[RoseMay]

I know this is old, but I got a few new ones:

You know you're a pole dancer if you try to do the splits in the changing room when trying on shorts to test whether they are pole safe… and hope that no one accidentally walks into the room.

You know you're a pole dancer when you try to climb the heating tube in the lady's room at work … just to try out how the diameter feels.

You know you're a pole dancer with some strength if you actually manage to climb that tube!

You know you're a pole dancer with a small ceiling at home if after one climb you get scared of the height and jump down.

You know you're a pole dancer if every time you meet the heating tube in the lady's room at work you silently greet it like an old friend.

https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cool.gif

[RoseMay]

I totally understand your frustration, it must suck to lose tricks you worked so hard for …

A few things that came to my mind while reading:

What about your nutrition? Did it change lately?

And how often do you practice those moves that are more difficult now? Did you try to watch lessons, DVDs, whatever, on them to remember the important points that help you get the trick? It happened to me several times that I seemed to have "unlearned" something, but really I just got sloppy with the technique and (re)watching tutorials or dvds helped me to clean them up again ..

And to get back into the happy groove you could just concentrate on dancing for a while doing the tricks that you're still comfortable with https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_flower.gif

[RoseMay]

I wish I would have listened when I read how important Veenas shoulder, forearm and wrist conditioning lessons really are and how much stretching the forearms after poling helps.

Oh, and I second the 45 mm thing. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif my 45mm TG

[RoseMay]

Did you engage your arm while holding the teddy? I find that the more I engage the muscles of the arm the less it hurts. And the pole should be more on the upper arm than the armpit.

If you're doing the classic teddy leg position try to really pull the leg that youre holding on up and to the side.

[RoseMay]

Thanks for posting this luvlee! Ever since I read it in this thread I've been wondering …

[RoseMay]

For me having a crash mat really helps to get rid of the fear factor. I actually don't invert at all without it at the moment. Not that I ever needed it, because I still try to be very cautious with the moves I try. Mine is 5'' thick btw.

When I took the pole down and set it up again I always worry at first because I'm never really sure whether it's set up correctly, too tight or not tight enough, is it really flat on the ceiling … But when I have my first training session I start slow and then when I see that it holds up in spinning mode I gain more confidence and finally I feel confident enough to invert. Oh and my pole never came down *knock on wood*

I think I'd be more worried to invert in a studio without a crash mat and on a different pole https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[RoseMay]

Meh, I should have listened to my own advice from this thread. Got a new 45mm pole a few weeks ago and already have some new monster calluses from not paying attention to my grip while being inverted. One of them even ripped open the other day and now I got a bunch of dead skin hanging from my hand. I hope it will fall off soon, looks kinda gross https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif  I was in a pharmacy and they gave me some cream to soften the skin.

Never had a problem with calusses with my 50mm pole..

[RoseMay]

If you have Veenas lessons you don't need the dvds from Leigh Ann. There are no new moves in there. Also the combos aren't that good. E.g. you probably already thought of doing a spin and a floormove together..

The style of dancing that they teach is very sexy and she uses the word: "stripper move" quite frequently https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif In the warm-up section are some floor moves that aren't covered by Veena though.

The Bendability Collection isn't that good either compared to Veenas lessons https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif In the foam rolling and injury prevention dvd are a lot less exercises than in Veenas conditioning lessons. About the stretching one I already wrote here:

https://www.studioveena.com/forums/view/4f499133-faf4-4295-b6a1-32d00ac37250

The strength dvd is better and I used it several times.

Hope this helps 🙂

And thanks for starting this thread, I've been thinking about buying Felix dvds as well 🙂

[RoseMay]

With the Bespun series do you mean the Leigh Ann ones or the one with Amy Guion that is about conditioning, foam rolling and flexibility?

[RoseMay]

Not a dance tip, but a 'how to show your family' tip. I usually show them only clips of all the tricks I can do, or am working on. I record my practices and the clips I like I cut together with a video editing program, choose some fun music … that way they see the athletic side of it and are like "wow" when they watch it.

Usually even if I tried really hard NOT to dance sexy they will still consider it sexy. Not sure if it's because I'm on a pole, or because they didn't see the sexy stuff and can't see the difference, or because "my style" is always a bit sexy. It doesn't matter, but I just don't show it to family anymore.

[RoseMay]

Thanks Chemgodess! I belong to the group of 20 something polers but I'm still interested in knowing which moves I should be careful with 🙂

[RoseMay]

chemgoddess, which moves aren't good body positioning that can cause problems? Apart from twisted grips of course ..

[RoseMay]

Just noticed that the big pics on the discussion page made SV a bit more NSFW https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[RoseMay]

Yay, so I'm gonna work on getting that caterpillar higher up (when I did it in the video it already felt REALLY high https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif ). It should be easier when I feel more secure with the grip.

Thanks for your help guys! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[RoseMay]

So in today's practice I tried to keep your tips in mind and this is the result:

https://www.studioveena.com/videos/view/4f4ff504-d938-4a67-b176-4f400ac37250

Painfree! 🙂 At least in the shoulders … I did manage to squish my boob though. You can even see it in the video. Any tips on that? I tried to bring the pole closer to my side but that was difficult.

