I do Pancake Pulls (they go by many names) to help train a more piked/compressed inversion. I really like this drill for the lower core awareness and activation. The challenge of the wobbly silk is also great.
1. Lie on your back and hold the silk. You can play with exact positioning of the arms/silk. Some ways get more in the legs than others.
2. Straddle your legs.
3. Use your lower core to pull your hips off the ground as if you are going to tap your feet by your head (maybe you can!)
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This drill supports the online course I created to help aerialists develop the strength and technique needed for truly great inversions. For those who ask how my inversion is so nice, the pike is a major major part of it. And for the record, my pike strength and flexibility are NOT great…but bringing awareness to it and practicing drills help a ton.