Exiting an Inverted Crucifix, etc

ShearPoleGenius started this discussion · 5/24/2011

Help Ladies!!! I attempted my first Inverted Crucifix tonight and GOT IT!!!! So proud!! It was awesome!!... until I had to get out of it! How do you guys do it? I tried to do the whole "slide down to the floor" thing but my body is too sticky and wouldn't go and then I was losing grip so I just did what I could and ended up almost breaking my collarbone :( SCARY!! What does everyone else do? I'm still working on my strength training but I mean, I'm strong enough to get into it and hold it so I'm not THAT weak. Any suggestions before I end up killing myself? lol help me!

6 replies

Cinara · 5/24/2011
Congrats! It's a big step. The sliding to the floor thing is thought to be the safest option. Hold on with your hands and legs and stay upside down and just move really slowly until your shoulders touch the floor. You can use the old rock-climbing advice of making sure you have 3 points of contact (or 3 limbs) on the pole at any time. The other thing you can do it go into a handstand and then slide your legs down the pole. Just invert fairly low to the ground so you don't have to slide to get your hands on the floor. Try to avoid coming back down the way you came into it (dropping legs to the floor) if you can. When you're new to inverting you can pull some serious muscles doing that and it hurts like crazy. I found I needed a solid aerial invert before I could safely dismount this way, and even now I still need perfect technique and very few attempts per session. I would wait for some more expereinced instructors to post in case I've said anything wrong, but that's my experience.
chemgoddess1 · 5/24/2011
If you are inverting properly you most certainly can come back out the same way. Sliding down will take a little time to perfect (think death grip but with your legs) but is the easiest to learn first.
Cinara · 5/24/2011
Huh. That just adds more evidence for my theory that I have been inverting wrong the whole time. Still, I know I'm not the only one who has trouble coming back down, and I've had instructors say not to, so maybe it depends on the person?
Miraine · 5/24/2011
I'm with you on the death-grip inability to slide down from Inverted Crucifix. Well, I can slide, but it's a slow and painful process! Loosening the grip on what's keeping your head from smacking into the floor is a hard one to convince your body of, hehe. Perhaps practicing letting yourself slide (because it's a matter of controlling the pressure you're putting on the pole: you have the strength to stay up, you need to moderate it to slip but not fall) down from a "reverse handstand" inverted crucifix would be a less stressful way of getting the hang of it? From a reverse handstand, your hands would be in range of the floor the whole time, so you could just lift them up a bit, safe in the knowledge that you can just put them down again if you panic.
ShearPoleGenius · 5/26/2011
Thanks ladies! Hey, just a thought.. I think I'm going to try sliding down (my front facing the pole) to the point of my head touching the floor, then kind of roll into a somersault lol It might be cute.. I'll try it when the bruising and pain on my collarbone goes away lol.. and when my boyfriend's home so he can spot me lol Keep the tips coming! I appreciate every little piece of advice! Thank you!!
amy · 5/26/2011
the roll into a somersault is def cute and doable but make sure you are controlling the legs even as you come out or you will just flop to the ground.... loosen the leg grip but try to keep your ankles on the pole for as long as possible so that you don't end up slamming your heels on teh ground. does that make sense? cinara, i think that everyone should be able to reverse the invert motion and control an invert back down to the ground as well. i'm not sure what your school's teaching techniques are (i think you're in Australia?) but i know of a couple here that don't even bother teaching "traditional" inverts, only tuck into chopper or tuck into invert, because they don't beleive students have any business inverting if they can't use the proper muscles (instead of momentum) to do it.