Summary
- We will highlight what to look for in aerial fabric manufacturers.
- You will learn why it is important to pay special attention to the overall quality of the aerial fabric and its weight ratings, how to choose the right size, width, stretch, and level of fabric slickness.
- We will give recommendations on how to choose the appropriate yoga hammock for your children and list the factors that are important to consider before purchasing your aerial hammock.
- Additionally, you will learn the advantages of getting the right kind of aerial hammock and the health benefits of aerial silks and aerial yoga for you and your children.
- Lastly, we will introduce you to aerial silks classes at Hi-NRG and the locations where you could enroll your child.
Parent’s Guide on the Best Aerial Yoga Hammock for Kids
Recently, more and more parents whose children attend aerial silks classes at Hi-NRG ask for advice about choosing an aerial hammock for home use.
An aerial yoga hammock is an excellent tool for kids to sharpen skills away from the gym.
However, before purchasing and installing one in your home you need to consider some of the features and additional hardware to ensure a safe and comfortable home experience.
Safety first
The use of an aerial hammock requires constant supervision and strict adherence to safety rules. You’ll want to prevent dangerous mistakes such as letting the aerial hammock go, having it loop around one’s neck, or dismounting without planning the landing.
This is why it is important for us to keep the size of our kid’s aerial classes small. This way we can structure them just so that an instructor can be on standby to control children when they are exploring new movements on aerial equipment.
Similarly, you should not let your child attempt new poses and tricks on an aerial hammock they may have seen on YouTube or someplace else. Most videos do not highlight how to do the tricks safely and what precautions should be taken.
Learning new elements on the aerial hammock should always take place under the supervision and support of a knowledgeable instructor like we have at Hi-NRG Gymnastics.
Installation Tips
It is very important to choose a location where your child can swing safely before hanging an aerial hammock. The best option is to hang a hammock in an area where a radius of at least feet’ is clear in all directions.
The method in which to hang your aerial hammock will depend on your home setup and the height of the ceiling. Normally aerial hammocks should hang from 12-30 inches from the ground depending on the poses you want to practice.
Always use a padded mat underneath for the safest experience.
If you do not want to drill holes in walls and ceiling or choose to use your aerial hammock outdoors, you may opt for a portable hammock stand. However, we encourage installing an aerial rig as they are the safest and worth the investment.
Alternatively, you may utilize straps or daisy chains that can be looped over a wood joist or steel beam. Another option is to use a beam installation kit that mounts to the side of the ceiling joist.
If you are unsure how to safely hang your aerial hammock, it is best to contact a home professional that recommends the best way to install it so that it is absolutely secure. Please note that depending on the structure beams may not have the strength to support aerial silks/uses of aerial equipment that involve excessive shock force.
Please refer to a structural engineer or other qualified professional for guidance for optimal safety.
What to look for in Aerial Fabric Manufacturers
When purchasing an aerial hammock from a vendor that specializes in selling fabric to aerialists, there are many features in which you’ll want to consider and compare.
You’re going to want to evaluate the fabric for the following:
- Type
- Quality
- Stretch
- Width
- Length
Let us look in detail at what exactly to look for in aerial fabric hammock specifications.
Overall Quality of the Fabric
When choosing an aerial fabric, you should know that not all fabrics are the same – even if the fabric specification is advertised to be the same. Many different fabric manufacturers can produce the same kind of fabric, but the quality could be completely different depending on the source.
The threads the fabric is made of defines its quality varying in durability, softness, and stretch. Beware of buying aerial fabrics from resale stores that do not specialize in aerial hammock fabric. It is very important that the fabric has been weight tested for aerial use.
Fabric Type
Nylon tricot, polyester tricot, and polyester lycra are the most common aerial fabrics. Each type of fabric has slightly different features like stretch, weight, and feel. Even the same type from two different manufacturers can act and feel differently.
For example, some polyester fabrics can be more slippery than other ones.
There are also different width standards for different fabric types. Please consider that the smaller the width, the less strong the fabric holding you is. Be careful when checking the weight limits of the selected type of your aerial fabric.
Weight Ratings
The strength of the fabric is very important for your safety. There are different factors including dye processes that affect fabric strength.
To use fabric for aerial use it has to be tested to aerial standards. One of those standards is how much weight the fabric can actually take.
This information should be listed as “user weight limit” or “working load”. When practicing aerial silks you can generate over 1000 lbs in a very powerful drop. The ration should be generated off the expected load.
There are different aerial safety factors required for aerial yoga and aerial silks. For aerial yoga, it is a minimum of 5:1, while for aerial silks it is 8:1 (ideal 10:1).
This means that weight ratings for fabric and equipment should be around 3,000lbs for aerial yoga and 5,000 lbs for aerial silks.
Please keep in mind that these are general guidelines. We highly recommend getting professional advice from a rigger on the proper yoga equipment and weight ratings for your need and space.
Fabric Width
Some of the most common aerial fabric widths are 60”, 96”, and 108”. Each of them is used for different purposes.
- 60” fabric is narrow when open and thin when gathered. It is easy to find a fabric of this width; however, it is weaker than thicker widths.
- 90” fabric is commonly used for aerial silks. It is wide when open and medium thickness when gathered. It is a great choice for aerialists with a smaller grip.
