[amelia2000]

If you’re signed up to the newsletter you’ll get an email when it comes. If you can wait 😛

[amelia2000]

The lowest I’ve put mine up was probably about 8ft. Tbh anything lower would be too low.

If you have a garden you could put it up there. I used to use mine exclusively outside and put it up/took it down every time, it’s easy to put up and take down. It’s putting it in the bag which takres the longest lol

[amelia2000]

About climbing with a low ceiling, try starting the climb from kneeling. You need more strength to start it as you can’t jump to help (I know you should only lift in anyway, but we’re all lazy sometimes) as you have to lift, and is harder to get momentum.
I used to have my pole under a 2m ceiling so know the feeling.

[amelia2000]

You might be able to via ebay, or ask your friends in class if they want them?

[amelia2000]

Hair spray helps me if my legs aren’t sticking enough, and shaving foam is supposed to help as well (doesn’t help me).
Also you can try different temperatures- a colder pole room might suit you better than a warm one or vice versa.
I use Tite Grip, which didn’t seem to work to start with, but then I realised that I wasn’t letting it soak in long enough, and now when I use it I put it on for my warm up so that it has enough time to soak in.

[amelia2000]

As for gettng used to being upside down on the pole, crossed knee release is good for that (and you can exit into a handstand) and if you can do a side climb, you can get into lots of inverted moves from there. Veena has a tutorial for a non invert gemini.
Practising fankicks is good for strengthening and kicking legs over and are good transitional moves.
Btw I’ve never mastered a cartwheel either 😛 I’m a wimp when it comes to handstands too haha 😉

[amelia2000]

Actively trying to spin down the pole (eg knee hook front or back where you end up kneeling/lying on the floor, or a stag spin where you end up sitting on the floor) and practising this should help.

[amelia2000]

I would also recommend encorporating non pole things like modified press ups, planks, dips etc into your pole sessions. Think there’s a good core workout involving side planks of Veenas in the lessions which you can use as a warm up. Also working on climbs improves strength no end (I still find moves such as chair spin hard and hate static spins).

[amelia2000]

I’m right-handed too and inverting for me is easier with my right arm on the inside, so that when I’m in an outside leg hang the left leg is hooked. It also means that when I do a superman, my left hand is at the top. Doing gemini climbs helps me train inverts on the other side, it’s the only way to forces myself to train that side haha.
I’ve dug out a video of my allegra embedded into a freestyle, it’s a few months old as due to pregnancy am limited on pole moves atm. I go into butterfly, then flatline, then allegra, it’s about 4 minutes in in the video.
https://www.studioveena.com/videos/view/5d9ae500-b18c-4834-9a0f-1d81ac110002

[amelia2000]

Like Stormy AKA PastinaBallerina says, taking a short break wouldn’t do any harm.

Also varying training is important, because the body adjusts to the impulses you give and gets used to the exercises. So for example if you’re doing weight training and start off with 2kg, after a while increase to 2.5 or 3, to keep making progress.
So as well as pole pulls ups, other good shoulder/arm exercises with/without pole are: superman press-ups as well as normal press-ups, pole rowing, rowing with theraband/similiar, dips. Full body exercises without pole are good for arms as well such as burpees and plank variations. All good things to encorporate into your warm up. And lots of pole climbs- this is great for stregth.

[amelia2000]

Some beginner moves are really daunting, so make sure you try a variety of moves (eg fireman and front/back hooks spins are easier than a chair spin because your legs are on the pole, focussing also on strength moves on and off the pole). I struggle with static spins even now although I’d say I’m intermediate.

Also if you have a pole which does spinning as well, you can carefully try that too with as little momentum as possible to start with, because that might be more your thing. But careful with momentum.

[amelia2000]

I think the more you write, the better you’ll get.
I could help you with translations if you want, like odd sentences/phrases, but translating takes ages so wouldn’t want to commit to translating whole entries.
I used to be on a German pole dance forum (think it was called deutsches poledance forum), where there were blogs too, but it seems to not be active anymore- I lost my login details after focussing on aerial hoop for a while and tried to log in again after starting poling again, but never received a new password.

