There was a point in my life when I was fully able to support my body weight. Aged eight, I came home from school and proudly showed my mother my blistered palms, having conquered all 10 monkey bars. I was flexible, too, and you'd often find me bending into a "crab" position during school lunchtimes.

Somewhere along the way, I lost the desire to fold backwards instantaneously - despite it being a real crowd-pleaser - and while I have dabbled in pull-ups at the gym, it's usually with the knee rest as an aid.

But then I noticed aerial aerobics classes cropping up on social media and on posters at the gym, and felt that old childlike hunger to bend, lift and fly through the air.

I got in touch with Flying Fantastic, set up in 2011 by husband-and-wife team Chris and Edel Wigan. The pair launched their own studio after returning from a year in Argentina. "It's very normal to do an aerial class over there," explains Edel. "But when we came back, we found there wasn't really anything similar."

At the time, aerial aerobics was available only as a 12-week course or a degree, but the Wigans wanted to offer more accessible drop-in classes. "Coming at it from a fitness angle, the emphasis is on how it helps your body and makes you stronger."

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Aerial aerobics: for a strong core, take to the skies - Telegraph.co.uk