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How to acquire the strength for pole moves using split-grip, cup-grip, twisted-grip
Good day fellow polers,
I’m still very new to the sport, and would like some advice please on how one goes about getting stronger in moves requiring split-grip, cup-grip, or even twisted-grip. From a standing position, I can’t even hold onto the pole with both arms fairly straight, and my chest turned out (as in the beginning of a deadlift) is it normal to have such little strength that your body just rotates back towards the pole, and it feels like your bottom supporting arm/shoulder have zero strength whatsoever? I’ve been trying as many different strength-training exercises that I can think of to help strengthen those wrist-forearm-bicep-tricep-shoulder-rotator cuff-lats muscles, and nothing is working. I’ve scored the YouTube, which is lacking greatly in this department of how to even get stronger in the upper body for moves that require you to hold your body away from the pole, weither your in an elbow grip, or split grip or cup grip or TG. I try them all, but I just feel like my arms, especially near the shoulder and lats are very weak!
Can others please tell me how they got strong enough, how long it took and what exercises to do to get stronger! BTW, I can do about 2-3 bodyweight pull-ups and can do the same using my pole and my bodyweight, plus I lift weights 4 days a week and have since I was a teenager, so I’m not going into this with zero strength! Any help or tips would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! -
29 Replies
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Kenneth Kao has a couple great video tutorials for split grip. If you’re having trouble even getting started with it, the second video has a couple options for building up to it.
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I can give you a lot of conditioning moves for these, but I need to know where you are. You say “new to pole” How new? These moves are extremely difficult and not beginner moves at all. I came in as a competitive gymnast who could do about 10 pullups, and it took me almost a year to deadlift and I learned at a freakishly fast pace. I have a (male) student who can split grip handspring and is working on starting to plank his body away from the pole, and he cant do what you describe for more than a second or two yet. If I know where you are, I can give you good moves for your level so someday you can do these.
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HI PoleRules, from your post it seems you are fairly new to pole? If so you can avoid unnecessary injuries that will keep you off the pole by practicing pole in a progressive manner. Moves using the grips you’ve listed are not beginner level (at least not to me) They are intermediate and advanced. I don’t even teach the twisted grip for the most part.
If you don’t have a studio that offers conditioning at strength work for these grips you may want to look into the lessons here, I have many conditioning, strength and pole lessons to help you achieve these grips. I also provide close up looks at hand placement and address proper scapula engagement as well. I’ve placed everything in order and you will progress naturally to these more advanced grips. As I mentioned before its REALLY important to condition the body for these grips and with youtube it’s REALLY hard to know if the move someone is sharing truly is beginner appropriate! Split grips and twisted grips are not beginner pole work. If you’re looking for instruction at home the lessons here are perfect for that! 🙂
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Hello jsheridan,
I’m at about a beginner-intermediate level. I can do for instance basic inverts,on both sides, choppers on both static/spinny pole. I can do the beginner butterfly, and just starting the more advanced version, but again it’s the strength issue with mostly the bottom, supporting arm that’s holding me back. I can shoulder mount, caterpillar, and do gemini and scorpio-though some days I still can’t completely let go of both hands, it all depe-nds on how ‘strong’ I feel. Superman I only struggle with because it feels like I’m ripping offl skin, not so much because of strength. Basically I’ve had my pole now for a year, though not always training on it religously. Though lately-for the last 4 months now have been on it almost daily. I guess because I’m self taught, I don’t know how fast I should be progressing. I want so badly to be able to hold my body away from the pole, either when I’m upright or inverted, and it doesn’t matter what my legs are doing either! I just need to know how to go about getting stronger, especially in the bottom arm, more so in the shoulder-lat area. At the moment I’m doing bodyweight pull-ups, lat pull-downs, one-arm, lying dumbbell pull-over for the outer lat area, and various dumbbell and band rotator cuff exercises, all variations of shoulder presses, arnold presses and shoulder flyes, push-ups and dumbbell/barbell chest presses and flyes. As you can see,I’m going alot of off the pole strength training, and have been for over 15 years now too! So I guess I expect my strength levels to be so much more than they are when it comes to doing split-cup-twisted grip Anything! It makes me so annoyed when I see those who don’t look like they have any muscle at all doing these moves and saying ‘oh I’ve only been poling for about 6-8 months! Is there some kind of a mind-muscle connection that I’m not aware of? I don’t know, but I do try to practice as much as I can, but just can’t seem to hold the position for even a nanosecond. Hope that helps you gain a better idea about my background. I’m good at learning new conditioning exercises and would appreciate any advice you can give me:) -
I also understand the principles of pulling with the top arm and pushing with the bottom arm. I’ve even watched Dr. Ken’s video tutorials on the subject too. I just wish there were more ‘progression’ exercises to achieving the split (or cup or TG) not just pull with the top arm and push with the bottom-God knows I’m trying to do that! ARRRgggggg!!!!
