Pole Poll Regarding Hands...

Karen DJ started this discussion · 5/12/2018

How long did it take until your hands stopped aching after a decent practice session? I used to have energy and strength to keep going but would have to call it done for the day because the skin on my hands ached and I would rub vitamin E oil to make them feel better. Then I couldn't grip a pole at all for 2-3 days. So I just practiced today for nearly an hour, made good progress with stuff, didn't take a break, muscles are comfortably fatigued, but NO hand ache. This is only the second time ever I've experienced this, and Wednesday was my last session, first time I noticed this. I've been poling for 14 months, have owned a pole for a year. I'm curious about what other people have noticed about hands aching, how long it took to get over it, if it ever comes back, etc. Thanks!

6 replies

Allison Erin · 5/12/2018
Pole poll!!! I love it!! I'm answering just because of that, even though I don't have a great answer to this question. My hands have never ached after a pole session. But I think my hands might have just been used to abuse because I worked as a pastry cook (constantly burning them and building callouses) for 5 years before I started poling. So yeah, not a great pole-poll response. Sorry. My poor thighs, on the other hand, took about 6 months to stop aching/burning for hours/days after pole sits!
Veena · 5/12/2018
Is it the skin or the muscles of the hands? Sounds like skin? For me the finish I use determines how bad my calluses act up. Brass is really bad, the purple SV pole we use to sell (had a special powder coating) that almost never gave me calluses!! The other finishes fall in-between. I use a lot of lotion all day after poling too. If it's muscular that all takes time and being sure to fully warm up and always stretch after helps a ton.
Karen DJ · 5/13/2018
It's definitely skin. I have decent calluses, but it was always the outer perimeter of my palms that would ache, callused or not.
StrangeFox · 5/13/2018
Seconding Veena on the pole finish. I never really noticed how bad this was for me until I got a chrome pole and saw the difference between chrome and brass. I have killer calluses and I get that burning ache on the outer perimeter of my palms, too. On chrome I don't have much of a problem, but on brass it's really bad. I find the diameter has an impact, too. I LOVE my 40mm for grip, but I think I might grip a little too tightly because I get that pinching burning feeling more on the smaller diameter poles. Once my hands start to feel like this it's usually my cue to stop and rest for the day. Using lotion the next day helps a little, too. I was thinking this might be because my calluses are too thick and they're pinching the non-callused skin but I'm not sure. Sorry I don't have anything more useful to add. :)
Karen DJ · 5/13/2018
No, that's fine. Interesting to hear the difference between brass and chrome though. I never would have thought that. I have a 40mm chrome. But I actually grip less on the thinner pole. I have tiny petite hands and I struggled on the 45s at the studio I was at last year, so much so that I tweaked my ulnar nerve twice while there. Super glad that fixed itself and that I can have a relaxed grip now... It was weird. Keep 'em coming- I'm learning some interesting stuff!
Lydia Addams · 5/15/2018
I've never had my hands ache in terms of overuse of my grip, but I definitely still experience pole burn during a long session of practicing spins on static. It's uncomfortable for a few hours after, but I'm usually back to normal the next day.