3 years of poledancing but…

[Runemist34]

Hi Ciaosara!
So, there’s this thing that happens with pole dance, as with a lot of other fitness and similar things…
The need to “keep up,” or to be just like everyone else. It’s a form of self-judgement that will just ruin your happiness.
I started pole dancing 9-ish years ago. I wasn’t really consistent, but all of my friends and everyone around me started inverting WAY before I was close to it. They kept doing it, and I kept… not doing it.
Even now, I started really trying to be consistent. I started taking classes, lifting weights, lots and lots of things! I’m much stronger than I used to be…
But I still can’t invert well, or often, or on both sides. I struggle with it a lot.

So, in order to get to your invert, you’re going to have to get uncomfortable. You’ll have to take the classes and keep plugging away at it, even as the people in the classes change and move on, over and over, and you’re still there. You’re going to have to get uncomfortable with your challenges, with your body, and with your own self-judgement.
However, it does NOT mean you can’t pole dance! There are SO MANY other things you can learn. You could stay grounded, and learn the millions of beautiful, sexy, fun moves that are based on the ground or the floor. You could climb the pole and remain mostly upright, because there are lots of moves to be had in that position, too!
Good examples: I’m working on my exotic dance right now, as well as getting back to my Cross Knee Release, with hope to get to the Cross Ankle release (they’re also called laybacks). I could work on my Teddy hold, my Figurehead (or Hood Ornament, depending on where you’re from), my Apprentice. I could also do so many spins!
And, all of these things create strength, grace, and skill that will bring me closer to the invert, too.

So, please try not to feel discouraged. I know it’s frustrating, I know it’s hard to have so many people move on from where you are, and to not move on with them. But, you’re still valid as a pole dancer, even if you never, ever do a basic invert. You’re still amazing.

[Veena]

Hi! You’re not alone in not seeing progress and you’ve come to the right place!

If you are new to my teaching method and if you’ve been off the pole for a while you might want to start with the Getting started program! If you’ve been poling regularly but just not getting the invert the Nailed it, invert program is a great start! Let me know if you have any questions!

[travelerunderstars4916]

I’ve been pole dancing for two years and I don’t have my invert either! I actually did stop going to pole lessons and switched to online lessons here for that reason, I hated being behind in class all the time. I don’t get to pole consistently enough to build the strength, although I’ve come close a few times. I will say that I am very tall as well (5’10”) and I wonder if that has something to do with it?!
For now I’m just enjoying dancing and going with the flow. Listening to the music and focusing on floor work. There’s a lot more to pole than the fancy instagram videos! Don’t give up hope, you’re not the only one!

[Veena]

Yes, height does factor in! More leverage to deal with, but as traveler mentioned there’s more to pole than inverts and tricks! 🙂

[LatinPoler]

Agreed, pole is not only tricks and inverts! Personally I’m much more amazed by a pretty flow than by crazy tricks.

Said that, in my humble opinion, to be able to invert you need two things: 1) overall body strength, 2) overcome fears (be uncomfortable as Runemist said). Veena’s program will help you with overall body strength for sure. When you are inverting, all the body is working! Core of course, but you also need strong legs to help with the lift and grab the pole once you are upside down, and arms to hold you. Regarding fears, it depends on the person. If you have never been inverted before (basically if you have not done gymnastics), then this can be a struggle.

In my case, I was able to do the V-invert/Chopper almost since day one, because I had the strength (I have been working out since I can remember). But the Regular invert/Inverted Crucifix too way longer… I had be get accustomed to the vertical upside down position. But I kept and it and got it. I helped me to practice, use a crash mat and a spotter.

Good luck! You can do it.

[jodienormore8800]

Maybe I can help you better understand the whole inversion thing.

I am still a super beginner but I actually learned how to invert the very first day I tried pole.
It was something I didn’t think I was going to be able to do for a few months… and after doing it I can see why! It honestly is SO HARD if you don’t have a lot of natural strength.

I’ve thought long and hard about this comment so that you aren’t wasting your time reading it. And I do believe what I say to be true for most.

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First we need gage where you’re at in terms of overall likelihood. By comparing an INVERT with something MOST regular athletes understand, you can better figure out your probability of achieving this trick.

MOST OFTEN MOVES WILL REQUIRE 1, 2 or ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Some moves will require more over the other…
These three things are:
1 – TECHNIQUE
2 – FLEXIBILTY
3 – STRENGTH

I will not ignore the importance of technique on this move. Technique IS important. Flexibility not so much. What is most required for this move (over the others) is STRENGTH. That’s all there is to it.

ALSO: HAND STRENGTH!

