Straight arm straddle inversions are a goal for many aerialists, and yet they are SOOO HARD!! Why? Because straight arm straddle inversions are an advanced skill that involves many parts of the body doing the right thing at the right time and working together. It takes time and practice and a focus on working on the parts of the movement that are the most challenging for you. Here is my tutorial for straight arm straddle inversions. See the video on youtube here.

Tutorial Overview

First things first. YOU MUST ALREADY HAVE A STRONG BENT ARM STRADDLE INVERSION. This tells us that your foundational pull strength and core are ready to move to the next level. If you DO NOT YET have a strong bent arm straddle inversion, click here for your next steps.

To begin, warm up your straddle. Find my straddle tips here.

  1. Floor Drills – Laying on your back.
  • 10 pike to straddle switches
  • From reclining straddle pulse legs towards the floor
  • Lift straddle to star to straddle to pike – 5-10 times
  • Look for straddle pike end range
  • 10 straddle pike booty lifts
  • Start to pull with arms and round your spine up into inversion
    • Version 1 – arms next to hips (using arms only when needed)
    • Version 2 – arms overhead holding a strong resistance band to support
    • Version 3 – arms overhead not holding anything
      • This might not work for everyone due to differences in anatomy. Don’t worry if this seems impossible. Just keep trying. The engagement of the muscles will help your inversion in the air. Don’t give up.
  1. Looking at Arm/Shoulder movment in the inversion
  • Arms overhead – SCAP WRAP using shoulder stabilizers, but NOT the lats.
  • As arms come down in front of us, start to depress the shoulder blades and open the upper back and chest equally.

Apparatus Drills

  1. Kill the Bug
  • Kill the Bug – top of the straddle inversion. Kill a bug between your wrists and your groin using your push with the arms/shoulders and lift of the pelvis (like we did laying on the floor).
    • Straight spine
    • Open chest and shoulders
    • Butthole towards the sky / ‘poop on the ceiling’
  • Pencil to Kill the Bug
    • Option to go back to pencil. You may need someone to spot your hips to get back up.

3. Overhead / long arm hang w scap wrap 4 Exercises

  • First laying on the floor (not using your arms at all)
  • Then long arm hold on apparatus
    • 3-5 tucks (stabilize spine and flex hips and knees into tuck)
    • 3-5 tuck tucks (stabilize tuck and round lower spine without pulling w the lats)
    • 3-5 pike to straddle w straight spine
      • You can bend your knees if you need – tuck to froggy
    • 3-5 froggy or straddle tuck (stabilize legs/hips while rounding lower spine)
  1. Slide the Blood
  • Start from Kill the Bug and start sliding the blood up your arms and down your legs.
    • Make sure you finish the movement in Kill the Bug position every time. Don’t go so low that you can’t get back up again.
    • Do 3-5 repetitions without failing. Repetitions are your friends with this one.
    • Keep doing this exercise until you can slide the blood all the way down to overhead hang and back up again.

Keep at it!

Don’t expect yourself to get this move in a couple weeks. Keep at these drills for several weeks or months. Notice the small improvements over time. Some days will be harder and some easier. That is normal. But notice how over time, you start to get just a little bit better or it becomes a little bit more normalized. Don’t give up! This technique works! But you have to keep at it and trust the process. Working with a coach can make it even better!

Come train with me in person! Check out our upcoming aerial retreats at our beautiful eco-training center, Casa Chango, in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Click here to see upcoming retreats.

Enjoy the process!