Hanging with Rahel Pt.3 - Primrose Hill - Special Guests: Ali & Azzy

London is amazing in the sun and nobody is happier about clear skies than calisthenics athletes. Today, upon heading to the park, I met Alina and Azzy, who had come to Primrose to try out the outdoor equipment and we quickly hit it off, which resulted in hours of fun! I helped the girls get into different human flag shapes and if you have been working on your holds and haven't been able to get them just right, you'll find the teaching points very helpful!

Alina and I were chatting about how our lower body injuries actually ended up being a blessing in disguise and how calisthenics is so challenging for the whole body that it forces you to reframe your mindset about exertion.

Azzy is a dancer and acrobat, so we had a lot of fun trying out tandem skills with two and three people. There were a few things that did not quite yet work, so I've kept these a secret to show you another time... ;)

To finish, we had a good chat about the impossible expectations social media sets and how dangerous it can be for the audience. Perception becomes skewed when athletes are not upfront about their struggles when it comes to certain skills, such as muscle-ups, and this can lead to others beating themselves up when they don't unlock a move in a certain amount of time or worse - reckless approach to training can cause injuries and long term niggles.

To find Alina and Azzy on social media, head to:
Alina:   / alialgera  
Azzy:   / azerleykeller