Coach interview with Andrei Moraes

Hey Andrei! It’s great to meet you, can you tell me more about yourself?

My name is Andrei Moraes, I'm 23 years old, I'm from Brazil and I'm a professional contortionist and handbalancer. I started artistic gymnastics early, where I gained a lot of body awareness, strength and flexibility, which brought me very close to contortion when I discovered it. At the age of 10 I started practicing contortion on my own, and since I already had training awareness I was able to do well! I kept practicing ever since and at 21 I joined the National Circus School in Rio de Janeiro where I spent 2 years specializing with the best teachers in handstands and contortion! Now I’ve graduated I teach contortion and handstands and perform when the stage calls me.

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How would you describe your teaching method?

My training style and teaching method consists of understanding the main points for a safe and effective contortion practice! 

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I don’t usually divide my classes and workouts by legs and spine as some like to do! For me, in a contortion workout we need everything! Just as a needle also needs a spine, a cheststand also needs well-worked legs and hips.

That’s interesting! How did you arrive at this method?

Understanding the general mobility of their body as a tool for joint lubrication, is an extremely important point when we talk about the body! In general I always consider specific stretches that consider the body as a whole. This has come from spending many years of my life training my legs and spine separately. As time went by, as I understood my body much better and studied others, I saw that contortion tricks required the body as a whole! Even in tricks that predominantly used the legs, the spine also needed to be used, and if it wasn't worked and well warmed up, the execution and health would be compromised. So I started training everything, every day. My body got used to it and today it's impossible for me to train just one part of the body.

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How do you go about understanding a student's flexibility? What does a training session look like?

I like to say that I have a close eye on specific points, such as thoracic, cervical and hip depth! In my first contact with each student we hold a class with the basics, at this moment I already understand their needs and facilities.

In addition to specific stretches, I do a lot of muscle activation work which includes dorsal elevations, varied glute activations, isometrics and at times weight exercises. We do these to work the dorsal muscles well, as an important point for safe technical execution is muscle activation.

Only then do I perform deeper stretches to gain space in the body! Always preserving the execution on the outside, large, without crushing the body.

Finally, the specific tricks! Depending on the trick, I carry out additional specific preparations to add to it! 

Do you have a speciality area in your coaching?

My speciality is definitely contortion one arms! Many students come to me to learn one arms. I won't go into too much depth on this topic but I have specific points for learning contortion one arms!

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How do you apply this to your own training?

I usually practice contortion 5 to 6 times a week for 2 to 3 hours a day... In my personal training I try to maintain the technique, with fewer repetitions and greater quality, this way my body doesn’t feel exhausted and I can practice more! My students follow the same method.

And lastly, what advice would you give someone just getting started with contortion?

I would say that you should look for a good professional, who understands your needs and limitations! Who works respecting your body and knows how to guide you in a healthy way.