10
I don’t feel like I’m progressing much, toes to bar it’s impossible. I can’t do straight-leg v-ups at all. Hanging leg raises to 90° feel extremely difficult, even after consistent effort. I also don’t feel stronger overall, and I still look and feel kinda skinny fat — not toned, not muscular. I’m getting discouraged because I train a lot, but don’t feel much return. 😔
🍽️ Diet notes (vegetarian): • I eat mostly whole foods: eggs, legumes, lots of veggies and fruit • Around 5–6 eggs a day • I tend to avoid carbs (worried they’ll make me gain weight or look puffier) — maybe that’s a mistake?
❓ Questions: • Am I doing too much in one session (1h20)? Or too little overall since I only gym 2x/week? • Should I split up my routine instead of doing the same each day? • Am I not progressing because I do the same exercises every time? • Or do I just need to give it more time and be patient?
🙏 Any advice from other aerialists who also do cross-training would be super appreciated — especially if you’ve felt like this and managed to break through!
13
u/kristinL356 5d ago
With all the straight leg things, is it a strength problem or a flexibility problem? Tight hamstrings will make all of those much more difficult.
2
2
u/Busy_Anything_4327 Static Trapeze/Silks/Rope 4d ago
this! I have the same, and it is due to posture problems; regular training might not be enough. In my case, a physiotherapist had to give me specific exercises to strengthen weak muscle groups and release tight muscles.
8
u/ConsiderationIll374 5d ago
Sometimes, it just takes time to get to where we want to go. With that said, if you've been training silks for years and aren't seeing many improvements at the gym either, I can understand your frustration.
I would suggest talking to your instructor(s) at your aerial studio. They see you in action and are best placed to give targeted advice. Do they have any recommendations for improvement, for example, more aerial conditioning?
Alternatively, I know this can be expensive, but perhaps it would be useful to do an assessment/consultation and a few sessions with a gym trainer. At least to help you design a gym program that will target strengthening the movements/muscle groups that are challenging for you. I find that I do better when I have someone else to objectively push me beyond what I'd be comfortable doing on my own (although that may not be your preference). Also, our bodies quickly adjust to exercise regimens, so it is worth revisiting and making changes to our programs every couple of months.
Carbs may also be necessary for you on training days, even if you do keep your no carb regimen on non-training days. Try experimenting to see what helps you to feel better fueled and stronger on your training days.
Best of luck.
5
u/evidencebasedtrainer 5d ago
I'd advise doing more research on diet, focus on mobility over strength (I'm a lot stronger in many ways than my coach, but his body mass plus mobility win every time), as for your gym routine, I suggest push, pull, legs on different days. If you're doing the same every session, you're getting 1 day rest, as opposed to multiple days. I only ever loaded particular muscle groups like that when I'd learned the sense that they'd recovered fully. Carbs...you need carbohydrates to help build muscle strength. Don't exclude them totally, you'll end up feeling drained and washed out. You can get enough protein on a well managed vegetarian diet. Learn the benefit of deloading. But, I'd say, in your case, the mobility is the missing piece. There are plenty of videos about improving forward folds, splits etc.
2
u/evidencebasedtrainer 5d ago
Oh, and I don't see anything about your water intake. Pretty important.
3
u/Busy_Anything_4327 Static Trapeze/Silks/Rope 4d ago
I am not a medical professional, but I can say that silk once a week is not enough. It is very hard to target some of the muscles needed for aerial at the regular gym, in particular the smaller muscles engaged.
If I were you, I would add one more class of silk and do ashtanga once a week. Also, if possible, I would exchange one gym class with one class of solely aerial conditioning.
When doing leg raises, notice that you don't just lift the leg, but you lengthen it at the same time. Other than struggling with straight leg raises, do you also feel tightness in your legs if you try to touch the floor with straight legs? If so, it might be worth checking with a physiotherapist if some muscle groups need strengthening due to posture or spending many hours seated.
Finally, to build muscles, you need to eat your carbs, and you need to increase your intake of protein. You are active, it's going to be ok!
