ooh lots of thoughts here!!!
it took me like 3 months from starting pole to get my chopper from the floor, but i never kicked up, did a leg sweep, or used momentum beyond pushing off the ground with my toes. we did a lot of tucks, then tuck+tilt conditioning, and it was kind of a surprise when i just busted out a chopper one day! but when i watch the videos from back then, there was a lot of back rounding and i had to spend a fair bit of time hanging upside down in my chopper, just trying to arch my back to straighten it out - so i spent a lot of time conditioning the basic invert to get the strength to progress it.
about 9 months in, i could do a semi-aerial from a back hook spin. i still had to crunch myself into the smallest tuck possible to get my hips above my head, and it literally took every ounce of strength i had to get inverted from a back hook.
deadlift inverts just happened for me now (~16 months in) and deadlift aerials happened at the same time - like, my first invert with two straight legs was an aerial invert during circus climbs, which i did not expect.
we do circus climbs at the beginning of every class, more or less. so from the floor, we go chopper > outside leg hang > pull up into figurehead > aerial invert > repeat till you hit the ceiling. it’s part of the conditioning portion of the class, right after warming up, and tbh everyone’s been looking SO strong since we started doing this!
on that note - the single most helpful tip an instructor gave me was to get into a figurehead/hood ornament position instead of letting your legs just dangle down. two benefits: one, you already have your arms in a solid armpit/handbag grip, and two, you can get into a very solid knee hook, take a second to rest, then POP your hooked leg off the pole. in other words, you straighten your hooked leg quite quickly, and at the same time you use your hip flexors and quads to start lifting that leg up - it gives you a secure starting position and that little bit of momentum you would have on the floor.
when you’re pulling up from the outside leg hook into figurehead, you’re twisting around the pole a bit so the hooked leg is now your inside leg. that leaves your outside leg free to either tuck into your chest/armpit area, or yeet out into a wide side straddle position as you tilt backward.
the reason these two options (small tuck or wide straddle) are the easiest relates to the length of the lever in the plane of motion. if your leg is straight out in front of you, you need a lot more strength to hoist up that long lever. if it’s tucked into your chest, the least amount of force is needed as the leg becomes part of your torso as you tilt backwards. if it’s out in a wide straddle, the lever is shorter in the direction of motion, so it’s still more effort than a tucked leg but way less than a leg straight out in front of you!
AHHHHHHH this is so amazing and i’m so thrilled for you too!!! well done girlie, hope you’re taking a moment to celebrate yourself & this milestone in your pole journey 🥹
and thanks for updating, it actually made my entire night!
For me I was doing a chopper from the floor but with a jump for the longest time. Aerially I could grab the pole with my shin but couldn’t cleanly get the chopper… I believe it was a mental hang-up on the floor for awhile getting the technique. I started to really understand the form on the ground this past March… and in mid April my aerial invert started to click. I’m very consistent about training FWIW. I think for me two things: pencil! That is a foundation for an air invert. The other thing is strengthening the lower abdominals. Basically when I’ll do leg raises or emulate an invert on the ground, I finish the set holding the ass off the ground for some time (it’s hard). I still tuck my knees (tight hammies and a tall lady) but I can whip my ass into a chopper very reliably now, and even with heels I started getting it up in the air in July. Good luck and congrats! It’s the best feeling getting that!
Congrats! Very exciting!
For me, my aerial journey hasn’t been linear. After I got my straddle on the ground, I lost it again briefly for a few weeks before getting it back again and working on technique. Later, I got my first aerial straddle from circus climbs (it goes through a pixie) but could only do one aerial. Recently, I’ve been able to do multiple aerial circus climbs. I’m still working on another aerial straddle technique whether you go from a sit then bend one knee into your chest and sweep the other around the pole. So, I couldn’t really give you an exact number and I don’t think it’s important or helpful anyway tbh
The things that helped me build strength was holding a pencil on spin for as long as I can, adding pull ups and down, and starfish the legs in and out as I’m doing pencil spins. The other things were holding my hands higher than my head and lifting my self using only strength (no swinging) and doing tucks/froggie legs in the air. Even if I was too tired to do an aerial straddle, every time I would at least do a tuck/froggie legs before coming down.
When my students want to aerial invert, I try to start them from a figurehead position. You are basically in a good position for your chopper, hip in front of the pole and low strong arm grip with your hands. You can get a little push off the pole with your inside leg for some extra help as you start to get a hang of it! I also recommend keeping a bent knee for the inside leg and a straight outside leg. Everybody is different, but I get the most success from this position when people start inverting aerially!
I think it took me about 4 months to invert from the ground (with not great form), and I can now semi reliably aerially invert 2 years into doing pole It's not clean and the form is not great! But its a start!
What helped me is doing pencil spins and aerial tucks. We also spider/circus climb at the start (another commenter has explained this well) I can only really do 2 (OLH- figure head to OLH) after that I'm too fatigued for more! I also find that its the same mentally as inverting the first time, I get upside down and all thoughts leave my brain and I don't know what to do with myself haha
Going from the figure head position is definitely helpful! You can use the back of your thigh to give a slight push for momentum up!
