Fitness on the
flip side

Grab a partner and enter the soothing, head-over-heels world of acrobatics-meets-yoga at the Acro Club

by JOANNE LATIMER

If you want to shape up, but running and rock climbing leave you cold, maybe it's time to consider something less grim and solitary. Why not hang around, literally, upside down? Acrobatics is an exercise growing in popularity, as it targets the much-hyped core muscles. And the downtown Acro Club teaches such acrobatic postures while mixing in the calming moves of yoga.

"Handstands are totally addictive," confides Eugene Poku, who runs the Acro Club with his partner Jessie Goldberg. "Once you get over the fear of being upside down and stop holding your breath, it's a wonderful way to get more oxygen to the brain and draw the blood out of your legs."

Poku should know. He and Goldberg are acrobatic legends in Montreal. They toured the world with their act Special Blend, but they took a hiatus a few years ago to have a child and focus on Ashtanga yoga. Now they're part owners of the downtown studio Ashtanga Yoga Montreal, where they hold the Acro Club on the first and third Sunday of each month. It's two hours of gravity-defying hijinx.

Is it just for freaky contortionists? Hell no! Ari Papas, fast approaching 40, recently added the Acro Club to his kung fu practice to improve his flexibility and breathing.

"I also do it for comic relief," Papas says, just about to embark on his second acro class. "You have to overcome personal issues, like fear. You're exposed and you have to trust your partner and stay calm. This is a totally new way of taking care of myself."

The Acro Club groups students in threesomes, including a spotter for every move. Safety is a big part of the mandate, as is trust. Classes start with typical common yoga sun salutations, then move into warm-ups for specific body parts, such as exercises to stretch open the shoulders and strengthen the wrists.

Then the fun starts. Everyone practices one-legged kick-ups, trying to get into a handstand. Classmates spot each other, laughing, and listening as Goldberg instructs, saying, "Find the sweet spot!" "Ribs in!" and "Spread your fingers!"

Deni Béchard, 30, likes the social aspect. "While some people might want to go to a bar for a drink," says Béchard, a published novelist and former Ashtanga yoga teacher, "we like to hang out here. It's fun and it makes you stronger. It's less solitary than Ashtanga yoga."

Béchard, like some of the students, already has a notable foundation of core body strength. The Acro Club tends to attract students who want to amp-up their yoga practice, get back into gymnastics and gain confidence with inverted poses.

One class member, Véronique Thibeault, is an injured trapeze artist who teaches at the École National de Cirque. She likes the casual atmosphere at Acro Club. "There's no competitive energy in the room," says Thibeault, 30, who spent eight years touring with her trapeze act. "The feeling is totally different than in a room of ‘real' acrobats."

Poku and Goldberg encourage newbies like Papas just as much as stars like Thibeault. "Ideally, we want students with some amount of core strength and some experience doing inversions - headstands and handstands," says Goldberg. "It's not a class for someone who doesn't exercise at all. They wouldn't get as much out of it. But there are plenty of people who do exercise regularly - yoga or whatever - and want a new way to build strength and have fun."

ACRO CLUB CLASSES ARE INCLUDED IN THE MEMBERSHIP FEES AT ASHTANGA YOGA MONTREAL (372 STE-CATHERINE W., #118), OR $20/SESSION ($15 FOR STUDENTS) ON THE FIRST AND THIRD SUNDAYs EACH MONTH, 1–3 P.M., WWW.ASHTANGAMONTREAL.COM