Also, how would I enter an elbow grip caterpillar? Do I switch hand positions on top or does the upper arm start out in a different way than for the forearm caterpillar?

[RoseMay]

Thank you all for your answers 🙂

Veena, thanks for offering to help in chat, but I don't have a webcam 🙁
Your grip looks different than mine …. um, so I gotta ask, where does the pole sit at the top of a caterpillar: on the boob or on the outside of the boob? For now I've been holding it between the boobs .. didn't want to squish anything https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

Amy, yes I can hold a handstand for quite some time, without pain. I can also hold free elbowstands without my head resting on the ground until I get bored without pain. And I'm very comfortable with the handstand butterfly (been working on your tutorial for the spinning chopper dismount :-)) So I think I *should* be strong enough for the basic butterfly …
I think tucking the chin would make it more comfortable, I'll keep that in mind for my next try 🙂

Dustbunny, I've been thinking the same thing and therefore I'm doing Veenas shoulder stretching and conditioning exercises after every practice for quite some time now  🙂 When I go from a gemini to a butterfly I end up holding most of my weight with the hooked leg – which makes the butterfly easier (but also more painful https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif), but doesn't solve the problem I have with the elbow/forearm grip ..

[RoseMay]

Veena, a few months ago I was able to caterpillar comfortably (unlearned it now, cause I took a break from poling  https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif ), but the problem with the shoulder was there too in the top position, and also in a butterfly from a caterpillar. That's why I try it now without the caterpillar, to understand how I need to engage the shoulder, without actually placing the weight on it.

Yes I have the lessons 🙂

[RoseMay]

Yes that sounds exactly like what I'm doing! When I hang there in the position like in the video I'm trying to figure out how to engage the lower arm … If I place weight on the lower arm in a caterpillar it does hurt.

Is my positioning correct? I don't feel like I could carry my weight with the upper arm in the forearm grip, it feels like it would just slip off. I didn't try to hold an elbow grip butterfly away from the pole yet.

[RoseMay]

Not sure how strong you are, but I practiced the shoulder V and (half) super invert until I felt comfortable with them before I actually did the full shoulder mount. From the shoulder v I can put the legs on the pole as slowly as I want to while making sure the grip is secure. Also it looks better 😉

I can't shoulder mount from the floor because the thought of having my head that close to the ground freaks me out.

And like the others said, try the Veena grip, it's easier to hold the weight when you're up there. Although for me that only works on a 45mm pole. On a 50mm the veena grip feels very insecure for me.

[RoseMay]

I hope it's that easy! 🙂

Here's a video: https://www.studioveena.com/videos/view/4f4de0a3-d670-4381-8af2-2a9f0ac37250

[RoseMay]

I have a lot of stretching dvds, including this one. I hate to say it but that's the only one I never really use. I don't like the order of the exercises, my muscles get cold while following it, and I don't feel that it would improve my flexibility if I did it more often.

I judge stretching routines on whether I can do the splits after following it one time or not (I got my first splits 6 months ago, I just need some stretching to get into them). Veenas routine, Aletheas dvds and the Valentino Brothers dvds all get me into the splits – the Bespun one does not.

Now this dvd doesn't intend to be splits specific, they do more of a whole body stretching. But with only 15 exercises in total, for me no body part really gets stretched ..

[RoseMay]

The heels are resting on the blocks. He's sitting on his knees between the blocks, then places one foot on the block to the side and then the other.

Hope this helps 🙂

[RoseMay]

Hi, I never tried an oversplit middle split – only front splits.

1) I think it would be difficult to roll the foam roller under the leg when you are in the split, because you already need a good oversplit to do that. I usually place the roller under the ankle and then I either roll it down to my calf while I get into the split or I slide the back leg into the split position.

2) In the Valentino Brothers dvds they use yoga blocks on both sides for their middle split oversplits. The blocks are already placed in the needed distance and then they get into position. But I think it's okay to do both legs seperately on a foam roller as well, as long as you do both sides 🙂

[RoseMay]

Yay, congratz https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif This is a big step. All inverted combos look so much better when they start with a nice controlled invert 🙂

[RoseMay]

Hi there, you might find this thread an interesting read 🙂

https://www.studioveena.com/forums/view/is_there_something_wrong_with_me_20110309053759

I wouldn't worry too much about learning all those difficult things, that will come in time. Pretty executed beginner moves always look better than sloppy intermediate/advanced moves 🙂

What helps me to not get discouraged is to think about my progress during an entire month and not on a day to day basis. I also record every one of my practices (not sure if you can do that in your studio) and at the end of the month I make a "best of" video for that month. Even if I didn't learn lots of new things, but I can usually see a difference in the way I perform the things I already knew before. They look more fluid, have more extension, or I learned new transitions in and out of them …. and that's what I count as progress as well 🙂

If you're, like you said, in a performance based studio it might be a bit difficult for you to take it that slow and to not compare yourself to others though 🙁