CINCINNATI (WKRC) — As New Year’s resolutions to get in shape begin to wane, some fitness enthusiasts are finding new motivation through aerial fitness and pole dance exercises. Participants at Dimension Fitness say these workouts have taken them to new heights.

“We are literally up in the air, defying gravity,” said Brandis Tenbarge, a participant in the program.

Tenbarge encourages newcomers to give it a try. “Don’t say you can’t do it. That’s the number one thing that it’s, ‘Oh, I can’t do that, oh, I don’t know how.’ Come in, we’ll teach you,” she said.

Dimension Fitness offers a variety of aerial workouts, including pole dance performance, aerial hoop (also known as lyra), aerial silks, and hammock exercises. Lauren Frooman, the lead pole instructor, explained the benefits of these workouts.

“So all of it is a whole body workout, it is all body weight training, so we are not lifting weights here, we are lifting our bodies,” Frooman said. “It’s everything, legs, core, arms. We have people that come in the door who have never lifted a weight and have never worked out, and by the end of a couple of months, they are climbing all the way to the top of the ceiling.”

The calorie-burning potential of these workouts is also impressive. Using the hoops, participants can burn about 300 calories per hour, equivalent to running three and a half miles on a treadmill.