[Sanchara]

Ah, I was talking about general Physical Literacy, Where the result of improvment is that new exercises are easier to learn. Getting used to the idea of being upside-down is just one very small peice of that. One also has to develop the abillity to find oneself in space while in motion.

I have a bunch of specific exercises for cartwheels but…they be difficult to expain by typeing., a cartwheel is nothing like a handstand really.l

except for the part where you’re traveling through a sideways, straddled handstand. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif

[Sanchara]

I’m not in gymnastics yet but my Equestrian Vaulting (gymnastics and acrobatics on the back of a moving horse) coach want’s me to go as soon as I have the money.

Cartwheels are not as easy as people make them out to sound. I agree with Veena’s sugestion of working on *Body Awarenes*. generally working on your *Physical Literacy* will make things like cartwheels easier.

Aside from handstands and such on the wall you can practice sommersaults and other rolls in multiple directions.

Maybe you should tell your coach how you feel. It’s really important to have good communication with your coach.

[Sanchara]

thank you! I wasn’t sure but now I’ve decided to book an appointment with my doctor as well as a meeting with my personal trainer and my coach so we can descuss my new diet/training plan. I’m still vaulting but my husband won’t let me use my pole untill he’s retightened it. (it kindof slipped on me the other day. I think it’s because of the stupid peices of plywood that he put bwteen the dome and the celing and underneath it. He also wants to rea-arrange the furniture in the bedroom so I have more crash space (I’m scared to invirt that close to the bed)

but again thank you all. I feel a lot less uncertian now that I have some idea what I should do.

[Sanchara]

Yes I am. In the last few months I’ve been pulling muscles left right and center. Right now I have more Grade I pulls than I can count and I’m recovering from a bad grade II hammstring pull. My Vaulting coach suspects that it might have something to do with the eating disorder I faced earlier in the year and my tendons being depleated of nutrients.

I don’t know much about body building but I do know that at the level I’m competing at a female Vaulter is expected to be as stong as a male gymast but still have exceptional felxibillity.

[Sanchara]

Thank you^^ I understand that baisc nutrition is super important, I should have been more specific in my question.

I was more thinking about specific vitamines and minerals in order to make tendons more resitant to pulls.

[Sanchara]

Yes, I’d still reccomend stretching daily, however with those goals in mind I don’t see the full hour being entirely neccicary.

[Sanchara]

Generally most coaches in most sports that demand a high amount flexiblity recommend about an hour’s worth of stretching every day in addition to the few minuites worth that you would do in warm up. Just make sure to do some light cardio first on the day’s you’re not poling.

[Sanchara]

What Heather said is about rest and protein is super important. Following those rules also keep the number of reps to ten and under. If you can do eleven reps of a particular exercise it’s time to increase the weight or difficulty. And always stretch every muscle you use to avoid loosing flexibility. :]

[Sanchara]

Yes you do. But by the time you get there you’ll be so used to it that it would seem weird not to do it. AND once you’re in the splits you can start working towards oversplits!

[Sanchara]

Thats right! I tottally forgot about that! Veena, It’s potasium right?

[Sanchara]

Through warmup is super important; once you’ve done your general cardio stuffs there is a good stretch you can do that will stretch the traps, and help align the neck (although no amount of physio/stretching can repalace your regular chiropractor visits)

sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor reach one arm straight down from the shoulder and grab onto the bottom of the chair, gently lift and tilt your head away from that hand (you should feel the stretch down the side of your neck) then slowly turn your chin so that you are looking at the boob oposite the hand that’s hanging onto the chair. (this should stretch the trap itself and down into your back)

I was given this exercise by a physiotherapist when I was at an international Equestrian Vaulting competition and didn’t have access to a good chiropractor.

ps. I tottaly feel your pain when it comes to doctors. It seems like they think that being an atlete is unhealthy.

[Sanchara]

Can you tell us what you did to fix it? I kindof have a simmilar problem at the moment…

[Sanchara]

when I first got back into karate after taking several years off I had no splits. (at all) after about a year of stretching for about fifteen seconds each stretch in warmup and thirty to imporve flexabilty every day. However,I didn’t get my oversplits untill I started stretching thirty seconds gently in warm up and TWO MINUTES each stretch to increase felxabillty. (this has also helped my studdies as I enjoy reading while stretching)

[Sanchara]

you don’t have to own your own horse to vault, the clubs own the horses. but i know how it can be with time. Between work (I’m a webdesigner and database administrator) continued studdies (I’m learning to programme) and sports I have no room for any sort of social life.

[Sanchara]

Yup ^^ That’s why they make such great cross training for eachother. The Godess movement is like….the only pole studio in Chilliwack…
I guess BC is just a generally earthy place^^

[Sanchara]

Vaulting is a lot like poleing – basic spins are easy, and so is fun stuff at the walk. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif as soon as I recover from my pulled hammstring I’ll be back on the horse and the pole! …and every other exercise apparatus I can get my hands/feet on https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif

[Sanchara]

and of course, if you want to loose weight just for the sake of loosing weight the best things to do are:
A. entirely cut sugar from your diet. (especially if you live in the US where most sweets are actually made with high fructose corn syrup wich is even worse for you than white sugar) Removing all sugar from your diet can also halp improve emotional stability.

B. Fix your diet, replace all white bread products with whole grains (the complex carbohydrates in whole graines are needed to burn calories) eat at least 50 grams of protein a day and restrict your caloric intake. I’m about 5’5” and on a day I’m not training I’m only alloud 1000 cakories 1300 if i am trainging.

C. Train for strength rather than endurance. This means shorter more intense workouts (ie: five minuites of sprinting vs. a twenty- minuite jog.) and more varity in your workouts. if you’re training properly you shouldn’t be able to do more than ten reps of any exercise, (if you can do eleven reps you need to modify the exercise to make it harder) You also know if you’re traing for strength rather than endurance if you’re completely dead-tired at the end of a twenty minuite workout. Remember to give muscles a fourt-eight hour rest between each of these types of workouts to avoid scarring the muscles. Scarring the muscles will result in a "bulky" look that’s just not pretty and reduce flexabillity.

Anyway. The diet advice is straight from my coaches (I compete internationally in Equestrian Vaulting) …and the strength training advice is really good practice weather you’re trying to loose weight or not,

Cheers,
Sanchara

[Sanchara]

you know, gymnasts have mats even at the very higest levels of competition, why can’t pole dancers?

[Sanchara]

thanks for all your help girls. I guess I was just brainstorming. You know, I’d probably go for it if my husband wasn’t such a prude…

[Sanchara]

I’m from BC canada, and I was thinking of perhaps topless or whatever…but my husband would throw a fit if I were ever to do lapdances or anything like that. I don’t know, it’s probably a bad idea…

[Sanchara]

If you’re really trying to build muscle (and thus boost your metabolism) then you need to do a short but intense workout every fourty-eight (48) hours. Wether it’s poleing, gymnastics, dance or just a good run you should be focused on pushing yourself untill your ready to drop in twenty minuites or less. This isn’t a pole dance thing so much as a general sport-knowlage thing.
anyway, this is what I do. I hope it helps you.

[Sanchara]

Honestly, if you had the flexibillity before than obviously what you were doing before worked. I would just keep doing what you were doing before. In the past when I’ve tried to push my felaxabillity to fast I’ve just ended up pulling muscles.

PS. thumbs up to the person before me.