03/03/2026
“Yeah, that just hurts.”
“That’s normal for that trick.”
“You get used to it.”
And it’s true that some of these things come with sensations. The pressure of the bar, the squeeze of a wrap, the intensity of skin conditioning…your body adapts to a lot.
But, there’s an important distinction performers don’t always talk about enough.
Discomfort from the apparatus is different from pain your body is asking you to pay attention to. Aerialists are incredibly good at pushing through things and are often hypermobile. It’s part of what makes performers resilient, creative, and strong.
But there isn’t a “baseline level of pain” that your body is supposed to live with.
If something has been hurting and you’ve just been told to “push through it,” it might be time to get curious about what your body is trying to say.
