MeganJoan
Forum Replies Created
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I’ve been told by personal trainers and read online various times that the best way to correct an imbalance is to continue to work evenly on both sides up to the level of your weaker side.
When I started pole I was much stronger on my right (due to a left ankle injury that affects everything even if people don’t realise). I actually had a visible difference in my abs!
I work both sides evenly in everything. When doing pullups and the like I make an effort to use both sides the same amount. It won’t be uncommon for me to hurt more of my left and I am slowly evening out. It’s a long process, but you’ll get there.
I actually have no idea why so many people recommend against training unevenly so if anybody has more info on it I’d be curious to find out.
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Happy birthday 😀
Keep up your amazingness for another six years! -
I built up my forearm strength before I took a a 6 month break from pole and I haven’t gotten pain again after the break, so it doesnt necessarily come back really quickly. That said it hasn’t completely disappeared for me, either. It just takes a lot longer for pain to begin and doesn’t really hinder my training anymore. I expect it to keep improving with time as long as I ensure never to push myself too far 🙂
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An excellent point! After every class I curse myself for taking such a long break and swear I’ll never do it again. I also stretch way more consistently now and I think I’m already more flexi than I was before.
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Now that I think of it I also worked on hand grip strength while sitting in classes, etc. and since that is working on forearms it probably helped a great deal of it.
Had never heard of Powerball before and omg I want one!
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I’ve had a similar problem, but not quite as badly. Do you know what shin splints are? If not Google it. I had a similar phenomenon in my forearm and I think it’s a fairly common thing.
Our arms simply aren’t used to bearing weight on that angle. Furthermore, if you overdo it then 6-8 weeks to heal isn’t unheard of. A month isn’t long enough, and you’re probably not easing back in as gently as you think.
As with all injuries the best thing to do is see a doctor/physio and get their advice. I am neither of those things. I will tell you though that what worked for me (for both shins and forearms) and what I’ve learnt from a lot of reading and physio visits is giving yourself *ample* time to heal (I’m talking two months here not doing any of those holds that cause you pain) and then easing in slowly.
By slowly I mean easing into a static hold and holding only for a couple of seconds. Don’t put your full weight through if you can help it. Do this once or twice for maybe a second. That’s it! Do it again in 2-3 days and build up SLOWLY. It took me months to be able to do a split grip hold without pain in my firearms.
Don’t ever do anything until it hurts. You should always aim to stop well before pain. Actual is never, ever okay. Everyone’s body is different, so don’t think you should be able to do the same as everyone else straight away.
If this is an ongoing issue then you should definitely see a physio though.
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Thanks for all the awesome replies 🙂
It really does help knowing I’m not alone in this and I hope the encouraging words help all of us, including anyone that reads this in the future 🙂 -
Thus is amazing! I’ve been wanting to work on back bend/shoulder flex in my off days from working on splits/hup flex but had no idea where to start. Thanks for making such a concise and easy to follow tutorial 🙂
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I use a Lady Cup and I second that menstrual cups are a total lifesaver. When I had a copper IUD I’d take off one day when I bled *really* heavily. I’m talking emptying the cup every hour. Otherwise I just make sure it’s emptied out and sitting well before class and do everything else as normal.
Don’t feel guilty for missing a night. You have to be comfortable and confident and if for you that means not poling when it’s that time of the month then that is totally fine! -
Thanks heaps for the explanation, that makes a lot more sense. I’m due to stretch again in Thursday so I’ll give it a go then and see how I go. 🙂
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Thanks for the links 🙂
I had a read but I think they mostly went over my head because I’m not that good with the technical side of stretching and all the medical terms.
Do you know of any PNF resources that are a little less technical? If not I’ll have a proper Google of it after I finish work. -
Awesome! That might be a thing to do when everyone else is doing their splits. I have a strap somewhere that I can use to pull down on my foot better and even that doesn’t put the same pressure on my knees and hips as actually lowering into it. Thanks for the advice! 🙂
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I strongly recommend against getting botox in your hands. I haven’t got it myself, and there’s a good reason for that.
Botox will relax/paralyze muscles. That is NOT what you want in your hands.
Give Dirty Girl Poletice a try. http://www.dirtygirlpoletice.com/
It works like an antiperspirant so the more you use it the more effective it will be and the less you will actually need it. I’ve tried everything you mentioned as well as I also have very sweaty hands and now I use Poletice plus Dry Hands for a bit extra when I need it. I still need to wipe my hands off with metho maybe one or twice during an hour long session but I can go an entire song without having to apply anything now. It’s made a huge difference.If you really can’t find anything that works then use gloves. I know a girls who swear by the Tight Grip full finger gloves but I’ve also seen professionals using the half finger ones. There’ll be something that will work for you whether it’s a grip aid, antiperspirant or gloves. Just stay away from the botox!
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I will be having surgery in a few months too! It will be in my foot so hopefully I’ll be able to do some upper body and core training after a couple of weeks but I won’t be able to properly get back into training for a while.
