Marie Waldgrave

Review of InMovement

Came here for the first time for an Adult Aerial c...

Came here for the first time for an Adult Aerial class in the past month. I didn't know what to expect since every description and listing for this gym is so kid-oriented, but let's get into it.

The first floor seems to be dedicated to youth classes, while the upper floor is for the adult classes. When I first came in 5 mins before my class, the foyer area was bombarded with parents waiting for their children, then children running back and forth between the foyer and gym area, as well as many food smells from people eating. This in your initial view and first impression of the place and it came off as very disorganized and scattered. I would definitely consider a policy that organizes this all more, as well as a no eating policy in that area. My experience got way better after this, but this was a very poor first impression.

Now for the Adult Aerial Class itself. The class starts with a LOT of warm-up, way more than I was expecting. We jogged around the room for about 5 minutes, then did some yoga stretches for maybe 15-20 minutes, then a period of light acro-yoga (probably another 15-20 minutes), then finally got to aerial stuff, before stretching for the last 10 minutes of the class. The instructor was so friendly, warm, and welcoming, as someone who has 0 experience with aerial I never once felt judged for not knowing what I was doing. The other floaters with a lot of experience (not sure if instructors) were also incredibly encouraging in everything that we did. When we split off into partnered groups for acro yoga and then mini groups for aerial, they were constantly moving around, helping us to get successfully into many of the positions and movements. The group that goes to this class also needs a shoutout. I was really worried about how this was going to with trying a new place for the first time, having no experience, being shy, but every one of these washed away thanks to the awesome people there. One thing that was super common was that despite being in different groups doing different things, when a group succeeds in their efforts everyone notices and is so overjoyed for their achievement. Literally everyone was encouraging of everyone else and that made this experience so special.

Despite the overall welcoming and encouraging atmosphere, I have one criticism of the class and that is how it is structured. I get that the long warm-up time is meant to prepare you for the demanding movements of aerial, but I'm don't think it was 100% conducive to this goal. There were many beginners in the class as well intermediates who were still learning, and it seemed like the answer to this was always repetition. I watched many people being told to just try something again and again which, while encouraging, glosses over why they can't just jump into a certain position. I found this would have been the same regardless of warm-up time. What this class is missing is conditioning exercises that will help both beginners and intermediates. I would suggest shortening the warm-up to make time for everyone to take turns (the adult gym has 2 hoops, 1 hammock, and 2 silk sets that everyone takes turns on) practicing conditioning exercises, then move into practicing the full aerial positions. When I got back from the class, I looked on YouTube for aerial conditioning exercises and found them in a second. There's just no excuse for why these are not part of the class, and this is the main reason why I only had a 4 star experience.

Regardless of this fact, my experience was so great that I will be going back for another class and to see how that goes. I think any person interested in the adult class will have a fabulous experience. I def think though the gym should work on restructuring the adult class more, and to better advertise their adult classes. I'm sure the youth classes are the money maker, but I think more attention to highlighting the adult classes will garner interest and boost revenue.