Do you enjoy personal fitness and circus antics? Have you ever gone to the big top and thought to yourself: “That flying trapeze could probably do wonders for my upper-body strength?”

You’re not alone, as long-time partners Reebok and Cirque du Soleil also like it when things juxtapose and emerge harmonious, and have created Jukari Fit to Fly for women who are tired of their generic work out.

Designed exclusively for women and launched in Quebec in 2009, the Jukari movement took its sweet time swinging over to Ontario and landed with resounding popularity in Hogtown’s own Liberty Village last year. Set in the lofty and expansive Kingwest Fitness, the unconventional gym formerly served as a WWII-era factory and fitness lovers can enjoy a workout flanked by rustic wood, exposed brick and the like.

The class itself plays out like a show, as instead of in a studio space; you stretch, squat, lunge, jump and fly in the middle of the gym where specially designed, flying trapeze-like equipment called the FlySet hang from ceiling-hooked ropes patterned just like Na’vi (Pandora natives from Avatar) skin.

Inspired by the dance trapeze and aerial acts of Cirque du Soleil, the hour-long full-body workout is an intense combination of aerobics and acrobatics, strengthening and lengthening your body through cardio, balance, strength and core training.

It’s almost impossible to pinpoint exactly how you’re feeling during the Cirque du Soleil portion of the program when our peppy and patient instructor Brittany-Brie encouraged us to spin and splay our bodies as we saw fit.

At times you’ll experience an exhilarating sense of unbridled freedom, while nanoseconds later you might feel like an awkwardly suspending sack of potatoes.

If this sounds at all daunting to you, you need not worry. The workout is adaptable for all fitness levels, is guaranteed to give your body the ass-kicking it deserves, and most definitely fulfills your niche need for a circus and fitness mash-up.

A drop in will cost you $20 a class,or you could become a gym member for $56/month. For all you commitment-phobes, Kingwest Fitness offers month-to-month memberships for $69/month.

Call the gym at (416) 533 – 5464 to sign up!

~ Iris Leung @irismtleung