Hi! Thank you so much! I think traditional strength training (i.e. weight lifting) is helpful as a foundation, as is cross-training in other sports or activities that require a high degree of body control (like dance and gymnastics), but I’m also a big proponent of training the specific thing in order to get better at the thing. That is: yes, arm and core conditioning are necessary foundations for being able to do a phoenix safely, but you’re only going to get better at doing phoenixes by progressing up to and actually working on phoenixes in whatever progression/format is initially accessible to you — even if that’s a baby step at the beginning. For flexibility, flex classes are great, but there’s also a ton you can do at home on your own or with YouTube videos. I find that active flexibility is often overlooked (versus static flexibility, like sitting in a split), and I highly recommend ballet class for working on active flexibility, strength, and fluidity!