Knee holds - calf pain

dollhaus started this discussion · 6/19/2010

Hi everyone, what kind of pain is normal for moves like Cupid involving knee holds? I expect superficial (skin) pain is normal at first where skin meets pole. But does anyone else experience deep muscle pain in the calf? I have tight calf muscles, so knee holds feel as if I'm working out my calf tightness on my therapeutic foam roller. Do flexible calves eliminate the deep muscle pain, or is that a normal part of the knee hold?

14 replies

PinkFitness · 6/20/2010
I think it' s normal in the beginning. but if you have tight calf muscles then you should stretch.
Mary Ellyn · 6/20/2010
I presume you're talking mostly about the cupid and not the actual knee hold?? You shouldn't feel much calf pain at all with the cupid. With the cupid...are you getting the pole deep in the knee pit? I find that a lot of people get the pole placed a bit behind the calf muscle and when you lean out and grip you'll feel pain because you are trapping the calf agaist the pole.
dollhaus · 6/20/2010
Empyrean - I start with the pole deep in my knee pit but it slips toward my calf. Should I grip harder to keep it behind the knee? Thanks!
Mary Ellyn · 6/20/2010
Are you doing this holding onto your ankle or trying to do it hands free? You need a lot of leg strength to keep the leg in the correct position, especially if hands free, but if you grip the ankle you can pull in more. It also helps to come into this from a higher starting position...from up high enough. In other words, hooking your knee when your shoulders are either ABOVE or equal to your knee placement. Hooking from a knee hold and lifting up to grip is more difficult unless you lift so that your body is horizontal. So either start from this position but with the upper hand UNDERNEATH the hooked knee http://empowermentthroughexoticdance.com/Jan2010Gallery31.jpg Or climb and swing around to the front of the pole to hook your knee and slide down into it like this but grabbing the ankle of your hooked knee: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHInHAcTu_I
Tine007 · 6/20/2010
In class, we prepare for knee holds by standing next to the pole, hooking the inside knee as high as possible holding on to the ankle and lean the torso out if possible, then hold as long as you can. Basically a cupid with the bottom foot on the floor. This prep exercise is to get the skin used to holding with the knee without having all your weight on it. (To get the muscles used to holding you, the same position but without holding your ankle is great). We do it every class. My teacher exactly used the "like calf on a foam roller" analogy and said it's normal, it happens when the calves are tight. We even carefully move our calf slightly up and down to "roll out" the knots with the pole. It should (and did for me) get a lot better with time, and my knee pit skin basically doesn't hurt anymore either. Stretching my calves definitely helps, too, especially after working on knee holds. If you have a foam roller, that seems most efficient for me, but downward dog or standing on a step with the ball of the foot and pressing the heel down is great, too. Hope you get your knots worked out and less pain with your knee holds 🙂
Mary Ellyn · 6/20/2010
We call that the front knee hook pose. In class I'm actually referring to the cupid now as a mid-air knee hook pose. Just as the inside knee hook http://empowermentthroughexoticdance.com/Jan2010Gallery20.jpg can also be done "mid-air" with the bottom leg placed on the back of the pole and upper body arched back - I can't recall right now what everyone else is calling that pose? Maybe someone else will?
EVamp83 · 6/21/2010
Do you mean stargazer? 🤔
Mary Ellyn · 6/21/2010
Yep!
chemgoddess1 · 6/21/2010
Although that stargazer looks as though the leg is hooking forward not back. Look where she is holding her ankle.
Mary Ellyn · 6/21/2010
I thought the same thing Chemmie but I enlarged it..it is an inside hook.
dollhaus · 6/22/2010
Thanks everyone for your input! I'll be spending lots of time in the prep position (one foot on floor) and with my foam roller to work up to the Cupid.
moonflower · 6/24/2010
I don't think pose is a cupid. The leg hooks from the outside in, rather from the inside out. I don't think I've ever seen that move before. I gave it a try and it's much more secure than the cupid.
Mary Ellyn · 6/24/2010
I don't think pose is a cupid. The leg hooks from the outside in, rather from the inside out. I don't think I've ever seen that move before. I gave it a try and it's much more secure than the cupid. As Chemmie mentioned earlier, at least some people consider that the Stargazer. From wikipole: http://www.triagedesign.co.uk/wikipole/images/thumb/5/59/Stargazer.jpg/200px-Stargazer.jpg You're right a lot of people find it easier than the cupid.
EVamp83 · 6/24/2010
The version where you hook the top leg the other way around, which is a cupid variation, is also known as the knee swing (see wikipole). The front knee hook pose (higher) on the pole is a cupid though, and the inside knee hook pose on the pole is a stargazer. Does that clear up the confusion?