[amelia2000]

LatinPoler, that’s a great idea. One day, I’ll make a game out of it and draw the moves out of a hat to make me choose ones I don’t like XD

[amelia2000]

I have the same problem really. I’m going to plan choreos to favourite songs, as when I freestyle I think I tend to do the same combos in different orders, and I end up doing the same favourite moves after each other.
As for choosing moves, there are Youtube videos with ideas of different moves you can do from other moves (e.g. Superman, Butterfly) Here’s the link to the Superman one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUdI9T5jJUc
That helps when finding new combos, as well as Veenas lessons.

[amelia2000]

I only train on spinning. If I’m trying new stuff, I just get on without momentum. That said, Xpoles are easy to switch between spinning/static, it’s just a couple of screws.
I trained in a studio for about 4-5 months and we only did spinning once. When I got my first Xstage, I tentatively tried spinning, and gradually grew to find it way better than static. I find static hard to spin on- having a good enough grip to not slip, but to have a loose enough grip to actually spin.
I think it’s important to introduce spinning slowly whether on your own or not, and I think you also need to have a solid climb, because that’s a good way to learn how to control the spin (as in knowing that pulling yourself up so legs are nearly straight makes the spin go faster, as opposed to having very bent legs, you spin slower).

[amelia2000]

The night before should be fine. Lotion and oil both affect the skin, but I wouldn’t put more on than necessary.
I’m the opposite to Sammy weatherwise- I pole better in colder weather 😛

[amelia2000]

Thanks, not quite the answer I want to hear but better than forking out and being disappointed!

[amelia2000]

Think it would be cheaper to go for a freestanding pole, eg xstage lite, than to have extra beams put in. We used to live in a flat which was 3.4m to the ceiling, and even that wasn’t the proper ceiling with the beams. So I went for the xstage lite (3m or 3.2m). Definitely less hassle in our situation.

Also a benefit with stage poles is that your heels can’t damage the floor (you worry about that if you’re in a rental)

[amelia2000]

I have tite grip and liquid chalk and neither work for me.
I’m too lazy to order anything else and find I hate it haha so I just use vinegar on a small towel on the pole and wipe my hands on that every so often. You could use a high percentage alcohol too. Vinegar/alcohol remove sweat from the pole and from the skin too.

Just to make you feel better- the monkey bars are horizontal and have a narrower diameter, it makes a difference! Like aerial hoops have a smaller diameter too 😉

Also climate makes a difference particularly in summer if you don’t have air conditioning. Now it’s summer I ideally have to pole in the morning unless it’s a cold day, and also have the window(s) open.

[amelia2000]

Glad to hear I’m not the only one to hate handstands (apart from exiting CAR). And static poling is one for me (I hate static spins, I either slip down too fast or have no momentum).

[amelia2000]

Varying the stretches helps too, because the body gets too used to them. It’s too easy to always do the same stretches haha (I know I’m gulity of that)

[amelia2000]

Depends on how often you practise and how structured you do it. Inverting will come faster with lots of core work (you can encorporate that into your warm-up). Also having some who can spot you in certain moves could also help. Doesn’t help me personally, I prefer to only let go when I can completely trust my body.
The leap as well to advanced (for me that means inverted hands only moves and high levels of flexibility) that will take longest to reach. The last inches on your splits are the hardest, and I’ve always had a problem with hand grip (sweaty hands).
The good thing about not training in a studio is that you set your own targets and focus on what you want. For me, that means no static spins (in fact, I only train on spinning mode).

[amelia2000]

For ballerina, I would suggest practising crucifix twist and forward fold (both sides), as well as peter pan, as those moves train the flexibility side of ballerina.

[amelia2000]

@strangefox, great to hear I’m not the only one hehe

[amelia2000]

Choosing the moves I work on is one reason why I love training at home (as well as geographical reasons).

I hated the focus on static spins when I used to go to classes. I have grip problems and even now struggle with static spins- holding the position, gaining enough momentum AND looking pretty.

Handsprings aren’t on my list of to-do moves either, and that’s ok. I used to think I didn’t want to do a shoulder mount, but I realised last week, I’m actually not too far off getting it. It’s not good to pressure yourself into training specific moves- not all are meant for everyone because our bodies and psyche are all different.