[Beccaf87]

That makes sense. Ive been working out (not pole) for just over a month. I was doing 3-4 days a week but my July schedule had a lot of out of town or events to work around. Now that my schedule is more open I am trying to increase it a little. I haven’t done pole in a while but with a month of strength training at the gym I am hopefully alright to start pole ST (slowly of course). I tested it out and was able to do 1-2 sets of most of the strength training lesson (aside from not doing the shoulder press and only managjng 1/2 set of knee tucks per side but my pole was also a little slippy).

I will test out this schedule this week and then make adjustments. Thanks again!

[Beccaf87]

At first it was just to lose 5-10 pounds. Now its evolved to wanting to get stronger, be more flexible, and have better endurance. (The weight loss would also be nice but if my body looks and feels better it is less of a concern.)

I have up to an hour a day to give to working out. I was thinking of 2 30-40 minute pole days which I can combine with 20-30 minutes of cardio or yoga. I have 1 personal training a week which is strength/circuit training. Then maybe one day of weights combined with yoga and cardio. And then add yoga and cardio as needed. All strength training includes 10 minutes focused on the core.

Sample schedule I tried to make:
Monday- 20 min cardio, 40 minutes pole
Tuesday- 20 cardio, 40 yoga
Wednesday- 40 pole, 20 yoga
Thursday- 30 personal training. Add some stretches or cardio depending on how much she kicks my butt lol.
Friday- 30 yoga or rest day if needed
Saturday- big day. 30 weights, 20 cardio, 20-40 yoga
Sunday- rest. Maybe some gentle stretches or a light walk.

With just two days of pole I am not sure if I should try to 30 day takeoff or just create my own program of warm up, strength training, and then a spin or two.

[Beccaf87]

Well I don’t have chicken legs but at my old studio there was a 38mm pole. It was great for my little hands, but for tricks I liked using the 45mm. I could never really get a hang of the 50mm. My legs are too short and stubby lol. I have a 45 at home now and love it for my tricks (aside from being super slippery), though I do miss the 38/40mm size for my spins.

Is there a studio nearby with varying sizes you could try out?

[Beccaf87]

Looks really interesting! I don’t have a blog but enjoy reading others. I also got into pole fitness for the gymnastics side and less of the sexy side. Although that could be for my lack of dance skills. I may try to dance at some point for fun, but right now my pole likes to get slippery if I more than tricks.

[Beccaf87]

Thanks Veena!

[Beccaf87]

I hope with this challenges its not too much. If so I can stop. I think it should be OK since Abs/plank would be my strength part of my workout and the flexy would be the warm up plus stretching part of workout. I guess I can always adjust things and take parts out if it is too much. I feel this would give me a good guideline of creating a workout plan though.

[Beccaf87]

Yeah I do remember someone asking about that. The Flexy challenge has the most rest days, followed by Abs, and then plank. If I remember correctly, I think she said it would just take a bit longer than 30 days. Which isn’t so bad.

[Beccaf87]

I have still been stretching but not as much flex training. I am starting over with the 30 day challenge so hopefully progress picks up soon. 🙂

[Beccaf87]

Was anyone already doing some flexibility training? If so, did you change anything when adding the 30 day?

[Beccaf87]

Haloanne, I am also switching out a few things! Mostly the sexy legs/ab one for the lower body workout. The sexy legs/abs feels like it points out my inflexibility while the other one makes me feel good about the workout. Hopefully when I am a little more flexible I will use the other workout. 🙂

[Beccaf87]

I try my best to train both sides. Someones when learning a new move I train dominant side first to get it before trying the other side. However, I also have found that my dominant side switches for certain moves. I need to work on training my other leg sides though. I will tend to pull myself up on both sides but will forget to switch which leg is on top. Need to work on that.

[Beccaf87]

I decided to go with the PolarFT7. Tried it out today. Worked pretty well. 400 calories in an hour (with 25 minutes being flexibility training). A third was fat burning and the rest was at “fitness” level. Good way to keep me motivated. 🙂

[Beccaf87]

I have issue with my getting my hips up for inverted V too. I also think it has to do with my tight leg muscles. I was just looking through the inverting videos here and realized I was taught tuck, inverted V/chopper, and THEN basic invert. I was surprised when I had an easier time with the basic than the V/chopper. I also didn’t realize it was OK to step into the inverts. My instructor was having us deadlift into them. Maybe trying some variations or different inverts would be helpful?

[Beccaf87]

Aww that is a shame. Can you ask the beginners class to teach you a few intermediate moves and just explain you aren’t fully ready to move up? Sorry to not be much help.

[Beccaf87]

Do they have a mixed ability class you can try? I had little upper body strength either, but just working on spins and climbs helped so much! Even without really noticing it. Veenas 30 day program is also really great!

[Beccaf87]

Excited! But not on Instagram so will just not compete. Haven’t tried some of these moves though, so will see how that turns out.

[Beccaf87]

I hadn’t really thought of it but that is a good idea. I have my start of splits training photos. Started a month ago but just do 1 flex training per week as of now. Maybe I should add some pike, back bend, etc photos as well.

[Beccaf87]

Thanks! 🙂

[Beccaf87]

Figured it out! Front splits challenge 1 month in.

[Beccaf87]

One month in! Sorry for the weird photo. Boyfriends brother is in the room with the full size mirror. Would like to make some side by side comparisons but not sure how to do that.

[Beccaf87]

I have noticed the stronger I get, the lesser the fear is. I take one trick at a time and build to the next one. I loved my old studio because it focused on strength and confidence. I now take these lessons but will soon start inverting again. I am a bit nervous about doing it on my own, but the only studio that has lessons when I am free (or in general) seems to focus on routines and not learning/improving tricks. I did not feel safe when I took a class there.

For inverting, I started doing it very close to the floor. Nearly on the floor actually. That helped a lot. Elbow stands against the pole helped as well. Do a lot of knee tucks. Those were crucial for me to get the strength and ability to invert. Try to get a little higher with the knee tucks each lesson. Even if you can do fewer of them. One day I was doing them and managed to get my invert. Had no idea I had it in me! It was very exciting.

[Beccaf87]

I am trying to decide about crash mats as well. I preparing to start my inverts and tricks again. I wanted to use my thick couch cushions but realized they are all attached so I would only have 1 side of the pole protected. My former studio had a 2″ mat which didn’t seem enough. Thinking of a 4″ or 5″ but not sure if the Pole O’ Mat or Yoga Direct is better.

[Beccaf87]

Thanks Veena!

[Beccaf87]

Thanks for all the great advice ladies! I will try those variations and tips. 🙂

[Beccaf87]

I had to repeat a week since I wasn’t doing all the videos, and even now sometimes I can’t get to a days exercise. I have added exercises to the 30 Day Take Off, but I don’t think you should do multiple days together. It is supposed to be gradually increasing your abilities. Listen to what your body tells you.