[azriel]

I think it would be better if you could do the stretching/flex and strengthening as 2 different classes if you can. 10 or 20 minutes of stretching is definitely better than nothing, but it's really not enough to get big flexibility gains.  If you must do them both in one class, then DEFINITELY SAVE THE STRETCHING FOR THE END! Do it for the last 15-20 minutes of the class.. muscles stretch better at the end of a workout when the body is really warm, plus it'll save you from having to do a separate cool down (because you'd have to stretch again at the end anyway!).

I teach a pole strengthening class & here's what i do: 

10 min warmup:  5 min of jogging around the room, (occassionally making them do the jog where you bring your knees really high) , & zig-zagging around the poles. Sometimes we also do some jumping jacks or jog in place while doing shoulder/arm rolls.  Then 5 min of any aerobic  "toy", such as hoola hoop, jump rope, etc. I got these wierd things from a toy store.. there's a wheel with a stick that has a loop that you put your foot through, & swing your leg to get it rolling while having to jump over the wheel everytime it comes around your other foot. Hard to explain, but i bet you could find some cool stuff at a big toy store!

Lower body strengthening:  15 min.  Leg swings while holding on the pole, both front & side.Lunges going across the room, & then doing 8 squats each time we reach the walls. We do both front as well as diagonal lunges.

Upper body strenghening:  20 min.  Tuck lifts,  middle lifts (hands in prayer pose hold, lift legs behind you like in carousel spin).  Alternating crucifix lifts (lift into crucifix alternating legs & which hand is on top- 20 times so that each side gets 10 reps). They don't have to let go of their hands for this, since the point of the exercise is strengthening, and we want to do it fast & continuously.  Rotator cuff/shoulder exercises with wide elastic bands tied on pole. Forearm exercises with bands. Shoulder mount prances for advanced students, or a similar exercise while laying on the floor (on back) for less advanced students.

Then 15 min of stretching.

I hope this gave you some ideas.. good luck!! :))

 

 

 

 

[azriel]

Ooooh how fun! i've taken workshops with Karol, & she really is awesome! Great instructor as well as a wonderful & sweet person!  If i was there i'd definitely take all her workshops again!

[azriel]

The one tip that i find helps in understanding the forearm is to turn your top arm as you pull up into your caterpillar, so that the pole rests a bit in your inner elbow. It's not just your forearm that touches the pole. Some people only turn their wrist.. but you have to twist your whole arm so that you get a good stable grip, while not straining the wrist. Also make sure that your index fingers on both hands are pointing down towards the floor! Hope this makes sense 🙂

[azriel]

     First, i want to say that i agree with everything everyone else has said.. especially about getting your own pole & talking to the studio.  Second, i want to mention how easy it is to forget why we started pole dancing in the 1st place.. to get a good workout while having fun, and to feel better about ourselves with our OWN accomplishments! 

I explain this to my students on their very first day in class.. and they all agree then, & argue that they'd never compare themselves or feel envious of others.. they insist that they only care about their own accomplishments.  However, a couple months later, that is hardley the case. Many, many polers feel exactly like you do, even the ones who progress faster than the others, & i want to give you an example.

I have 2 students who started at about the same time.  Student A was a professional athlete, student B had never exercised before in her life.  Student A would only come to class 1-2 times a week, whereas student B would come to class at  least 4 times a week, plus attended all the strengthening classes and open play hours.  Even so, student A (the athlete who didn't come so often) progressed much much quicker.  She was lifting into inverts & doing all the basic inverted poses, while student B was still struggling to climb despite so much more effort.

Fast forward a few months later:  Of course student A can still do more tricks than student B, but there are now a couple moves that student B can do, but student A can't, so now she's the one feeling envious. She finds it difficult to accept the fact that someone who had no athletic experience and is still much weaker than her, can do these moves that she still can't get the hang of.  Also, student A got a pole for her home, whereas student B didn't.  Her fast progression has led her to a couple minor injuries.. she has a strained bicep and feels pain in her elbows, which now are preventing her from any further progression for a while (of course i have taken measures to deal with this.. urging her to rest & see her doctor before continuing). 

And last but not least, student A complains that she can't get through a whole song of freestyling.. all her moves are hit or miss, and she is constantly slipping throughout her dance, even with spins.  Student B on the otherhand, who progressed at a much slower, but steady rate, can now dance to a full song – even if she can do less tricks- but she'll nail the moves she puts in her dance, because she has learned them well.

Point of this story- learning fast does not always in our best interest! and even those who do learn fast, can at some point be envious of those who progress at a slower rate! And pole dance isn't just about the tricks.. being able to incorporate a couple of basic tricks in a full dance can be much more fulfilling than knowing a bunch of tricks that you can't even use in a dance because you don't have them 100%. 

I too sometimes feel envious of some of my students who are picking up on things way faster than i did. But then i remember my own accomplishments, and what MY individual strengths are. I've come to notice that each pole student is special in her own unique way.. some are fast at learning tricks, others are more passionate in their dance.. i just want to have fun while i get my workout & express myself through dance. SO WHAT if my students become better than me or learn faster.. i'm proud to know that i can do so much more today than i could before, & that i have found a way to release stress & feel better about me.

Please don't stop poling just because of this.. just focus on YOU and your personal goals.

Sorry i didn't mean for this to be so long..  just want you to know that almost all of us feel what you're feeling at some point or another. I hope you feel better soon.. please keep us updated!

[azriel]

Yay! you look fantastic!!

[azriel]

I can't see Empy's vid either :(.. but i've seen this move before & keep forgetting to try it! will definitely try it next  practice.. it looks fun!

