Lauren Kehl is a Seattle-based aerial coach, Pilates instructor, and GYROTONIC® trainer known for her technical expertise and innovative approach to coaching. She began her aerial training in 2008 and has been coaching for over 15 years, dedicating her career to refining technique and advancing coaching methodologies. As a curriculum developer and co-leader of the teacher training program at Versatile Arts, Lauren specializes in mentoring other coaches, helping them build a strong foundation in biomechanics, progressions, and student-centered teaching strategies. She has developed Movement First Aerial, her own methodology that focuses on understanding foundational movement patterns to create strength, efficiency, and artistry in the air. Lauren works with students of every level, tailoring her teaching to meet individual needs while fostering growth and confidence. Her approach blends aerial arts with Pilates and The GYROTONIC® Method, creating a holistic foundation for strength, flexibility, and injury prevention. Her work is a trusted resource for aerial instructors and students alike, providing tools to deepen technical understanding and refine their practice. Learn more about Lauren and her resources at laurenkehl.com.
Compression Isn’t Helping You Stay Upside-Down—Here’s Why
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Hey Reader, Compression is not helping you stay in your inversion I don’t know if this is obvious or not, but I had a conversation about it the other day, so I figured I should talk about it. I had them show me what they were doing and we talked about it for a bit. At a certain point I said: “It seems like you’re really trying to hold compression and I don’t think it’s helping you.” And they told me that “compress more” was one of the main pieces of advice they had been receiving. Here’s why that’s not helping you stay upside-down once you get upside-down: Compression is super useful in the process of getting your butt over your head. It helps you bring your mass closer to your center of gravity, and it changes your weight distribution. Absolutely essential if you want to go upside-down, with straight or bent arms, and straight or bent legs! We need to get small and round, in the case of bent arm inversions, or get more weight towards your head in straight arm inversions. And compression is how that’s going to happen! But once you get upside-down? Especially if this is something you struggle with? Compression is going to pull your ass back down to the ground. The most efficient way to stay upside-down (and if you struggle, efficiency is 100% the only way you’re going to do this) is to stack your pelvis over your shoulders and get your spine pretty close to straight. And in order to do that you have to come out of compression! A tuck position with your arms on the outside of your body is going to be the easiest way to do this. It allows you to get your pelvis fully balanced over the shoulders, and your arms all the way to the sides of the your body. A straddle position is inherently more difficult because having your hands together with your arms in front of you is going to keep you from fully stacking your pelvis. For those of us without a big ol’ booty, with longer arms, with a short torso, with manageable boobs, etc, this is something that is relatively easy to accommodate. But if you DO have a booty, short arms, long torso, boobs, belly, etc, this becomes a much more challenging proposition. Because any of the above anatomical variations make it significantly more difficult to find a stacked position. A butt that is big and not fully stacked is just trying to pull you back down to the ground. Short arms make it impossible to lift the hips high enough without unlocking the elbows to get the chest through the arms enough to start to stack the spine. A long torso just adds to that scenario. Boobs and bellies also get in the way of the same thing. All those things keep your weight behind your arms, instead of getting it above your shoulders. And then you fall out of your inversion. So if you’re struggling with these issues, AND you’re trying to stay compressed once you get upside-down? It’s a recipe for failure! Once you have a strong inverted position, compression might be a tool that you use to pass through your invert dynamically, but you’ve got to have that baseline before you can add dynamic power to it. Inverting is something that I help people with A LOT! There is a lot going on, and a lot to think about. And I'm going to share all my thoughts, exercises, and what to watch for in my next masterclass Get Your Butt Over Your Head! If you struggle to invert, or work with students who do, you'll definitely want to check this out! December 15th, 10am PST Live on Zoom Love, Lauren |
Lauren Kehl Aerial Fitness
Lauren Kehl is a Seattle-based aerial coach, Pilates instructor, and GYROTONIC® trainer known for her technical expertise and innovative approach to coaching. She began her aerial training in 2008 and has been coaching for over 15 years, dedicating her career to refining technique and advancing coaching methodologies. As a curriculum developer and co-leader of the teacher training program at Versatile Arts, Lauren specializes in mentoring other coaches, helping them build a strong foundation in biomechanics, progressions, and student-centered teaching strategies. She has developed Movement First Aerial, her own methodology that focuses on understanding foundational movement patterns to create strength, efficiency, and artistry in the air. Lauren works with students of every level, tailoring her teaching to meet individual needs while fostering growth and confidence. Her approach blends aerial arts with Pilates and The GYROTONIC® Method, creating a holistic foundation for strength, flexibility, and injury prevention. Her work is a trusted resource for aerial instructors and students alike, providing tools to deepen technical understanding and refine their practice. Learn more about Lauren and her resources at laurenkehl.com.