Learning Something Else...

MrsNaughtywed started this discussion · 8/18/2011

I feel like lately I've hit another platau with pole. My strength is staying the same even though I'm pushing myself to do other exercises too. Yesturday while in pole class, I tried a couple tricks on the silks. And just after a minute or two of holding myself up on the silks, my bicepts were BURNING!!!! Silks is freaken hard! WOW! So this got me thinking.. has anyone tried learning another aerial art such as silks just to help them get stronger for pole? I think I'm going to try learning a bit more stuff on silks and maybe that will increase my upper body strength even more. I don't find hoop as hard of silks. Is this like cross training or something? :)

18 replies

chemgoddess1 · 8/18/2011
Silks are quite a bit harder and are a great addition to pole. My biggest issue was with grip....the silks are so much skinnier and I have large hands so I would REALLY feel it in my forearms. I think you will learn more control with the silks too beacuse you really do not want to be swaying all over the place which really makes you control your inverts and exits.
nymphdancer · 8/18/2011
I did silks lessons for a bit , mostly hammock which I love and yes it is a great strength builder for pole! I however can't do regular silks well since like with pole I have a hard time climbing :( I also recently thanks to a Fairymoon got to try lyra. Instant love. I also do hooping for core.
mandaylay · 8/18/2011
i was thinking about it for next year but now you got me thinking? if it's harder than pole i might stick with pole lol just keep me posted !!!!!
aliceBheartless · 8/18/2011
I train silks and trapeze regularly, and they are a great addition to pole! However, in both, I definitely am limited by my grip more than any other body part... ie the grip gets so tired so fast!
Miraine · 8/18/2011
I went climbing the other day for the first time in more than a decade (oh how I rue the wasted time...), and alongside rediscovering how amazingly fun it is, I also found out that it is *far* more intensive on the forearm muscles used to grip with your hands, because of the variety of shapes and sizes of the holds. It felt like a great upper body workout, and I'm wondering if that'll help me combat my need to wipe the pole down between every single move I do on it, because to an extent, I know you can combat the slick sweaty hand issue by actually just being strong enough to grip harder. So, whilst not actually another elegant form of dance and so on, it is a fun form of exercise I can definitely recommend as being a complement to poling :) Oh, and amongst climbers, it's generally the guys that have the advantage climbing up overhangs and anything relying more on the arm strength. I *love* the idea of some of you awesomely strong polers turning up at climbing walls and astounding the guys :D Please, do that for me! Hehehe.
OopseyDaisey · 8/19/2011
I do silks & hoop. I think hoop is mainly helpful with my flexibility, but silks is great for arm/hand strength. It's funny, most of the aerialists I know who come to pole after silks say pole is sooo hard because they have to use their legs so much! It's amazing what we can get used to.
DoodlebugDances · 8/19/2011
@Chemgoddess: if you're struggling with gripping the silks, it might be worth asking your aerial teacher if you can learn the same tricks with rope instead - the ones I've used are a similar thickness to pole :) As for learning other things, pole has inspired me to try static trapeze, aerial hoop and silks/rope. Aerial is so awesome - I'd recommend it to anyone. I can only afford one lesson a month but its the highlight of my month and I really look forward to it. My aerial teacher has tried pole and struggles because it doesn't 'give' like the ropes of a trapeze or the curve of a hoop does. I also do pilates, jive and ballet for a bit of a change and cycle about 40 miles a week. I want to be all round fit and everything I do seems to help pole. I'd love to try burlesque to increase my sensuality and musicality when I'm dancing and am also hoping to take a massage course from next month which, I hope, will be useful for injuries and might even help my grip too!
chemgoddess1 · 8/19/2011
@Doodle...I should clarify a bit. When he performs he typically has the wider fabric but 90% of his classes are for kids, so he has a smaller width in the studio. I can get the grip, it is just we do sets of inverts/pikes/rollouts and after about 5 or 6 my hands start to cramp.
MrsNaughtywed · 8/19/2011
Thanks for all your responsis. :) Def gonna give silks another try. I'm such a pussy when it comes to height and drops. All that wrapping is sooooo scary and confusing omg. I think I just want to stick to different poses. Oh and I love how I can just wrap my feet in silks and then practice splits. :)
nymphdancer · 8/19/2011
