[Koidragon]

To be fair I should answer the OP's questions considering the hijacking going on 🙂

1) have any of you lost a significant amount of weight by pole dancing?

I wouldn't say I have lost a significant amount of weight, but I have definitely lost some, and I have made amazing strength gains – which is a big claim with my fitness history. Mind you, I am very much enjoying the ways my body is changing with pole.

2) if so, what did you eat while losing the weight and how many times a week did you pole?

I train around 3 times a week, with those three having a full day in between and are longer intense sessions. I eat all day – grazing, making sure I get enough protein, vegetable and carbs without too much sugar. I tend to find though the better you treat your body, the more your body craves the good and healthy stuff.

3) did you pole just at home, at a studio or both?

I am predominately in a studio, although I do do exercises to help with pole outside of the studio.

4) what was included in your lessons and how did you integrate studio veena in your sessions?

In my studio lessons there is a warm up, a lot of conditioning and then technique. In my own stuff I use a combination of conditioning and strength and flexibility exercises – Whilst I have not tried Veena's lessons as yet, I understand they are quite comprehensive. However having such access to some incredible instructors as well as having been a personal trainer and MA instructor for many years, I haven't yet taken the Veena plunge, and am here more for forum and community.

Last question I have is:
Have any of you had any self esteem issue that pole dancing has cured? Please explain. Would you prefer pole dancing just at home or a studio?

Absolutely, specifically with stretch marks and the fact that I am, and always will be, taller and curvier. Even with my years of training, even when I had a rock hard visible 6-pack, I had a bum and boobies. Seeing women of all shapes and sizes (and ages) running around in itty bitty shorts and not blinking an eyelid at what anyone might see simply because it isn't about aesthetics has given me a new happiness in my own form. More than this though, it stops being about your body. We have too much focus (I am very guilty of this) in how we look, what we want to look like, how we think we should look and how others think we look. Pole is so much more than this, if you can open yourself up to it.

[Koidragon]

OR there might be a secret santa Bobbi's that we aren't allowed to know about until we are chosen…

[Koidragon]

An allergy test is a great idea – but just remember, brass isn't the only thing in brass poles – otherwise they would bend and melt like the witch in Wizard of Oz… 🙂

 

[Koidragon]

'7×21' times is also a memory building technique… 🙂

Yes, the shin pain will go away, the pain on the shin from side climb is a very common one, and unfortunately it is just another 'grin and bear it' things we all have to go through until we acclimatise 🙂

Mind you, back when I was doing Muay Thai heavily, we got over our shin pain by hitting them repeatedly with eskrima sticks to deaden the nerve endings. You could always try that… 😛 (kidding) (sort of kidding) (well, you could…)

 

 

[Koidragon]

Um, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think there is a Bobbi's in Melbourne? – I had this question just recently and posted it (it's a pretty recent post) and there were some very helpful responses if you want to check it out – but Bobbi's (which is meant to be an incredible studio) is in Perth, Sydney, Singapore and Malaysia according to their website.

[Koidragon]

I know a few girls with reactions specifically to the chrome of an x-pole – I also have a nickel allergy, but so far x-pole hasn't affected me too much, although I am pretty sure those poles were TG where the TG has rubbed off (happens after a lot of use), so I will have to see what happens with my shiny new chrome x-pole I just got for the house…

I have never had a problem with brass poles, but everyone's skin is different, and I wouldn't suggest presuming a pole will be ok because it is ok for someone else. If you aren't in a situation where you can try out somebody else's brass x-pole to see if you react, the other option is to take the risk, buy the pole, try it and see – the advantage of any of the higher end poles is that they are in such high demand that you can then re-sell it for only a tiny bit under the full cost.

OR – if you are in the states, there is a thing called pre-histine – what it does is gives you protection from allergies prior to the allergic reaction for a long term period (6 months I think?) (as opposed to an anti-histamine which neutralises it once it takes effect within a shorter acting time). I don't know much more about it, other than apparently it is fantastic, and might be another option to look into.

[Koidragon]

These secrets were passed down to me by the venerable pole dancers of my studio, as it was passed down to them. Now, I will hand them to you – keep these secrets safe, and they will forever help you in your ventures.. 😛

OK, joking aside – the general rule of thumb for any of these things (pole sits, superman, elbow holds etc) is that it will take 21 times to make it stop hurting. I don't know where 21 comes from, or whether it simply means that you have to do it over and over again, over multiple days, for your body and skin to adjust. And this has been true for almost everyone I know.

Also, flex. Flex, flex, flex. If you flex those thigh muscles, calves, point those toes, engage your abdominals, it will not hurt as much. Plus it will build really good habits 🙂

I am easily bruised as well – and it also gets better, although there are times when I swear I didn't even touch the pole in a spot and I get a bruise… even so, my body has adjusted and it happens less/the bruising bothers me less.

 

[Koidragon]

I just wanted to jump in quickly – Gigi, I don't think you offended anyone, you did say in your original comment that you weren't experienced and had only had the pole for a short while, so by no means where you giving advice out of turn, simply your experience, which is the very nature of a forum 🙂 I do hope that you were one of the lucky ones and do not later regret buying your pole, but at least you have gone to some measures to increase its safety, and you are aware of the potential for failure. That being said, I would suggest not doing too many crazy inversions on it 🙂

We all started off new, and I think it is great that you are here contributing, being a part of the community, and even greater that you are enjoying pole!

