What Tina Gaylord calls Tina’s Brilliant Fortune Cookie goes like this: “You cannot discover new oceans unless you are willing to lose sight of the shore.”

From 23 feet above a patch of county land in Gilbert, it’s as easy to lose sight of the surly bonds of Earth as it is to become dizzily inspired by the birds-eye view of rolling green waves of surrounding farmland.

Gaylord, an Arizona-born Chandler mom, is here on this Sunday morning with her friend, Tami Ellis, for their regular workout at Trapeze U, a unique outdoor facility where classes in beginning to advanced aerial acrobatics are taught on a 30-foot, full-scale trapeze rig.

Trapeze U is a unique outdoor facility where classes in beginning to advanced aerial acrobatics are taught on a 30-foot, full-scale trapeze rig. Photo Credit: Scott Lawler

Today the two women are attempting a half-turn re-mount. It’s an advanced move, with an undeniable poetry in the motion: a fearless jump, free-flying until the momentum bottoms out, then a 180-degree turn and a strong swing in the opposite direction to land the acrobat back on her feet atop the thin platform. Gaylord takes a couple of passes to get it right, each time quickly scaling back up the 23 harsh steel steps of the vertical ladder. But finally, she nails it, landing squarely on her feet atop a plank suspended in mid air, looking less like a former child gymnast than the star aerialist in a dustbowl Cirque du Soleil.

“It is a fantastic form of exercise,” says Gaylord, who, at 38, says she is probably in the best shape of her life. “It isn’t the reason I do it, but I find that I make healthier choices so that I can perform better and have the endurance to do it as often as possible.”

Introduced to the school shortly after it opened in March of 2008, Gaylord says she now comes to work out on the trapeze about three or four times a week. “It’s addicting!” The toned physique is a nice by-product of the workouts, but she says it goes deeper than that.

“If you cling to only what you know is safe, you will miss out on unimaginable possibilities and opportunities,” she says. “It is true in life and trapeze.”

Gaylord’s offbeat choice of exercise program is characteristic of this year’s best-kept New Year’s resolutions for getting in shape. Fed up with wasted gym memberships and fizzled fitness fads, many adults today are looking for that unique twist on fitness that best fits them. From swinging on a trapeze to working a pole like an exotic dancer, people are discovering the best way to whip a body into shape is to let its freak flag fly.

Dylan Phillips, founder and president of Trapeze U, understands. “They enjoy the rush,” says the former high-school gymnast who worked for a few years in his early 20s as a Club Med circus performer before pursuing his ultimate dream as a full-time trapeze instructor. “It’s definitely a fun way to work out. But it’s also an exciting challenge, both physically and mentally.

Trampoline aerobics sessions at Jump Street in Chandler and Glendale include jumping jacks, side-to-side scissor cuts, bicycle crunches, knee raises and star jumps on 13,000 square feet of long, wall-to-wall trampolines.

“The first time I did trapeze — now granted, I had been a gymnast — but when I got done, I thought, ‘Oh my God, if I can do this, what else can I do?’” Phillips says. “It was a really strong feeling. And I think that’s why I wanted to teach it so much — to kind of give that feeling back to people.”

Clicking with the form of fitness that fits one’s fantasy role can often override the pain that comes from the purely physical gain.

“I have a substantial fear of heights, so to have progressed as far as I have is pretty amazing,” says Gaylord. “It’s the trust I have in my instructors that helps me let go of the fear and believe in myself. The sense of accomplishment ends up carrying over into other parts of my life.”

Bringing Sexy Back

For Nyla Farraz, transforming the salty gyrations she performed as a young stripper into a viable form of physical fitness — not to mention a viable business — is the best thing about teaching the fine art of pole dancing at her own Pussycats Alternative Dance Fitness Studio in downtown Scottsdale.

“Today, the world seems to be fascinated with the glamour of strip clubs, because of music videos and TV,” she says, pointing to an episode of Desperate Housewives this season where even Eva Longoria took lessons on the pole — only to slide down and land flat on her back after shimmying up and holding her legs spread-eagle. “There are right ways and there are wrong ways,” cautions Farraz.

“The truth is, it’s really not that glamorous,” says the former exotic dancer, who’s also worked over her 32-year career as a magician’s assistant, a Flamenco dancer and, coincidentally, even an aerialist for Cirque du Soleil. “It’s not an environment that’s healthy for women. But now, what we’re realizing is the women love doing these things,” she adds, mentioning that in addition to pole dancing, the studio also teaches lap dancing and belly dancing. “It’s something that is physical activity, but built into the physical work is sexual expression and some of the emotional and spiritual work that needs to be done as women move through different phases of their lives and become aware of their sensuality. It really is one of the most liberating experiences for many of those who try it.”

On the men’s side, there’s Extreme MMA Training in Tempe. Run by Ryan Johnson, a fitness trainer who started out working at Bally’s, 24 Hour Fitness and Gold’s Gym and moved on to training wrestlers, kick boxers and cage fighters, the studio was born from Johnson’s genius notion that the average schlubs who couldn’t keep up their membership at Bally’s might go if they got to play like Ryan Bader or Jamie Varner — two UFC mixed martial arts champs that Johnson had a hand in training.

“This is not a frou-frou aerobics program,” says Johnson. “Somebody who considers themself just ‘in shape’ is not going to be able to keep up with the kind of conditioning UFC fighters do. But I can downgrade the training just enough so that they can still get in shape like that.”

