🔎Can you spot the mistake? Iron Cross
- Aerial Physique
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
This week’s focus is the Iron Cross (also called Crucifix), a powerful skill that often goes off track in subtle but painful ways. I’ve seen this one done incorrectly far too many times, and I can practically feel the wrist strain just watching it!
Here’s the thing: while this position is never exactly comfortable, it shouldn’t rely on your wrists to hold you up. When performed with proper technique, it’s the muscles of your upper back and shoulders - like your rhomboids, traps, and rotator cuff - that provide the support. See below for a video breakdown and improvement tips.
🌀 Step-by-Step Breakdown
1. Start on the ground. Try a floor-bound version first to get a sense of the shape and which muscles need activate. Once ready, practice in the air from a climb or foot lock.
2. Enter with care. After threading your shoulders between the poles, drop your hips back. Slide your hands between your inner thighs and the fabric. Reach your arms downward toward your knees (not by your hips), circle your wrists around the silks from the inside out.
3. Externally rotate from the shoulder joint. As your feet leave the silk, begin to rotate your arms outward from the shoulders. This activates the external rotators of your shoulder (like your infraspinatus and teres minor) and keeps your scapula (shoulder blades) stable.
Your collarbones should feel wide, and your upper back engaged - think of gently squeezing between the shoulder blades.
The silks will try to press your arms into internal rotation, you’ll need to actively resist that pull and reach your arms down and out, creating lift from your back muscles, not your wrists.
🤔 How do you know if you’re in external rotation? Your palms shouldn't face behind you, with shoulders rounding forward. Palms can face down, forward, or even up!
🧠 Quick anatomy note: If your upper traps (top of shoulders) are doing all the work, you’ll fatigue fast. Instead, aim to use your lower traps and lats to help stabilize the shoulder blades and create space in the neck.
4. Start with a low V if needed. If your arms form a low 'V' instead of a full 'T' to start, that’s totally fine. Focus on alignment and muscular engagement - you can gradually build toward lifting higher as your posterior chain (backside muscles) gets stronger.
5. Exit safely. To come out, press your arms down between your legs, bend your knees up high, wrap into a climb, and pass your shoulders through the poles one at a time.
💡One More Tip
This skill tends to burn the back of your armpits! A long-sleeved top can make the learning process a lot more comfortable.
🔑 Quick Reminders:
• When setting up, reach hands down toward your knees, not beside your hips • As your feet leave, focus on external shoulder rotation • Start with a low V, work toward a strong T as strength improves • Conserve enough energy to exit with control
P.S. 🎉 Exciting news: Enrollment is now open for our Online Teacher Training Course - through Friday, June 20th! If you’ve ever wondered how to spot subtle mistakes, teach with clarity and develop a sharp eye for clean technique, this course is for you. We go in depth on skills just like this (and so much more).