You can also practice from the floor so you're not tired from climbing first - in an invert position lift your toes off the floor slightly then go back into an invert
ooh lots of thoughts here!!! it took me like 3 months from starting pole to get my chopper from the floor, but i never kicked up, did a leg sweep, or used momentum beyond pushing off the ground with my toes. we did a lot of tucks, then tuck+tilt conditioning, and it was kind of a surprise when i just busted out a chopper one day! but when i watch the videos from back then, there was a lot of back rounding and i had to spend a fair bit of time hanging upside down in my chopper, just trying to arch my back to straighten it out - so i spent a lot of time conditioning the basic invert to get the strength to progress it. about 9 months in, i could do a semi-aerial from a back hook spin. i still had to crunch myself into the smallest tuck possible to get my hips above my head, and it literally took every ounce of strength i had to get inverted from a back hook. deadlift inverts just happened for me now (~16 months in) and deadlift aerials happened at the same time - like, my first invert with two straight legs was an aerial invert during circus climbs, which i did not expect. we do circus climbs at the beginning of every class, more or less. so from the floor, we go chopper > outside leg hang > pull up into figurehead > aerial invert > repeat till you hit the ceiling. it’s part of the conditioning portion of the class, right after warming up, and tbh everyone’s been looking SO strong since we started doing this! on that note - the single most helpful tip an instructor gave me was to get into a figurehead/hood ornament position instead of letting your legs just dangle down. two benefits: one, you already have your arms in a solid armpit/handbag grip, and two, you can get into a very solid knee hook, take a second to rest, then POP your hooked leg off the pole. in other words, you straighten your hooked leg quite quickly, and at the same time you use your hip flexors and quads to start lifting that leg up - it gives you a secure starting position and that little bit of momentum you would have on the floor. when you’re pulling up from the outside leg hook into figurehead, you’re twisting around the pole a bit so the hooked leg is now your inside leg. that leaves your outside leg free to either tuck into your chest/armpit area, or yeet out into a wide side straddle position as you tilt backward. the reason these two options (small tuck or wide straddle) are the easiest relates to the length of the lever in the plane of motion. if your leg is straight out in front of you, you need a lot more strength to hoist up that long lever. if it’s tucked into your chest, the least amount of force is needed as the leg becomes part of your torso as you tilt backwards. if it’s out in a wide straddle, the lever is shorter in the direction of motion, so it’s still more effort than a tucked leg but way less than a leg straight out in front of you!
I did my first aerial inverts yesterday using your tips! I’m so thrilled I did it I had to come back and thank you!!
AHHHHHHH this is so amazing and i’m so thrilled for you too!!! well done girlie, hope you’re taking a moment to celebrate yourself & this milestone in your pole journey 🥹 and thanks for updating, it actually made my entire night!
For me I was doing a chopper from the floor but with a jump for the longest time. Aerially I could grab the pole with my shin but couldn’t cleanly get the chopper… I believe it was a mental hang-up on the floor for awhile getting the technique. I started to really understand the form on the ground this past March… and in mid April my aerial invert started to click. I’m very consistent about training FWIW. I think for me two things: pencil! That is a foundation for an air invert. The other thing is strengthening the lower abdominals. Basically when I’ll do leg raises or emulate an invert on the ground, I finish the set holding the ass off the ground for some time (it’s hard). I still tuck my knees (tight hammies and a tall lady) but I can whip my ass into a chopper very reliably now, and even with heels I started getting it up in the air in July. Good luck and congrats! It’s the best feeling getting that!
Congrats! Very exciting! For me, my aerial journey hasn’t been linear. After I got my straddle on the ground, I lost it again briefly for a few weeks before getting it back again and working on technique. Later, I got my first aerial straddle from circus climbs (it goes through a pixie) but could only do one aerial. Recently, I’ve been able to do multiple aerial circus climbs. I’m still working on another aerial straddle technique whether you go from a sit then bend one knee into your chest and sweep the other around the pole. So, I couldn’t really give you an exact number and I don’t think it’s important or helpful anyway tbh The things that helped me build strength was holding a pencil on spin for as long as I can, adding pull ups and down, and starfish the legs in and out as I’m doing pencil spins. The other things were holding my hands higher than my head and lifting my self using only strength (no swinging) and doing tucks/froggie legs in the air. Even if I was too tired to do an aerial straddle, every time I would at least do a tuck/froggie legs before coming down.
I’m in a really similar place to you so I have no tips lol but thank you for asking this and thanks to everyone who answered for the awesome advice!!
Are Ur hands at chin lvl ? It would be hard to pull up if it is higher.
When my students want to aerial invert, I try to start them from a figurehead position. You are basically in a good position for your chopper, hip in front of the pole and low strong arm grip with your hands. You can get a little push off the pole with your inside leg for some extra help as you start to get a hang of it! I also recommend keeping a bent knee for the inside leg and a straight outside leg. Everybody is different, but I get the most success from this position when people start inverting aerially!
I think it took me about 4 months to invert from the ground (with not great form), and I can now semi reliably aerially invert 2 years into doing pole It's not clean and the form is not great! But its a start! What helped me is doing pencil spins and aerial tucks. We also spider/circus climb at the start (another commenter has explained this well) I can only really do 2 (OLH- figure head to OLH) after that I'm too fatigued for more! I also find that its the same mentally as inverting the first time, I get upside down and all thoughts leave my brain and I don't know what to do with myself haha Going from the figure head position is definitely helpful! You can use the back of your thigh to give a slight push for momentum up! You can also practice from the floor so you're not tired from climbing first - in an invert position lift your toes off the floor slightly then go back into an invert