- 108” is most commonly used for aerial yoga. It is very wide and thick. This is the most common width of aerial fabric.
If you want to trim the edges of the fabric to make it thinner, we recommend consulting the manufacturer before doing this. As trimming edges can compromise the strength of the fabric..
Level of Slickness
Some fibers are a little bit slicker than others depending on the manufacturer. Sometimes you’ll find that certain aerial silks are slick when they are new or freshly washed.
It is easier to unknot slicker fabric, but harder to grip it. With time, worn in silks are generally easier to work with and feel different. Especially when you use rosin or grip spray that has built up on the fabric.
Fabric Stretch
How much the fabric stretches also plays a role in determining which fabric is best for your at-home aerial hammock.
- Low-Stretch Fabric
Low-stretch fabric is the most commonly used fabric type used both for yoga hammocks and for aerial silks. Low-stretch fabric is recommended for both beginners and professionals. It is easy to climb and predict your height from the ground. Low-stretch fabric makes it easy to adjust the height for different students and it is supportive in static poses. - Medium and High-Stretch Fabrics
Medium and high-stretch fabrics are used mainly by experienced aerialists. It provides extra bounce for larger drops and certain skills. However, high-stretch fabrics are more challenging to climb and harder to grip. High-stretch silks train aerialists to become stronger quickly.
Size of the Fabric
The recommended size of the aerial fabric depends on the activity it will be used for. For instance, the size of fabric will be different for aerial silks versus use for a yoga hammock, and then a different size if using it for both activities.
- Aerial Silk
You will need enough fabric to go from the floor to the ceiling and back down to the floor with a few feet of extra fabric on the ground. The best benchmark for aerial silks is your rigging point (or ceiling) height multiplied by 2 plus 2 meters (6 feet). This way you will have about 1 meter (2 feet) extra on the ground.
- Both Aerial Silks and Yoga Hammock
If you want to use your fabric for both aerial silks and yoga hammocks, get the amount needed for aerial silk as it requires more than yoga hammocks. - Yoga Hammocks
You will need to determine the height of the hammock you need. For a low hammock, you will need to have enough fabric that the hammock will hang 1 foot above the ground at the lowest. For a high hammock, you need to have the hammock hang about 3 feet above the ground at the lowest (or at hip height depending on the user’s height).
How to Choose the Appropriate Yoga Hammock for Children
When choosing a yoga hammock for children there are several factors to consider.
Below we will list the most important aspects we consider when choosing aerial hammocks for Aerial Silk classes at Hi-NRG in Chesterfield (Long Road) and Lake St. Louis.
Reviews
A company’s overall reputation and customer’ reviews are very important if you want to get professional quality equipment.
We have worked with several companies before we landed on Aerialessentials.com. This company emerged 10 years ago and is a leader in the aerial industry.
Other quality aerial hammocks and yoga swings with 4.6-4.7 rating based on hundreds of customers’ reviews include:
- Yoga4You Aerial Yoga Swing Set
- F Life Aerial Silks Equipment
- Healthy Model Life Silk Aerial Yoga Swing
- Aum Active Premium Aerial Silk Yoga Swing
- YogaBody Yoga Trapeze/Swing/Sling/Inversion Tool
UpCircleSeven Aerial Yoga Swing Set
Other Important Factors to Consider before Purchasing Aerial Equipment
- Easy set up and installation
- Professional design
- Bonus value
- Quality assurance
- Return policy
- Rig point
- Installation
If you have any doubts about choosing the appropriate yoga hammock for your child, feel free to contact Hi-NRG and we will help you to find the best fit for your needs.
Benefits and Advantages of Getting the Right Kind of Aerial Hammock
Getting the right kind of aerial hammock brings many health benefits for every one practicing aerial silks or aerial yoga. They include:
Strengthening upper body
Children benefit from pulling because it approximates their shoulder blades. Pulling up one’s body weight facilitates the core musculature. Aerial silks are one of the ways of “tricking” kids into getting really strong upper bodies, comfortable with height and cultivating composure.
Getting heart rate up
Aerial silks help to get children’s heart rate up, as they will go up to 24 feet ceiling and down several times. Climbing is a very good way to get your heart rate up. Advancing their skills to drops helps children also learn to trust themselves and to rely on their skills.
Enhancing flexibility
Aerial yoga builds the core and upper body strength focusing on maintaining the flexibility of the spine and the legs. Children can do certain skills like splits holding their arms with their legs laid out until full split upper body strength, core strength, and focus composure.
Relieving back pain
Believe it or not, aerial hammocks allow the body to easily invert. Inversion therapy is well-known to be used with aerial hammocks as it is very efficient at relieving back pain.
Improving your backbends
Practicing passive, inverted backbends on an aerial hammock allows you to hold yoga backbend poses much longer without fatigue.
Spinal decompression
Inverted therapy with the use of aerial hammocks is very efficient for spinal decompression and sensory swing therapy.
Summary
At Hi-NRG, we use professional aerial equipment of the highest quality for our aerial silks classes for children. This program is directed to both boys and girls starting at six to seven years of age. Aerial silks help children increase strength and perfect muscle tone.
Contact us today to learn more about our aerial silks classes in Chesterfield (Long Road) and Lake St. Louis or sign up for Free Trial.
Enroll your kids in our Aerial Silks classes at Hi-NRG today!