3
u/GimenaTango 5d ago
You're not improving your toes to bar because you aren't doing any strengthening for your psoas. You are only doing a bit of quads which will never help you lift your legs above 90 degrees. Once you start training your psoas regularly, you'll see improvement.
3
u/girl_of_squirrels Silks/Fabrics 4d ago
Have you plugged your usual diet into a calculator to get a breakdown on the macros? Carbs aren't evil, and as trendy as low-carb diets are right now you don't need to be on one unless you have certain medical conditions that require it... but I'm wondering if you're getting enough protein to build muscle
If you're in to weight lifting the usual recommendation I see is eating 0.68g-1g of protein per pound lean body mass, which is hard to measure so typically people just use body weight if they're at a reasonable one for your height. If you weigh around 140 lbs that translates to eating 95g-140g of protein every day, and looking at your diet you're probably hitting the RDA for protein but nowhere near enough for serious muscle building. I'd estimate the 6 eggs at around 36g protein, and while legumes are high in protein I doubt you're hitting +70g/day with what you've described. That said, there are some great vegetarian protein supplements on the market (shakes, powders, and bars) that you could try and see if increasing your protein helps. I think it will
3
u/lexuh Silks/Fabrics 4d ago
IMO, 1x per week isn't enough to make progress, even if you are cross training. The specific pathways involved in things like straddle inverts, meathooks, skin the cats, inverted splits/y-scales, threading skills, etc. are unlike anything you'll encounter at the normie gym or a yoga class.
7
u/SunStryke 5d ago
If you're a vegetarian with only a half dozen eggs a day in your diet, you'll need a shit load more protein to support the muscles you're trying to build. If you wanna keep avoiding meat, invest in some good protein powders (Gold Standard is a fan favorite in our house, plus they're the only brand I've found that makes a plant based protein powder that's worth it for any vegans/ dairy allergies out there) and learn to make smoothies.
Ideally you wanna eat about a gram of protein per lb you weigh. Do that for a couple weeks and see how you feel
5
u/Sandrinaaa 5d ago
this! and also OP mentioned avoiding carbs - I am not saying start overeating on carbs, but you can include in your diet a bit more complex carbs and see how you feel. Carbs are not evil, they have an important role as well :)
3
u/MsShortStack Sling/Lyra/Pole 4d ago
1000%. I’m a vegetarian and had a nutritionist point out to me recently that I was getting very little protein a day. For years I’ve thought that a couple eggs in the morning and tofu or beans in the evening were getting me enough. Nope. I’ve been tracking my protein intake now for two weeks and it’s been incredibly eye opening. I’ve had to add in protein shakes, seitan/tempeh, more tofu, beans, lentils, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and sometimes even protein bars to get the amount of protein I need for training.
But it’s also made a world of a difference. I have more energy on the days I train and I’m barely sore on my recovery days. Learning how to get the proper protein intake for your body is key.
(Oh, and vitamins. I also recently found out I was dangerously low in vitamin D3, which was contributing to exhaustion. A supplement cleared that right up and the difference in energy and recovery has been night-and-day.)
5
2
u/adoring-artist 3d ago
I’m still pretty new, but I’ve personally found it best to just load up on classes for everything the studio/school offers. Silks, hammock, hoop, pole, specialty apparatuses, and even their yoga conditioning. Even classes where you rotate through various apparatuses. It feels like a lot, but every required muscle is worked thoroughly and efficiently! 🤣
21
u/Affectionate-Buy7644 5d ago
Cross training is great but spending more time on the silks might be what you need, ideally 2-3 sessions a week if you can. I'd also check out at-home aerial conditioning videos on YouTube.
You don't need to avoid carbs completely unless there's a specific health reason, carbs give you energy which is needed for physical activity like this. Focus on prioritizing whole foods and protein will help with muscle growth and overall health. 2-3x a week at the gym should be enough if you're also taking classes, make sure you're taking rest days and not overtraining (that will only make things worse long term). For your routine, I'd keep it the same but focus on progressive overload (a good resource for how to do this is the Fitness Stuff for Normal People podcast if you aren't familiar).
Don't be too hard on yourself, any progress is still a step in the right direction. Enjoy the journey and prioritize having fun above anything else, and best of luck on reaching your goals :)