Short Arms

minicoopergrl started this discussion · 8/7/2011

I think I may have figured out why I cant get certian moves right away. Last week we were working Black Widow/wrist sit. What I had noticed on myself that I really have to get my top hand super close to me in order to get my other hand underneath me. Its kinda a pain in the butt since that fear of slipping and landing back first comes to mind. Which probably explains why I have to have my foot locking me in when I do a CAR. Anyone else have short arms that can give me some tips on getting moves like that?

3 replies

Stevesgirl · 8/7/2011
OMG! I thought I was the only one with this problem!!! My arms are SOOO short! I have trouble reaching the pole for a lot of moves! I'm pretty sure it's not a matter of flexibility either. I wish I had some tips, but unfortunately, I don't. I sure hope someone else does though!
Tine007 · 8/29/2011
Me too!!! It's giving me trouble in pole as well as in yoga (despite years of practice). Long torso and legs don't help either... Wrist sit took me a while but I got it with the following modifications: I grip the pole more from the side inserting my hand along the crease of my but. To do so, I bend towards the side of my bottom hand, as if I want to look at that butt cheek. I end up sitting on the outside part of my sitbone, almost on my thigh already, with my butt crease along the forearm. Leaning the torso slightly towards that side helps, too. There's no way I can reach and safely grab the pole from straight behind... OK, I'm too stupid to insert the pics I took for clarification here, I put them in my album: https://www.studioveena.com/photos/view_album/4e5b4732-7b40-4a8e-a500-68560ac37250 (pardon my strained face, camera was on timer and I had 10 sec to run over and hop into position, LOL!!) Advanced plank and CAR from pole sit took me forever to figure out, too. Turned out I need to twist my shoulders to the side (rather than facing up to the ceiling like my hips are) and lower my bottom arm significantly, arching my back. This way I get a stable triangle. Once I figured out my advanced plank, I could walk myself down into CAR (still with torso twisted sideways while the hand is on the pole, I'll turn up when letting go) no problem and even do a bridge/crescent. Superman from thigh rest, split grip threading the top leg through, seemed impossible because there wasn't enough space to get my long (and not exactly skinny) legs through the tiny hole my arms formed. My teacher gave me the tip to aim for just getting the knee through and then turn my hips down to the floor and the foot will slide through. Wasn't very smooth but it worked in the end. Still not my favorite though... That spin where you start in a split grip V with the bottom hand under the butt and then thread the inside leg through so your legs are both in a V in front of the pole (sorry, I don't know the name of this spin) I don't know if there's a cheat for short arms, I haven't managed it yet.... Allegra - seemed a problem at first to reach around the leg, but I just learned it from flatline Scorpio. The trick was to bring the torso up as much as possible, it is very possible that it was an abs challenge and not the arms ;)
Stevesgirl · 8/29/2011
Oh Tine007, thank you so much for the pointers! My torso is short, but my legs are unbelievably long too. It's a good thing too otherwise I'd be VERY short! I hurt my neck so I'vee been off poling for a while but I'm looking so forward to trying these modifications soon - especially for the CAR. That has been my bug-a-boo move! Thanks again! You're a gem!