Everyone needs a workout-buddy relationship like Karlie Kloss and Ashley Graham. When the fitness-fanatic models recently hit up New York City gym The DogPound, they added a dose of parnter-requried AcroYoga poses to their typical high-intensity routines.
With Kloss as the base and Graham as the flyer, the duo executed the a high-flying front plank perfectly. But does the super-fun move that conjures trapeze-worthy images have any fitness benefits worthy of adding into your routine? According to Kayla Kleinman, the New York City–based personal trainer and yoga instructor behind Kayla in the City, it’ll definitely challenge your core.
“For the particular pose Ashley and Karlie are demonstrating, the flyer—AKA Ashley—is hard-core challenging her balance and core strength. Think of it as a plank, but in the air. It’s not as easy as it looks, and the goal is to have your arms straight.” —Kayla Kleinman, personal trainer
“These poses are no doubt a workout, both physically and mentally: They require a lot of core work since they challenge your stability,” Kleinman tells me. “For the particular pose Ashley and Karlie are demonstrating, the flyer—AKA Ashley—is hard-core challenging her balance and core strength. Think of it as a plank, but in the air. It’s not as easy as it looks, and the goal is to have your arms straight.”
If you want to grab a friend and practice this move yourself, Kleinman recommends having the base—the person lying down—start with their legs perpendicular to the ground. After the base raises their legs to around the flyer’s hips, the flyer leans forward and interlaces hands with the base as the base bends their knees to lift the flyer off the ground, making sure their shoulders are pressed firmly on the mat the entire time.
Being in this position is tougher than it may look, so don’t try doing anything too fancy while you’re holding it—especially if you’re the base—for safety reasons. “I wouldn’t necessarily advise trying to turn this into a workout: Keep the leg presses for the leg-press machine. It puts extra pressure on the flyer’s hips and also puts the flyer at risk of falling,” Kleinman says. “AcroYoga is a form of yoga after all—the challenge is finding stillness.”
But if you want to do something more difficult, don’t worry, there are plenty of other partner poses you can learn in an AcroYoga class.
Here’s how Karlie Kloss brightens her complexion before a big event. Or, find out how you can work out like the model from home.