In fact, Johnson says he doesn’t actually teach students things like mixed martial arts grappling, but rather works them through the same strength and conditioning exercises so that participants emerge with the power, flexibility, agility and strength of their favorite Ultimate Fighter.

“I don’t put someone on an exercise if I don’t think they’re qualified to do it,” he says. “Not everyone is in shape enough or has the proper lifting form to flip a truck tire. Sure, it looks cool, but for a beginner, that’s not the best way to start. So we do a lot of conventional exercise first, like squats, dead lifts, pull-ups, push-ups. And then we work up to the off-the-wall stuff — like the tire flip, the sledgehammer swings, the one-legged medicine ball toss.” With their eyes on that prize, Johnson’s students seldom notice they’re willingly putting in all the push-ups they’ve avoided for years.

In between sexy and macho, there’s the opportunity to just plain act like a kid again. At the Sunday morning “trampoline aerobics” sessions at Jump Street in Chandler and Glendale, grown men and women (but mostly women, between ages 20 and 45) do jumping jacks, side-to-side scissor cuts, bicycle crunches, knee raises and star jumps on 13,000 square feet of long, wall-to-wall trampolines.

“It’s a ton of fun,” says Carolyn Chase, project manager for the Denver-based company, which brought the chain to Arizona in 2009. “And it’s also one of the most effective and safe workouts for your body. You burn approximately 1,000 calories in an hour. And it’s incredibly low-impact on your joints, so it’s very safe.”

For moms who have trouble leaving their babies behind to go work out, Stroller Strides is a total exercise program for moms and babies alike. Photo Credits: Scott Lawler

Chase participates in the 45-minute sessions herself, and says her favorite part about the program is simply how fast time flies when you’re having fun.

“One of the problems I always had with exercise was going to classes where I felt, ‘Oh, this is never going to be over!’” she says. “But on the trampolines, the workout goes by so fast.” On this particular Sunday morning, in fact, several of the women continue bouncing, laughing and playing like school kids long after the class wraps up.

“Sometimes,” Chase says, “it seems to go by a little too fast!”

Sweatin’ with the Strollers

For moms who have trouble leaving their babies — or even their dogs — behind to go work out, there are fitness programs that fit their lifestyles, too.

“Stroller Strides is a total exercise program for moms and babies alike,” says Suzy Stenehjem, who runs the Phoenix and Scottsdale territories of the San Marcos, Calif.-based franchise, which today operates more than 300 programs in 44 states. “The one thing that makes the program stand out is that it gives women the opportunity to get back in shape after having babies, but also allows them to do that with their babies.”

Of course, the babies don’t actually work out with the moms — or the occasional smattering of dads, who are welcome to participate for free on weekends. For the most part, the toddlers merely serve as weight in the strollers, which the moms push, pull and circulate around.

“We interact with them by doing tickles or singing, so they’re very much entertained by what they’re seeing during that hour,” Stenehjem says. “But mostly they’re just seeing their moms exercise — which is actually very important. The children are being raised to see fitness as a part of life, and with childhood obesity being such a huge concern today, these babies are growing up in a healthy lifestyle.”

Dogs become the center of attention in “doga,” or yoga for dogs, a program offered the first Tuesday night of each month at the W Hotel in Scottsdale. In doga, dogs are taught ten essential yoga poses, with the help of their owners, which are designed to stretch and massage the animal’s muscles and can even help older dogs with arthritis.

“A lot of people think it’s a silly ‘Scottsdale thing,’” says Dena Zell, a certified yoga instructor “for humans” who started offering the program at canine training schools almost four years ago as a way to bring attention to abandoned dogs she had taught the skills to, who were in turn offered for adoption (to date, Zell has placed 75 abandoned dogs, found largely in foreclosed homes, through doga classes). “But dogs actually learn the poses fairly quickly. Most human yoga poses are based off of animal movement, so it’s somewhat natural for them.”

Owners who are hoping to join in a chaturanga while their dogs sit with their front paws in the air can be disappointed with Zell’s class, as humans are only there to help their four-legged friends. “It’s all about the dogs here,” Zell says. Still, she’s seen many yoga newbies get into the discipline through their pets. “A lot of people who bring their dogs to doga who are not doing yoga themselves end up getting into it.”

As with all alternative programs, whatever works to get the reluctant fitness-phobe excited about exercising is the key. At Trapeze U, Dylan Phillips is paid a visit this Sunday afternoon by Linda Schwartz, the mother of one of his best friends from high school, who today, on the eve of her 68th birthday, is hoping to master a swing-and-catch on the trapeze.

In doga, dogs are taught 10 essential yoga poses, with the help of their owners, which are designed to stretch and massage the animal’s muscles.

Climbing up the ladder with her shoes on (“She’s the only one I let do that,” winks Phillips, who calls Schwartz “Mom”), the California snowbird, visiting with her husband, Fred (who remains in the car), prepares for the third time to pull off the difficult maneuver. This time, she jumps, flips upside down and wraps her legs around the pole just in time for her arms to be caught by co-trainer Benjamin Fredenburg, hanging on a second trapeze.

“I did it!” she hollers ecstatically, giving Phillips a long hug and a warm “Thank you” when she comes back down to Earth. “Oh my goodness, Dylan, I’m so proud of myself!”

Running back to the parking lot, where her husband now stands with his arms outstretched, it’s clear Linda Schwartz, showing more energy and vitality than many people half her age, has found her own perfect path to fitness.

“I did it!” she yells again. “Woo-hoo!”