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Guy here who came into pole with a similar weight lifting background. I remember being so sure that weight lifting (and being really strong) would transfer immediately to pole work, which was absolutely not the case for most moves (although I learned to climb without legs before I could climb normally haha). The stuff you’re asking about took me a long time to get, and I absolutely had to progress through all of the easier stuff/grips first. To me, it seems to be a matter of strengthening muscles that are difficult to weight train as well as body awareness (aka practice). That said, there are moves/pole exercises you can do that are easier than simply deadlifting yourself off the ground (e.g., going from extending butterfly to a pike).
As an aside, I know a fair umber of people who have seriously messed up their shoulders doing twisted grip. I know it’s so much easier, but it’s risky. I avoid that grip as much as possible. If you can build up the strength for the other grips, twisted grip will be easy.
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I agree with the others on the subject of twisted grip- it can be very dangerous. What you’re basically doing is twisting the shoulder around to maximum, and then trying to keep it in that way while applying weight. One moment of weakness, one tiny over-twist, and the entire shoulder is blown apart, tendons strained or ripped, and you’re out for months at the least.
When it comes to strength with these moves, you MAY have it- it might just be about technique. I know that, with split grip, there are a lot of smaller, less-used muscles being worked pretty hard in that grip. Jamilla, in The Art of Pole Dvd’s, teaches doing little toe-taps while keeping your upper body controlled and stable in split grip, until you learn to increase the time that you are able to hold yourself up. I’ve found this to be fairly useful.
Sometimes, there are moves that really are super simple, but take a lot of time and practice when it comes to really getting them. Squared shoulders, index finger pointing down on the bottom hand, and use of the lats are all things to think about… and can each be a challenge to get used to as you work into the move.
I previously struggled with a proper pole hold till I learned the proper techniques and alignment- now, I’m getting a lot stronger with it!As for cup grip… I don’t think of this one as a beginner, or even intermediate grip, and depending on what you’re doing, it might be an incredibly hard thing to get- years and years of work. Things like elbow-grip, forearm-grip, and perhaps split grip will help you get there.
Just take it slow, be patient, and enjoy the journey!
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Well based on how far into pole you said you are, I say theres nothing wrong with getting started now. When i started pole, I could do zero pull ups now I can do 9. It took me about 6 months total from the day I started pole to get my first twisted deadlift. Today I can deadlift with straight legs and cup grip lift as well. Heres how I did it: The first thing you want to learn to do is a twisted grip handspring. THIS WILL HELP YOU BUILD STRENGTH. Learn to hold an ayesha as long as possible. Learn to handspring with as little momentum as possible. Now Slowly drop that ayesha into an iron x. Hold the iron x as long as possible. When you can hold the iron x comfortably for a decent amount of time; congratulations you are ready to get started on your deadlift. Start by pushing your body away from the pole and holding as long as possible. By the time you are strong enough to iron x, you will be able to hold this position, also known as a hangman. Now struggle. Turn your body out and struggle to get your legs up. At first this may seem impossible. Eventually you will be able to do it in your sleep. And eat a picnic lunch once you get up there so don’t worry haha. Struggle, struggle, keep struggling, change bits and pieces of your technique. As you struggle, you WILL GAIN STRENGTH. Eventually, you will achieve the move for the first time, but another three months or so may go by before it becomes easy. Practice every other day and by a compression sleeve to prevent injury and tendonitis. Eventually you wont need it, but the way you get hurt in twisted grip is by MAKING MISTAKES. Its NOT DANGEROUS when you do it perfectly, so use a compression sleeve until you are a perfect deadlifter.
