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Injury from splits on pole
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About halv a year before I started pole (and was totally untrained) I tore something in the back of /inner thigh from spontaneously doing a cartwheel in a limited space. Definitely hurt on the spot and also on the next few days when doing some totally normal movements. After the acute phase I would only feel it if I for some reason sat in a straddle or so.
It lingered, but then when I started pole and strength training, the next thing I knew, it was gone. Now you people in this thread are already active, but do you explicitly train you legs?
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Yes Lina, I’m a bodybuilder. I train my legs 2x per week. One heavy session and one light. I started adding contortion training and ballet to my weekly training to prepare for competition. My injury was a result of over stretching and overtraining.
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I do an hour of physical therapy exercises for legs twice a week for more than a year.
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Strenght training is a bit of a tricky thing it seems. Often good, but if it’s heavy it can on the other hand make us more prone to injury. That’s at least what I’m noticing. I find it easier to happen to tear a hamstring (lightly) if I’ve lifted quite heavy weights (but not on body builder level) than if I do medium ones. Combining heavy weight training with flexibility seems to require a different strategy.
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Muscle, tendon or ligament (the worst!) tears, can take years before they feel ‘normal’ again. Depending on the severity it may never exactly be as it was before. Once it’s healed an injury of this nature will need care even after….. be sure to warm up and continue with strength, stretch and massage for the best prevention.
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I went to a “strength and flexibility” training at my studio for only the second time ever a couple of weeks ago. It was an hour long session and we focused on center split stretches (and corresponding strength work). At the end when my muscles were already stretched to their max max, the instructor had us do our straddle against the wall and came and pushed us into the wall further and had us push back and then release. This resulted in over stretching and my left knee is pretty messed up. It just feels like there is a ton of pressure building in there and I am still unable to do a ton of basic stretches I used to have no problem with. I’m pretty upset about it actually. In the future I will do my flexibility training on my own or will refuse to do partner stretching. I don’t want another setback like this one. It’s really really frustrating. I had gone to that class to advance my flexibility, not put myself a year behind. I’m so sorry to hear that others are going through similar setbacks too.
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sorry to hear that polargirl. I would hate to be the person who pushed someone further in a stretch and caused damage. I’m surprised that instructors do this. I think that kind of stretching is highly specialized and high risk.
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I definitely was not trying to be discouraging, sorry if it came across that wAy. I am trying to reach out to others with the same experience because I’m living with it and trying to figure out how to deal with it. Yes, you can get injured in any sport and these Are really common with sprinters for sure. I’m here for support from others going through this not to discourage
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No trouble! I just didn’t want to scAre people if I came across that wAy. 🙂
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As someone who had been an athlete my entire life, I agree that most activities carry risk of injury, even nonathletic activities. But I have to say that pole dance is a pretty extreme sport — dangling upside down often from extreme heights and whatnot — but I think there is also a very high-risk element in the emphasis on flexibility. All sports emphasize flexibility but not to the extent that pole does. Pole flexibility is borderline contortionist.
In speaking with my primary pole teacher about my injury, she admitted that some teachers, even at our studio, believe in increasing flexibility as quickly as possible in any way that they can, while she does not agree with that approach because it CAN, and often does, result in injury that negatively impacts long-term flexibility. One thing that I love about StudioVeena is the focus on SAFE strengthening, stretching, and skill-building — so that we can all enjoy pole over the long haul.
I ultimately just have to disagree that pole is just like any other sport in terms of injury risk, but one thing I love about it is that it is not “just like any other sport” in a number of other ways. I’m not trying to make pole out to be some super dangerous thing, but it can be if you don’t listen to your body and progress at your own pace. It has it’s own unique risks and pressures, to be sure.
The original post was about splits on pole. I simply don’t know if the original poster hadn’t properly warned up or was just extra tight somewhere that day and didn’t realize it, or whatever might have happened. We have to be extra careful with our bodies because our sport is frankly pretty intense.
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I agree polar girl , the flexibility and risks are very synonymous with gymnastics. We do crazy things with our bodies. I don’t feel like I am very advanced or do really crazy tricks but I have never pushed my body like I do now. What I do Is crazy compared to other sports
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Hi! I want to know if all of you in this thread has finally healed now. I had a hamstring injury 2 months ago and it’s also near its origin, at the ischial tuberosity. 🙁 I’m doing therapy but I can still feel the pain when I’m sitting down. 🙁
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Yes! I’m completely healed but I’ve gotten smarter about my training. 🙂 after you’re healed you will want to continue to strengthen your hamstrings as well as stretch and always be extra careful to warm up that hamstring. 2 months is not a lot of time. Do your physical therapy diligently and don’t ever stop doing it on your own
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That’s good to hear, Phoenix Hunter. I know 2 months is not long enough but it feels like forever. 🙁 I have therapy 2x a week, I’m still allowed to workout (though I still have limits) except pole. And yes to getting smarter at training. At workouts, I am now more conscious with my form and making sure I am not overexerting myself. At least something good has come out of this injury. 🙂
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Sharing my progress with my hamstring injury. It has been a long road to recovery. I injured my right hamstring over 3 years ago, and my left just over 2 years ago. I’ve been treating them both very gently since, and slowly persisting with splits stretching. The other day I was feeling really warm and thought about revisiting my jadesplit. I still don’t have a flat split on the floor, but I’m so pleased to see improvements with my active flexibility! You can recover, but it will take time and patience listening to your own body.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKfWZ6rBKjD/?taken-by=melnutter_baudelaire
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