I THINK THIS GETS forgotten about a lo of the time. For an invert, in the end you are using nothing but your hands to squeeze the pole and keep you in place. Your arms are locked into a straight position, therefore taking the tension off those muscles… ladies… get out the stress balls. I guarantee you will notice a difference if you have smaller hands. I personally have huge hands and believe it helps dramatically with my pole work.
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Personally I don’t think this move has a strong likelihood of being achieved if you cannot do ALL of the following (You may have to google to better understand):

-A series of regular pushups
-A series regular chin-up (aka pull-up)
-Tricep versions of both pushups and chinups

-A series of reverse crunches with straight legs (done with proper technique, stopping your legs at the vertical mark and placing hands in correct spot (i prefer hands latched onto something near your head, such as the end of a bench) You want to be able to reverse crunch using little to no momentum.
-A series of lateral side leg raises past 90 degrees, hands free with no kicking. This is a side leg raise with no hands.

**** I am going to place emphasis on the CHIN-UP. If you don’t have a chin-up the rest won’t matter.

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FOR INVERTING it is not a matter of how much you weigh, but on whether you can lift your own weight.
If you’re not strong enough to lift your own weight though a static full range of motion you simply can’t do this move. And it’s not just a matter of core-strength. To be able to lift your core, you have to first life yourself.

If you think of a chin-up…you are lifting your entire body with your arms from 180 degrees, past 90 degrees, all the way to 0. And then lowering your body using that full range of motion. Your body remains placid. A chin up is done correctly if it’s slow and controlled using absolutely no momentum from kicking or swinging in the air.
When you think of the proper inversion, your body goes through much of the same states and rules, only more complicated.

Your mind must also be capable of controlling all those muscles separately, knowing when to combine them with other parts of the body . It’s not just body awareness, it’s muscle awareness. It’s like in KILL BILL when UMA is trying to move her big toe.

You must control your muscles to stabilize the upper half and move the bottom half.

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Also… don’t underestimate inverting. I see a lot of professionals making it look super easy, but even after learning it on Day #1, I found it HELLA HARD. It required every ounce of my mind body and focus to get me there. I know it will get easier as my strength improves, but for now I am stuck focusing really hard on how to maximize my strength with timing and technique.

The 3rd day I tried pole, I was inverting from midair. But it was sloppy and I barely got up there. My only plan to improve this particular thing is to get stronger.

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PS.
Climbing is literally the most painful thing I have ever done.When I first learnt how to put my body in the areas of contact against the pole for certain moves… I could not believe how painful some of the ‘mistakes’ and ‘fails’ were. One wrong placement and you’re wondering if it’s really worth it.

However, after learning many of the ‘harder’ tricks my first day, I grew bored and focused my attention on pole flow choreography. To me, having beautiful pole flow is more important than any intermediate spin or inversion.

[jodienormore8800]

Just for reference this is a video of me on Day 2 of my pole journey: inverting. At the end of the day it’s all about power: https://youtu.be/AJF9wzomB70

[jodienormore8800]

One thing to add: On Day 3 of learning pole, I was inverting from the midair on a spinning pole.
Definitely this moves requires strength. Video reference: https://youtu.be/AJF9wzomB70

The technique is fairly easy to implement once you are strong enough. You don’t have to be flexible either.
INVERT= STRENGTH

[Veena]

jodienormore8800. Great job working on the invert. As you progress switch your arm placement, right now they are opposite of what they should be! So, inside arm sould be the lower arm/hand outside above that one. If you have your hands place as you do now, you will find some transitions difficult because the hands won’t be in the right place.

I have a bunch of lessons that show invert placement 😊

[MdawWat]

ciaosara- I just want to send some words of encouragement because I know how frustrating it is to watch people get things immediately that you have been working at for a long time. One thing I remind myself of when I see that though is that we don’t all start at the same place. The person who walks in and is immediately doing harder skills probably has a lot of other physical conditioning under their belt so if you really think about it they have been training for a long time to get to that spot.

For me personally, I didn’t come to pole even knowing about inverts and when I learned about them I had zero interest. I was lucky enough to be in classes though where we took it really slow. I didn’t want to invert, but my teachers would have me go into the hold and pull my knees to my chest repeatedly as a conditioning exercise. We would lay on our backs and bring our legs up to the pole like you see DirdyBirdy do in her invert prep video. I worked on that stuff and other skills like you will find in Veena’s program until one day the notion of going upside down was not scary to me because I had spent so much time conditioning for it that my body said it was ready.

The “basic” invert can still be a real struggle when I ease up on my conditioning. It might help for you to work on other ways of getting upside down like descending into it or walking up into a handstand with belly to pole to feel less stuck if you haven’t done that already.