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Your pole warm up
Hey guys,
Tonight I tried a different pole studio to the one I have been learning at since Oct 2011 and I was really surprised at how differently they are taught, specifically the warm up part.
In my first class we get a really good and intense warm up- cardio to start, squats, lunges, crunches, push ups, pull ups on the pole, stretching… And more! By the end of it you are well and grisly pumped up to get on the pole.
In tonights class we did some stretches using the pole, focusing on your sides, shoulders and back. Oh and a spin or two to warm the pole. That is it… Nothing else. No cardio to start, no core work, no back work… Nothing else!!
I felt like I was going into poling ‘cold’ and didn’t feel ‘pumped’ and ‘ready to go’… I didn’t like it!
I am curious, how do your studios warm you up?!
I can’t wait to get back to ‘feeling the burn’ on Monday at my usual studio…although it should be noted the new studio broke down the moves better, but taught about 5 different ones in one night. Too much to take in in an hours session! -
21 Replies
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At my old studio they mixed dance with lunges, squats etc and stretches but nothing too intense for the level 1 and 2 classes. They alter the warm ups as you progress so beginners weren't over worked and unable to do anything else afterwards but more advanced classes still felt pumped at the end of it. The instructors could tell when we were finding it too easy. They would offer variations on the basic warm up so the ones who were more fit could warm up well but at the same time people who didn't excersise often didn't feel like they would collapse.
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My old studio warmed us up with dancing, actually. Not the pole stuff, just some random, little fun dance that helped us physically warm up. We didn't do much on the pole itself till the actual lessons.
For myself, on my own, I tend to warm up by dancing! I keep it light and easy, one or two easy spins, and just get into the flow. That's what I find helps me the most! And, it warms my pole at the same time.
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Beginner warm up was getting parts of the body moving, then some sort of core work, then "the walk" then some wall work. As the girls progressed so did my warm ups. During class I always threw pole holds or knee ups at them along with body rolls.
I personally am not a fan of wasting half of class warming up. I am paying for pole, not to take a toning class. I take other classes for that.
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My studio has a really intense warm up. It's 35-40 minutes on the floor working on your thighs, arms, abs, flexibility (stretches). Included in this 35-40 minute session is a free dance to a song (floor stuff only, we're not allowed to touch the poles). As soon as we're done all that, we go to the poles and we do strenght stuff on the pole. Then we learn some new moves while reviewing some of the old stuff. Last 4 minutes of class we turn the lights down low and do a free dance on the pole to any song.
A friend of mine goes to an entirely different studio than I do and they do NOT have any floor work stuff. It's pole for an entire hour. She said it gives her a good workout as they go straight into learning new tricks and moves and focus on working on 3 things for an entire hour.
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90 Minute Pole Class
I do a head to toe warm up standing with a couple dynamic stretches then I take it to the floor for some floor work moves then we do specific conditioning exercises (I focus on shoulder conditioning with 2 lb weights or resistance bands). The entire process usually takes about 15 minutes for the warm up and 5-10 minutes for the conditioning then we have an hour for the pole curriculum.
90 Minute Aerial Silks Class
For my aerial classes my warm up begins with cardio (in the pole portion a lot of the cardio comes with the pole curriculum as we teach a routine). After the initial cardio portion I do a head to toe warm up with dynamic stretches then I focus on aerial posture conditioning exercises.
60 Minute Flexibility for Pole Class
This class begin with a sensual dance warm up with basic movement beginning with walking and progresses to basic transitions like forward bends, hip circles, etc. Depending on class size (sometimes I have more than 8 students and the studio only has 8 poles right now) if I have more students then poles, I incorporate an all floor work warm up. I try to use basic pole moves that incorporate dynamic stretches but are very sexy movements at the same time. The sensual dance warmup lasts about 1 or 2 songs and I find the warmup to be sufficient in getting everyone ready for the deeper relaxing stretches which are the core of the class.
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Wow, we all do it so differently 🙂 at first I felt like the intense warm up was eating into my pole time (as someone said above) but really honestly after the different session tonight I prefer it and think I am better on the pole after a good hard warm up. It really gets me in the zone where I forget about everything else and just focus on pushing myself 🙂
Even from the start of beginners class we have been really worked in the warm up as my instructor says if you want to pole well you need to be strong. However she does change it depending on the level of class as I recently went to the first lesson of the beginners group and thought they got a really easy ride.. They didn’t think that though, and neither did I when i started, lol! -
You reduce your risk of injury by having an adequate warm up. Cardio, or conditioning/strength exercises are great warm ups. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_rambo.gif Just stretches alone not, so much. The biggest thing to remember about a warm up is to move move move! Hooping is my favorite warm up right now. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_flower.gif
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Ha ha Veena, I told my class I'd bring hoops in for them next time. 🙂
I spend a good 20-30 minutes doing warm-ups and conditioning, but I do conditioning toward the end (it's a 90 min class). I love to incorporate floorwork in the warmup, as it doubles as practice too.
