Adding training

[polegramma]

Hooping is my favorite warmup! And if you practice some of the off-body hoop moves it will also warm up your shoulders. Veena has some great lessons for this. And, like pole, you have to remember to train both sides. You should also practice spinning in both directions. Hooping helps so much with coordination and balancing dominant and non-dominant side as well as just being fun! You could use it as your motivation prior to your pole workouts. It really helps me get in the groove for poling.

[Nat]

Thank you for you reply. I just realised that I should have put aerial hoop/lyra (not just hoop) as it’s confusing. I totally agree with hula hooping, not great at it but amazing warm up thumb 👍

[polegramma]

Well I would love to try aerial hoop and silks some day too!

[Runemist34]

Hey!
If you’re specifically missing out on the strength, I can certainly say that weight lifting and rock climbing are both excellent for pole dance. Most climbers find pole to be something they can get into easily, so that’s definitely a lot of strength and skill that crosses over well.
Otherwise, it’s important to remember that pole dance is a lot of *skills*, not just strength or flexibility. You could be incredibly strong, but still struggle to do certain moves gracefully, or at all. Being able to do a Superman isn’t just about how well you hold on to the pole, but also how much pain tolerance you have, whether you can transition into it (meaning, the other moves you know), and the actual ability to understand the move you are doing.
Definitely understand the fear around being aerial or inverted without a spotter, but as more difficult moves become easier over time, you might find yourself being more comfortable with them, and not need a spotter as much.
However, if you’re specifically wanting to get better at Pole, I would add more Pole to your routine.
If you want to explore in a more broad sense, with other aerial arts, you could always try Lyra and see how that goes, and if you like it. 🙂

[Nat]

Thank you! I think with me it’s the confidence and as you said skill. It’s strange how for example I can do extended butterfly in the studio, with teacher being present and filming so not actually standing right next to me but when on my own I cannot bring myself to do it (even if I have my hubby helping). I think you are right adding more pole is probably bring more benefit until I feel more safe on my own and then I can start hoop I suppose x

[StrangeFox]

I’m always shocked at how “psychological” pole is. When I first started learning to invert I used to psyche myself up for it so much, and then I was up there for, like, 2 seconds before I had to come down. I also used to wonder where all of my skills went when I got home. All of the tricks I feel comfortable with now were ones that used to scare the bejebuses out of me at some point and eventually I just got used to them. It’s totally normal for inverting to be scary, but eventually it’ll feel so natural.

I would recommend adding more pole to your routine. Even small, safe stuff that you can do at home for conditioning and to get used to the feel of the pole will help. For example, you can work on tuck ups, or even just play around with getting comfortable with the foot positioning on the ground. There are some great lessons on here. What really helped me get more comfortable and stronger on the pole was doing a conditioning class. If there’s anything like that at your studio, I highly recommend checking it out. I’ve heard the strength from lyra translates pretty well to pole, and it’s a good way to get used to being inverted. 🙂

One more thing that might help: invest in a good crash mat. It gives me so much more confidence when I’m practicing a move I’m not super confident in.