BethanyHess started this discussion ·
Hello all! I am trying to do the pole sit and/ the wrist sit. The biggest challenge for me is getting my leg to cross to the other. I don't know if my thighs are to big or I'm not strong or flexible enough. Any suggestions or advice I will gladly take. Thanks Bethany
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RoMo ·
HI Bethany, You are NOT too big to be able to do the pole sit and the wrist sit. I started poling a few months ago and it took me a while to get it down, so I fully understand your frustration! I've got big thighs, so I thought they were too big... Quite the contrary - now I find it kind of helpful. The biggest tip I can give you regarding the pole sit is to turn your knees in. Kind of like you'd do if you really had to pee (Sorry, best way I found to describe it). At first, it hurts. You'll have black and blue bruises. Eventually, it stops to hurt and the bruises no longer appear. Wishing you the best of luck! :)
The pole sit is a little trickier if you have trouble crossing the thighs but still very doable. Cross at the ankles if you can or else you have to just squeeze those babies together hard, engage every muscle in your legs, and tilt the hips to one side. You can do this! Remember everyone had trouble with this when they started pole, and yes it hurts, but it gets better I promise. 😆
Once you get the feel for it, big thighs will be a HUGE advantage in pole sits, planks, cross ankle release, any of that good thigh squeezey stuff. I have puny legs and that stuff is still challenging most days! Tilting to the side a bit made the biggest difference for me!
Veena ·
Have you tried the technique I use in the new pole sit lesson here? There is no need to cross the leg over in pole sit if crossing doesn't work. https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/53ec46cd-edc0-42a5-957d-22160a9aa0eb 😊 Also, take a peek at the description of the wrist sit, if you cannot yet do a solid Pole Hold or the move is too challenging, simply move on to the next lesson for now. 💜
Hi there! I feel that it's important to point out that, with a pole sit, you are NOT trying to cross your thighs the way you do when sitting on the couch. With the pole in between your legs, there is no way to get your thighs themselves to cross- you'd have to have some broken bones to accomplish it! That said, in many ways it can LOOK the same, because of the technique Veena does (by dropping one hip downward to create a lock) and the wonderful optical illusions that are our bodies. In reality, we are crossing down at our knees at the highest, and for some of us, we cross at the ankles and just squeeze REALLY hard! This is mostly due to how our hips, thigh bones, and thigh muscles work together and are put together... each body has it's preference. And, for the wrist sit, there are a few really good threads to search up on the forum for tips! I struggled a lot with this move for quite a while, and found those tips super useful. I would say, though, that the wrist sit is a difficult move and can be pretty harsh on your lower hand if you're not used to the body position needed before taking your legs away from the pole, and if you're not used to the push/pull necessary with your arms to keep your weight off your wrist. The moves Lucca listed, like planks and laybacks (such as the cross knee release or the cross ankle release) are super useful to learn, and I did many of those before I touched the wrist sit. I don't know where you are in your pole journey for those moves in particular, but they can really help you get used to leaning back and understanding the see-saw effect that is required in a wrist sit. Hope this helps! Keep at it!