My plan is lost of floor work, and stretching! If you can’t do any core work yet then stretch your little heart out! Just think about it, you can do hour+ stretching sessions every day (or whenever you would normally practice). Work on splits and back bends and think about how super bendy you’re going to be afterwards!
An Australian pole dancer Shimmy fractured her rib last January and wasn’t back on the pole until June. She worked on flex that entire time and the results really showed. I figure as long as we stay motivated and do what we can then it’ll all be fine 😀 -
Here is El’s completely brilliant comment to Today after their segement on her studio https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204037356514107&set=o.130834060284601&type=1&theater
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Yeah, I’ve had most people be understanding and get it (even if many of them do still make jokes about it then wonder by it annoys me!). I’ve only had one friend not be that way and say it was just hip movement up on a pole after already admitting he’d never seen proper pole dancing. I basically just told him how arrogant he was to presume to know more about my own sport than I did and speak like it as stripper. Don’t think I’ve spoken to him since, haha.
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I am also an advocate of studio plus at home. I am lucky that I have a few affordable studios to choose from so I picked a good one for me and go a couple of times a week.
At home I like to do extra strength training and also work on particular moves that I can’t get in the short period of time we have at the studio. The option to film yourself and then reattmept a move as many times as you like is a huge advantage. It’s also noteworthy that it’s been shown mastery in any skill requires solo practice and often times the amount of solo practice is more important than the overall amount of time spent practicing a particular skill (but group practice also has its place).
Personally, I find if i don’t have structured lessons then I get stuck, so if you do decide to try just with online lessons then I think the lessons here are definitely you’re best bet to ensure you’re progressing at a good pace and doing so safely.
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The story in Australia was about the kids classes at my old studio and the interviewers were so rude ignorant and just plain awful. Saying things pole dancing “obviously” has its roots in strip clubs and then refusing to change their stance on that factoid after it was quite firmly but politely explained to them that actually it’s been practiced in China and India for centuries.
The show that ran the story had a poll on their site asking if people would let their children pole dance but it disappeared when the data showed over 50% were fine with it.
These people with preconceived notions based on zero fact who refuse to educate themselves (or be educated by those they interview!) make my blood boil. -
Thanks 🙂
Good idea about the music! I’ll have to start a new play list of all happy, encouraging music. I think it’ll help when my partner and I finally get my new place sorted and get my pole up again so I can work on stuff at home rather than just in the studio. I think solo practice is super important for progress.
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Don’t mind the autocorrect typo in the title. Oops!
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I’ve come to the conclusion that I have an extended tailbone because it hurts me to do situps on hard surfaces and cross knee releases hurt my tailbone as well (I still do them though because they’re super awesome looking) and well as sitting on certain angles for long periods of time.
No amount of glute squeezing has thus far completed solved the problem but it can make it more bearable.I’m also graced with this weird bone on the top on my foot that sticks out and stops me doing a few things others can do so I’ve just learnt that some tricks just don’t work as well for certain people. It’s just a matter of finding what works for you.
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Thanks for the suggestions! I steamed it with my iron and then wiped it down well with some alcohol before putting it up and it worked really well.
Love my new TG pole! So much better for my skin than my chrome one was 😀
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My studio uses brass and I love, love, LOVE brass poles. However! I’ve learnt the hard way not to use ANY until I’ve figured out how grippy my skin is that day. When it’s warmer my skin gets very tacky which can make for lots grip and soreness. I’ve also been working on chrome at home and while the brass can hurt I do find I have better technique than on a slippery pole (although I feel it’s important to have exposure to both if you’d like to compete at some point.)
The only thing I’ve found that works when my skin is just plain too grippy on brass is water. I’ll literally just put some water out of my water bottle on a tshirt and rub my skin and it helps. I think it just rinses off the sweat or something. I don’t know. It works for me. most of the time, but only a bit. On a warm day there’s not too much to be done other than gritting teeth and bearing it.
As my lovely instructor likes to say though: “It hurts your skin? Good, that means you’ve got good grip!”
If you’re losing skin then that’s probably a good indication that you’re either sliding into place or just need some more practice to toughen up that skin until it’s a beautiful leathery pole-danceresque hide! -
Yep! I’ve never used a matt pole so I have zero idea if I’ll love it, hate it, or find it very meh.
I love the idea of ordering an extension but alas they’re $50 plus postage. I’ve Facebook messaged Xpole Aust to ask if there’s any way I can check out the finish before I buy anything, so we’ll see! I will def keep you guys posted on it! -
Awesome as.
Do you guys ever find your TG poles get TOO grippy? My only reason for wanting to keep the chrome is a fear that the TG might be too grippy as it moves into summer.
Having another look at the Xpole Aust site it’d cost me $360 to buy both poles + an extension whereas it’s $499 for the TG set. Considering I have a friend willing to buy my chrome pole from me it would be a lot cheaper for me to simply upgrade to a new pole (and my friend gets a cheaper second hand one to boot).
