First of all, congrats for your new pole and welcome to the wonderful land of pole awesomeness!!!
Pole in a garage? Go for it! Having space for your pole is hard to come by and I would totally claim that space before another car does. 😉
I am in Germany and my pole is in my basement, on a grey painted concrete floor. :) There have been other people (I think tarakarina, who I THINK is also in the UK) who have used a garage for their pole space. A basement is like a garage in some ways but not so much in others. Here are some things that I have found from working in my pole space...
I do have a heater (the normal oil space heater), a window (like looking out of a bucket), and outlets. Using leg warmers does help with floorwork practice and sometimes the floor doesn't bother me anymore. I have found that I prefer the cold much more than being in a hot studio (even in below freezing temps). I have recently said that I am technically "a stripper" since I wear full clothes (comfy workout ones), with my pole clothes underneath, and I just strip down as I warm up (long arm shirt/pants/legwarmers/socks). I have visited other places that were also freezing basement studios, and a few of the girls did the same sort of strip-down warm up that I do. The pole also gets warm because I am warming up the pole while I warm ME up. Being cold at first is also a plus b/c getting hot and sweaty is the worst for me--I have a hard time overcoming that.
Foam matt squares, hmm...I am not a fan of them. I have the bright colored, alphabet variety for the kids that I used in the very beginning. It felt nice to know they were there but the whole area kept sliding. Then I put them to the sides and found trouble when I was doing shoulder rolls and other floor extensive work. I did get a couple of space rugs to make it seem cozy and for when I am sitting on the floor. The foam squares did not like when I stretched across them for splits, so I foud that a yoga mat worked better for me. I have a friend who does have the adult foam squares and uses them, but I still think most yoga mats roll up better as a space saver. The big cushions from my couch have been the best crash mat for me. I use these when I am working on something more dangerous that I don't need to be moving around for.
Can you get an extension chord to reach in the garage? I love poling to candle light... it is hard to video with candle lighting but I do love it SO much! Another thing about warming up the pole... I find it is the most difficult to warm up the bottom of the pole since it is on the concrete. If I lay down and have my arms in pretty much any shoulder mount grip and do some leg raises/bicycles/waves... this helps to warm up the bottom of the pole. I did not think it was so much of an issue until later when I was learning the cartwheel mount.
Congrats again on your new pole and for finding Studioveena. This place is oozing with knowlege and pole love. 🥂