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Also, to let you know I didn’t spend any time in a gym to gain my strength. A pole and a pull up bar are 100% sufficient in learning to deadlift safely and quickly.
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So a few things to start thinking about based off of where you are.
1. It seems the pull is ok for you, its the push? Start working on things like handstands. These can be done with a pole, wall, or modified if full handstands are not your cup of tea. Work on pushing out of your shoulders. When you are upright, and pulling, you always want your shoulders pulled down and away from your ears. When upside down and pushing, it is the opposite. You want to push out of your shoulders so that your biceps are against your ears. This one of the most frequent mistakes I see with inverted brackets, like butterflies, ayeshas, catepillars etc. You can also work on handstand shoulder shrugs where you go into your handstand, your arms stay straight and you push and relax out of your shoulders. This will build the strength to hold the bottom arm better.
2. Some things on the pole that will help is working on different entries into and out of simpler moves, like the basic butterfly. This will help you build the body awareness and more control over the moves which will make more advanced moves easier. For example: Butterfly to inside leg hang, butterfly to brass monkey (two options) butterfly to pole sit or remi sit, step up to butterfly, jasmine to butterfly, etc. This list goes on. You say you can caterpillar, can you full reverse climb? Those are also really beneficial for strength building
3. When it comes to more advanced moves holding your body away from the pole, ab strength and control is just as important as your upper body. Your core should always be fully engaged. I usually have people start in what I call “hollow body” for all of them, and then once you have control you can start to move around. That is where your abs are engaged and your back is ever so slightly rounded.
4. Work on pike holds with the pole. This is like an extended butterfly, but with both ankles together in a pike. This will help you feel out the position of holding your body away from the pole in a stable place.
5. As for the twisted grip/split grip debate, here is my take. Twisted grip is not for everybody. You need both extremely flexible and extremely strong and stable shoulders for it. Having both is difficult and takes a lot of work. However, having strength in your full mobility is extremely beneficial for injury prevention, so done correctly and safely twisted grip can be good for you. Always master the split grip version before beginning to attempt the twisted grip version of any move. if the only reason you are doing twisted grip is because it is easier and you arent strong enough for the split grip, then you should not do twisted grip yet and you will hurt your shoulder/wrist/elbow. if at any point you feel pain while doing or after doing twisted grip, stop.
If any of these do not make sense, I can send videos of what I mean. Once you master the body mechanics and gain control over everything, moving up in the progressions will be easier. However, they still take a lot of time and patience. Everyone progresses at different rates so dont compare yourself to others. I have students who invert with 5 classes, and students who invert within 5 months. All of that is completely normal
When you see people who dont look like they have a ton of muscle doing strength moves, frequently it is more that they have mastered their body and physics to do things with the least strength possible, which is when pole looks effortless. Muscling through moves can be done, but will never look as smooth.
I hope this helps!
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Dear jsheridan, Thanks so much for your, and everyone else’s reply’s. Now I have something more to go by:)
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Polerules, if you can, get the lessons here. they are in a progressive order that is easy to follow. it will naturally build strength into the next move. it will give you an idea of what to work on. and jsheridan has very good ideas too. especially the handstands. when you are doing ayeshas, extended butterflies, etc. you are basically doing a handstand on the pole.
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So i have a question: has anyone ever actually seen anyone or a video of anyone deadlift handspring using a true grip. NOT a cup grip. And NOT a jump or kick and actual deadlift.
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*an actual deadlift
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Yes, it is that deadlift is possible but requires a lot of strength. I have seen many people do it.
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