Make the big top your new gym with circus-style aerial workouts

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - You don't have to be a circus performer to sail through the air with the greatest of ease.

Ladies in the Aerial Dragons class in Tampa are taking their workouts to new heights through ropes and silks.

"It is intimidating at first,” said co-founder Jessica Watson.

She told FOX 13 she started these classes to give everyday people a taste of the “big top” moves that she learned growing up.

"I'm a third-generation circus performer, my mom and grandmother were both in Sailor Circus,” Watson said. “I want to have a circus school that people come and take classes at, and that they can learn how to do physically active stuff.”

Kirsten Antala said the class was challenging initially.

“I physically couldn't lift off one step off the ground,” she recalled. “So with the teacher's help creating a knot at the bottom of my foot, little by little, [it] helped me inch my way up that silk and before you knew it, I was the itsy bitsy spider.”

Kylie Lowell has a gymnastics background but said this class has helped her grow.

"None of it is easy and it takes a long time to get some of these tricks because they're really complex,” Lowell said. “And so by pushing through you learn a lot about yourself,”

Antala and Lowell said they have gotten stronger while gaining some pretty impressive skills. 

"It's incredible what aerial touches in your body and literally hits every major muscle group there is and even that connective tissue that lies beneath there," Antala said.

It's a circus anyone can join. 

"Why not try a new experience? Something that can get you active and something that can get you out of your comfort zone?" Lowell said.

For more information about the Aerial Dragons, visit their website.