Try hammock :) I'm scared of heights and find that because I'm sort of locked into the fabric more with the hammock that I'm not afraid like I am on silks.
lilblondie · 8/19/2011
I don't do it for strength, but I've tried a bunch of other apparatus for fun. My favorite is chinese pole, a thicker pole that's coated - you climb with the soles of your feet and wear something that covers your whole body to protect you from friction. I also like hoop but I don't find it a huge challenge, it seems very natural after pole. I have a love/hate relationship with silks. I thought I would love it and wanted to, but somehow I ended up skipping the rest of my lessons. I find it to be lot more technical than pole in the wraps, turns, etc you have to memorize. I also think the instability makes it tougher for strength, as some other people have said. Worst of all, you experience the beginner bruises and scrapes all over again -- my first few silks lessons were pretty painful. I don't know if I'm just unwilling to struggle through the beginning stages again.
Sair · 8/19/2011
LOVE Silks! the fact that they're so damned hard just stokes my fire even more ;) Lyra is great too for grip and for flexibilty. Building a stronger, more accurate grip couldn't be a bad thing.
verucablue · 8/19/2011
Oh yes...lyra, static trap, silks and aerial yoga/hammock...loving them more lately than pole...need to get back to my pole :)
amy · 8/19/2011
i think that there's a reason why circus pros can come to pole and find it very easily transferrable to the skills they already have, and i think that silks is a great way to strengthen! i did take about a year of silks, but mostly because i found the challenge really refreshing... although i did notice that it made me a total beast on the pole as well! just a general note-- a lot of times people's forearms are super sore when they first start because they're acutally overgripping the silks and squeezing harder than they need to =) i find that lyra is much more about positioning and smooth transitions than pure strength, but it does take a ton of strength to properly execute moves without flailing around. and the basic lyra invert-- straight arms straight legs-- is something that is IMMENSELY difficult! i can do straight leg choppers all day long on both sides on the pole, but i can only do maybe two straight arm inverts from teh bottom of the lyra before i'm tapped out completely. in my opinion, a good circus class should involve a great deal of conditioning no matter what hte apparatus. i would caution that for aerials, just as you would for pole, that you do your due diligence and find out where the instructors were trained and really observe their teaching style and make sure that they're safe!
Dancing Paws · 8/19/2011
I've been taking silks and I think they are a million times harder to climb! I have only taken 4 classes so far, but I am still at the climbing and foot wrapping phase and probably won't be progressing for quite some time at the rate I am going....😕
Hazi411 · 8/20/2011
Great topic! I have been considering learning silks, which they teach at the studio I used to go to, but had to go elsewhere as they don't schedule their advanced pole classes at a time that suits me. The girls at the studio told me that it's great for upper body strength (which I need!), so I still might give it a go.
byrdgrrl · 8/20/2011
I do silks too (pretty much only, lately). It is so amazing. When I climb up and wrap up, I feel like I'm flying. Defying gravity is so much fun! That said, though, it is a lot like pole in that you have to work on conditioning your body. I have some yoga sequences and stretching sequences and well as strength training excercises that I do on a pretty regular basis to keep in shape. Some times when I do a silk work-out, I just work on strengthening excercises. Several people on the thread have mentioned forearm and hand issues. I have found that using a grip strengthener really helps. The kind that I use is a red spongy ball that I squeeze and release. It also has this built-in rubber band thing with finger loops so I can work on the reverse of squeezing too. There are a couple of other kinds that are available at climbing shops and sporting goods places. I try to use the ball on a regular basis as part of my usual work-out even when I can't get on my silks. I keep it right by my bed and use it right before I go to sleep. Also, I have found that stretching out my hands and forearms during and after silk work-outs helps me with the cramping and fatigue. I think Veena has some good stretches in her lessons. Remember, like pole, the more you do it, the better you get!
Luna Marie · 8/20/2011
I love silks. I started learning pole and silks at about the same time actually and I love them both equally though sadly I haven't gotten as much time on silks lately as I would like :( but it defiantly helps cross train for pole just like pole helps train for aerial silks :)