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The first studio I went to did just stretching, but the second one incorporated some ab conditioning movements and sexy squats around the pole with the stretching.
There was a forum topic not too long ago talking about how static stretching before a workout can decrease your strength during the following activity.
At home I either do a dance or Veena's warm up routine.
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We have a 90 minute class, and the first 5 minutes or so is meditation. Then we go into light stretching to loosen up the joints. That will last about 10 minutes. Then, we do a workout consisting of abs, arms, and legs (planks, leg lifts, different style crunches, pushup variations are all pretty standard in our warm ups). This takes a good 30-40 minutes from the start of class, then we go into the trick portion. The last 15 minutes or so of class, we dance.
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Polefairy, What do you do in the meditation part? Sounds cool!
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Sparrow…I always started my classes with a grounding of sorts. It was basically just sitting , taking deep breaths and clearing the mind of the days garbage and setting their minds to being at class. From there I moved into neck rolls. The first few minutes of class were always done eyes closed.
S Factor's warm up is very much a moving meditation of sorts.
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Thanks Chem. I start sitting too, doing some spine circles, neck rolls, wrist and ankle rolls…I like the eyes closed idea. And dim lights.
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Our meditation is done with lights out, a star machine going for ambiance, and we basically lay down and shut off our minds, release negative energy, and put ourselves in the right frame of mind to pole.
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@sparrow, I like the hoops idea. I always do my conditioning portion at the beginning of class post warm up- usually 5-10 reps for each, 5 is usually sufficient because a lot of our pole routine with the spins and shoulder usage works as conditioning too. I think doing it in the beginning helps me gear their focus to their proper posture. Gets them thinking about engaging their posture for when we move to the pole. I also like to do it in the beginning of class so as not to rush it. I feel like we get wrapped up and involved in pole play at the end of class that sometimes we're rushed.
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-Ugh I posted from the wrong account- kobajo84 is me. I'm using this one for the free trial to check out the lessons since I haven't had them since 2008. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif
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Thanks Koba. 🙂 I was actually thinking of perhaps switching it, at least for the beginners. In one class I shadowed (not yours) it was toward the end which is why I had that in my mind.
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Our level 1 warm up probably lasts about 15min. We jog laps around the studio doing different types of runs for the first few minutues, then we move onto neck, shoulder and hip stretches. Then we do some squats and something else. Last week it was push ups which was good cos I really need arm strengeth. Then we move onto the pole and review previous stuff and learn some new stuff and incorporate it into a mimi routine. The we move onto cool down yoga stretches for the last 10 or so min, which some strength work thrown in. I quite like our warm up because if it was more intense I'd be too knackered for pole work, but I also didn't think it would be enough for advanced classes. Last week I lingered while ordering my pole and a level 7 group came in and they did a completely different warm up which was cool! 😀
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For my home warm up I do about 40 squats and 1 minute wall sits. Then I do Tracy Anderson’s butt and thighs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK_A-A7PBXc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
And arms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7RDfw0NuZ8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I get super warm plus my booty and arms have never looked/felt better 🙂
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Oooo I’ll have a look at these for my home warm up 🙂 I can never remember the whole warm ups from class x
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I change my warmup depending on whether I’m alone or working with a student or multiple students. I will also modify it depending on what my goals for that session are.
For example: if I ultimately want to spend time after my workout going through stretches for splits, my pole workout will probably include working on extension in leg hangs, spins and spin combos, jades, caterpillar climbs and leg intensive floor and movement. And then my warmup would be tailored to that, with upper body warmups focusing on stabilizing and mobility and getting gently warm, then doing a series of regular squats, squats with wide hip rolls and narrow tight hip rolls in all directions. I’d follow that with a series I threw together that moves smoothly through a light standing straddle stretch to a light lunge series that goes into a plank that’s lowered, pushed up to a downward dog stretch and then reverses, back to the plank, to the hip exercise, to the lunge, to standing, to the light stretch and then starts again on the other side. I put the sequence together so a very thorough warmup targeted for my goals for the session doesn’t take half an hour. It’s definitely possible to look at exercises the same way you would dance moves and put together a little “routine” for a warmup of exercises that flow from one to the next so you’re really MOVING through them and getting an efficient warmup.
If I’m working alone and don’t have particular goals for a session, but rather want to just move and dance, exploring moves and poses I already have nailed down, I will just lightly freestyle through one or two songs, focusing on warming my body up in the same systematic way I would do with basic exercises, but without an intense focus on particular muscle groups, just getting my body generally warm.
Maybe for a monthly challenge we could each record our warmups, since everyone seems to do such different activities!
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