[Koidragon]

Hmm, mine is slightly different – due to having loose shoulder joints, I tore (not operation level but still) both my rotator cuffs in martial arts, and had to spend a lot of time rehabilitating – which worked, except now I am too tight in the shoulders for some moves and I have built up extra muscle around the area which has reduced my flexibility and makes me 'tight'. Also, I tend to do everything with my traps, and have had to do a lot of rhomboid muscle exercises to fix some spine issues that happened as a result. I don't know if massage is enough though – you might need some exercises? If so – it will take time, but it works. Also, make sure you are stretching out your triceps too – I learnt that in order to make gains on one side, the other side also needs to be addressed. 🙂

[Koidragon]

Ooh, fun question. flag to brass monkey, eros, sit up then jasmine to superman, dove, shoulder mount to superman again (cause what's better than 1 superman – 2 supermen!) to inside leg hang to allegra. 🙂

[Koidragon]

Thanks so much Madfelice – I think that is a great idea, as I would want to be doing both Lyra and spin pole.

Do you go to both?

 

[Koidragon]

Hmm, some goodies for me are:

Pole side crunches (moving to flag side crunches when advanced)

Invert to tuck and rock back

Pull ups – full extension if you can, or just lift your toes up and slide down with control

Climbs – basic, monkey and side

Shoulder mounts from sitting on the floor – this is generally harder to do

😀

 

 

[Koidragon]

I consider myself a bit of a 'switcher' – that is, I jump between the stereotype of masculine and feminine female. I have done martial arts for about 17 years, plus weight training at periods etc, which has definitely affected how I am perceived. I do however, have a very female shape (read: boobies and bum) combined with large shoulders and traps. Whilst I have a very healthy appreciation for it, I don't tend to pole in the 'sexy' style, I follow the crazy-tricks-combined-with-cheeky-humour preference, typically wearing skull shorts and tank tops.  🙂

In my studio, there are a number of girls who follow a more masculine (if a choice had to be made) style – some as a part of their natural personality, and some in contrast to it. We have one of our guys who definitely would consider himself the more feminine approach, and another very masculine male dancer who has just taken on the personal goal of perfecting 'twerking'. I think the key part of it here, and the wonderful aspect of pole, is you don't have to pigeon-hole yourself. If I wanted to, I could rock up in platform heels and pink sparkles tomorrow and no one would batt an eyelid – well, they would, but there would be grins on their faces as well.

[Koidragon]

Hi ladies

I began my pole journey in Australia where the studio I was at only had spinning. Then I moved to Vancouver where the majority was static, with a single spin class offered separate to the normal level system. Personally, I love both – and for different reasons. The same tricks look and often feel different on each, and there are some things that work better on spin, and others better on static.

They are however very different in momentum control and you will find you have to learn to engage differently on the spin. They do however compliment each other. Since learning static, my spin poling has gotten better. And then when I went back to spin more heavily as another class opened up, my static is getting better. I wouldn't worry about 'when' the right time is – they are different enough that you will learn a lot in both, and similar enough that they will help progress you in the other.

Static you create your own momentum by keeping your body away from the pole – the further out you can extend, the faster you can go. Spin pole is the other way around – the closer you are to the pole, the faster you go. So to slow down you extend out – but then you will speed up again if you come back in. This in itself is the inherent different – all the other aspects are similar with the poses and tricks, but static pole you fight to create momentum from nothing, spinning pole you fight to control yourself within momentum not created by you.The very difficult part (especially in the beginning) is keeping your body in a controlled position while the pole is whipping around. It takes a lot of strength, and in a slightly different way to static.

Yes, you will need to get used to the motion sickness, but it gets better 🙂 If anything you will get more of a physical workout on spin, which you will realise as soon as you get onto one. Just to V invert on a spinning pole takes a lot more engagement as you are fighting momentum – don't wait, just do it.

Hope this helps 🙂

[Koidragon]

Hi Scoopaway,

I agree – DO NOT risk getting a 'cheaper' pole. There are so many second hand poles available all the time, whether xpole, pussycat pole or the SV pole – as people either stop using theirs or change to a different coating or diameter. I know you are thinking that the things you will be doing in the beginning might not warrant a stronger pole but this isn't the case – until you learn to properly control and engage all the right muscles, you will actually be putting all kinds of weird and wonderful pressure on your pole. And then once you do learn, you will be wanting to go upside down. I have personally seen some terrible things happen on these budget poles. I am sure that there will be people who haven't injured themselves on these, but the ones who have are numerous. I have learnt break falling so know how to land without hurting myself, and even so I would never take my weight off the ground with one of these poles, and unless you are only doing twirls for the bedroom, you are going to want something that can support your weight.

The cheaper poles will end up costing you a lot more than you will save – whether you injure yourself, damage your ceiling or are lucky enough to just want to trade it in in 3 months time and find that no one else will touch it.

I just bought an xpole from someone who got it as a gift and didn't want it, good poles can be found 🙂 Plus – if it is already used, it will probably be broken in and less slippery 😀