Hopefully an interesting question for you all, something I've been pondering…

Cedric Lackpot - 2014-04-23 21:09:11 UTC - Parent #

Yes, undoubtedly. There will be plenty of jugglers who like to stay fit for any number or reasons, for instance because they are also climbers or uni/bi-cyclists or parkouristes. But there will also be quite a number of jugglers attending circus schools, where physical conditioning and fitness is just a normal part of the school day.

I'm not convinced that general gym training is all that much help for juggling per se - the specific fitnesses will mostly come with prolonged practice anyway - but I am completely sure that general fitness, especially the kind likely to be taught at circus schools, will do wonders for posture, body awareness, flexibility, core strength, and so on. None of these more general improvements is likely to be detrimental to one's juggling skill in any way.

I studied at circus school a quarter of a century ago, and in less than a year and a half I went from a pasty bag of flab to super fit, strong, and flexible, and although I can't say it transformed my juggling abilities I will assert that it was worth it in many ways. Towards the end of my time there I was training hard perhaps ten times a week, and it showed.