During the last decade more than 10,000 people have tried pole fitness. But now she is spreading her wings and finding more ways to stay fit in the air. At her Princess MeMe’s studio in Young Street one of the rooms is being fitted out to become an aerial fitness studio.

“I'm turning the traditional arts of Lyra and Tissue into fitness classes,” she said.

“We're also be doing aerial yoga and using the space for other fitness too. After 11 years I'm losing the Princess MeMe's name and I'm re-branding all three studios as Fly Studios. It is still under construction but we have been working on the new aerial fitness studio for about six weeks now. The studio is due to open on May 9. On May 7 we are having a show called Polemic at The Frat which starts at 8. At that show we are launching the new brand Fly Studios which encompasses all three studios (including Shellharbour).”

Ms Hill said the new name and brand was about trying to explain the feeling people get when they do this kind of fitness training. She said it was a combination of freedom and exhilaration. And it felt safer doing aerials on the rings and tissues (also called ribbons and silks).

“The way I would rank the three is silks would be the easiest one, then probably Lyra (the hoops) and then pole. You use very similar muscles. When you get up into a Lyra or lock yourself into a tissue you can rest. But when you are on a pole you can’t because you are on a slippery vertical device. The concept is I am taking these pieces of equipment and I am building fitness classes. Every class will have an element of warm up, flexibility, apparatus and then strength conditioning. So you will leave after your hour of class and every single part of your body will have been worked.”

In recent weeks Ms Hill has been doing aerial training with her team so they can all teach pole and aerials. She celebrates her business’s 11th birthday on Monday with the official opening of Fly Studios. But this Saturday people come and see what her pole fitness program is all about. “When I started the pole studio 11 years ago in the old studio there wasn’t a huge number of alternative fitness options available. Now there are a plethora of alternatives. So I thought what else can I bring to this business to diversify. Australia wide pole studios and aerial studios are going hand-in-glove because they involve similar skill sets.”

Ms Hill always has 40 people registered for aerial classes. The new room is also designed with a wall of mirrors so it can be hired out for dancers to train and other fitness instructors to use.