Illness Archives - Laura Witwer, SassyPants Aerial Arts

5 Ways to Bounce Your Booty Back Faster After a Break

By LewitwerJanuary 10, 201313 commentsIllness, Training, Uncategorized

Happy New Year, Dear Danglers!!!! Welcome back! OK – hands up if you completely abandoned your training and drank too much cabernet over the holidays! ME TOO. Oh dear. Time to get back in the game! So how do you jump back in safely and fabulously after being away for a few weeks? A few months? A Year? Grab some cawfee and we’ll tawk. And pass me a bottle of red….

Why You Were Away Matters

I was 4 months post-partum. Things were still harder than I wanted them to be!

So, why were you away? Vacation? Pregnancy & birth? Injury? Slacking? The reason for your absence matters a lot, and can give you a more realistic timeline for returning to your previous level of awesomeness. For example, if you just had a baby, you are realistically looking at 8-12 weeks between birth and the time you can get back in the air (not counting the months when that SPECTACULAR baby bump made that trapeze too crowded to do anything but pose on). Injured? You can only go as quickly as your injury will allow. Even a two week vacation can mess with your game when you’re in the early days of romancing an apparatus.

I know, I hear you – you want to be back to your rock star self TODAY RIGHT NOW THIS VERY MINUTE PLEASE. I get it – it’s no fun to feel like you worked your tushie off just to see that hard work go out the window with a gallon of eggnog, a two week Real Housewives marathon, and zero movement. So, as I heave myself back into the air, I invite you to do the same, and keep this on your radar.

5 Ways to Get Back in the Game Faster

1 – Don’t hurt yourself by going balls to the wall day one! Take your temperature (not literally, unless you really want to), see where you are, and never gage success by the first day back. Push yourself too hard in your frustration, and you could wind up with an injury that will prolong your hiatus! This especially applies to returning to aerial work after having a baby. Hello? You just made a person and catapulted them into the world! Cut yourself some slack!

2 – Trust the training & be where you are (I spent a half an hour trying to insert a little gong sound here. I failed, so GONGGGGGGGG!). You are where you are where you are, and no amount of beating yourself up is going to change that. Take it from me – you’ll be back in the game WAY sooner than you think! Breathe and train.

3 – Avoid mental games. Right about this time, your Inner Meanie is going to rear it’s ugly head, and try to convince you that it’s-all-pointless-the-hard-work-is-all-gone-you-suck-and-you’ll-never-have-that-hip-key-again. This is not true. You had it once, you will have it again. Shut up, Meanie.

4 – Do your best work. Cut yourself some slack? Yes. Let yourself off the hook and make excuses? NO. Work as hard and as diligently as you safely can – you’ll feel good knowing that even if you’re not back to where you were, you did your absolute best and that matters more. It really does. Remember: this is temporary!

5 – Visualize & remember. By session 3, you’ll likely have a good idea of where you actually are and what needs your attention. Review your notes on these moves and see if you’re slipped back into poor technique which may be holding you back. Try to remember in your mind and body what that move felt like, and see if you can come any closer to recapturing that sensation.

At the end of the day, it really does boil down to two things: 1) patience 2) realistic expectations. Take a deep breath, and accept where you are. Tough love: you don’t have a choice. Focus on the step just in front of you, and really celebrate every move forward – you’ll be back to your badass self in no time at all! Love and pull-ups, Laura

As always, if you like this post, share it on your blog, the F-books, Twitter, and wherever else you crazy kids are sharing things these days.

When The Show Must Go On: Performing Aerial Anything When You’re Sick

My aerial partner Angela and I were going straight from India to Portugal, where we were to begin a two month contract at the Casino Estoril. FABULOUS! We were so careful while in India – only ate steaming cooked foods, drank bottled water, etc. Our flight to Portugal was fine, and the next morning we hung our trapeze and settled in up there for about 10 minutes while they focused our lights. It was then that disaster struck. Let’s just say that it was the longest 10 minutes of our lives, and the rest of the day wasn’t pretty. So, what if this had been a show day? When are you too sick to go on? Grab your Pepto and read on.

How Sick is Too Sick?

Now, let’s be clear. When I say “illness”, I don’t mean ebola. If the phrase “do you want me to hold your hair” is in play, hanging upside down is probably not in your immediate future. Generally speaking, if you are sick enough to know yourself to be unsafe, there is no question – you cannot perform.

How To Get Through That Show

A cold or mild upset is another story if calling in a swing or sitting this one out is out of the question. Now, I can’t tell you what YOU should do, but I can tell you what has worked for us in the past.

If we were battling congestion, aches, etc., we used an over the counter fever reducer like Tylenol & a decongestant spray like Afrin (avoid system-wide cold meds like the plague when you’re performing – they dry you out and really do a number on you). This generally kept our heads from exploding when we went upside down, and got us through a number of shows.

Saline nasal sprays have been helpful too for light congestion

Day of the show, rest as much as you can and hydrate like mad

Wear a mask backstage if you’re contagious, and distance yourself so you don’t infect the whole cast. Nobody wants your cooties.

We found that the adrenaline of performing often made us feel better! For about 15 minutes anyway….

How To Cancel That Show

My general rule is this: if you’re so sick that you would give up concert tickets you stayed up for four days to get, you’re too sick to perform. Your safety has to be the priority. Give the people who hired you as much of a heads up as you can. If you can line up a replacement for yourself, so much the better! You should have an injury or illness clause in your contract that essentially says that if you are very ill or injured at the time of the show, you are released from your contract.

Take two and call me in the morning, lovelies! Love and pull-ups, Laura

As always, if you like this post, share it on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, and wherever else you crazy kids are sharing things these days!