[azriel]

Hey NickiLee! I own a pole studio in Athens Greece, & would absolutely love to meet up with you, help you with your visit here, & of course jam with you at the studio!  Message me anytime, & please let me know at what point in your holdiay you think you'll be over here!   I might be away from June 6 til June 15, so i hope it won't be then!  :))

[azriel]

YAY!!  I'm so excited about Sahrit coming back to visit Greece!  I just have to let you all know, she was here in September, & she did workshops at my studio & I also took her to another studio in the area.. ALL the students at both studios absolutely LOVED her workshops!

Sahrit focuses on the dancey aspect of pole dance, & is just sooo talented at teaching fantastic choreographies!  She also has a beautiful personality, which just makes you fall in love with her (i swear i'm not exxagerating!)!  If you own a studio, a stronly recommend getting Sahrit to do a workshop for your students. And if you're a student & have the chance to learn from her, don't miss it!

I personally can't wait till June, & my students who have already done the workshops with her in September are already booking their spots to do it again in June!

Haha i sound like i'm her promotional manager or something, but i really do mean everything i said!!  https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif  YAY for Sahrit's tour!!!!!

[azriel]

This happened to me a couple weeks ago, when i was practicing non stop & rehearsing for a performance.  It went away on its own after a couple days of rest.  Please do let us know what the Physio tells you so that the rest of us know for future reference! Hope it's just something mild like it was for me! Good luck!

[azriel]

I too teach the mount & dismount together. The dismount really helps to build up your strength for this move, & at the same time can be performed really close to the floor, so that you end up sitting on the floor. A really good tip for this move to make sure that you slide your ankles all the way down as close to your hands as possible (so that your butt is sticking way out, & your body is already at a horizontal position) before releasing your legs. This helps to prevent rolling over your collarbone, & is also safer since you'll already be halfway down.

Also make sure to keep your knees tucked into your chest after releasing your legs.. once this becomes easy, you can work on dismounting with one leg straight, and then with both legs straight in a V.

And as others mentioned, make sure to use a mat, & a spotter would be even better!

[azriel]

I think this is a great idea! just like there’s a section "just for moms (&dads)", it’d be nice to have one for studio owners and/or instructors! I personally have many business-related issues i’d like to discuss, & wouldn’t know where i should post. (And of course students & anyone else would be welcome to give their input/opinions too, since many issues are related to classes & student satisfaction). I’m in the FB group that CurvyDiva mentioned, & it’s great! But it would also be nice to have one on here too.. I hope veena & webbie make a category for this in the forum! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[azriel]

Fun game! although i can’t a turn now, because i can’t do anything that involves splits, the baby phoenix (or any phoenix, lol), and i’ve never tried the daredevil (which i will next practice!).. so i’ll take my turn later https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[azriel]

awww, haha that’s awesome! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[azriel]

AWWWWWW thank you all so much!! I really wouldn’t even be where i am today if it wasn’t for this site! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
Yes, I was actually quite surprised that i got a full 11.5 minutes on the show, and the reporters & hosts really were awesome & so supportive!
I love you guys! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_albino.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_smurfin.gif

[azriel]

YAY! Congratulations! The site looks great & i totally love all the bottoms you have! Will be ordering some stuff soon.. can’t wait for the accessories!!!

[azriel]

Yes a vid would be helpful. You’re probably not squatting enough in order to cross your legs as much as you need to. I teach my students do this from the floor, without lifting up into the sit.. this way, you can learn to squat more. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
Standing with the pole in front of you, squat down as if you’re sitting in chair (holding the pole with both hands), and plant one foot right in front of the pole while staying squatted. Then bring the other leg around to cross the planted one. You don’t have to lift your foot off the floor right off the bat! Just give yourself time to adjust to the feeling of this position first! Engaging your abs (& arms) can really help to take the pressure off your thighs. Just sit like this & gradually try to rely on your feet less & less, while engaging your other muscles to hold you there.. Eventually the pain in your thighs will subside! Let us know how you do! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[azriel]

Does anyone have a link for this??

[azriel]

Just saw this post! You’ve probably already got your poles for the venue, but i just wanted to say that I personally don’t think it’s a good idea to get TG for a class. Not only are they more expensive, but the TG finish tends to wear off after a certain amount of use.. this has happened to my tg at home, as well as to 2 of my friends who had a tg for personal use. Another friend of mine had a TG in her studio for less than a year, & if you see the pole now, you’d never think that it was once TG- it has all worn off & is now silver.

As for the sizes, i have put both 45s as well as 50s in my studio, & i encourage all my students to practice on both. I’ve found that this works pretty well. The 45 is not more difficult to perform inverted moves on; both sizes have their advantages & disadvantages!
I’d love to know what you ended up getting & what you think about it!

[azriel]

Thank you Roxy. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[azriel]

Today is my 2 year anniversary as a SV member! And in 2 months from now it’ll be 2 years since i started poledancing.. I just can’t believe how fast time flies, seems like just the other day i had started this thread, which was actually a whole year ago, for my 1 year anniversary!
I’m posting this in last year’s thread instead of making a new one, because our dear friend Caramel had also posted a reply here about her own anniversary at SV.. we had always said that we’d celebrate together every year, so this is my way of doing that, even if she’s not physically here. So, happy anniversary Caramel, our pole dancing angel.. I think i can safely speak on behalf of everyone who knew you, and say that it was a true honor to have known you, that you are truly missed, loved, & your memory is still alive with us.

.. just wanted to express again how much i love this site and all the members here.. i wouldn’t be where i am today if it wasn’t for Veena, Webbie, & everyone else on here.. Love you guys! xoxoxo

[azriel]

Oh i HATE that i’m away lately & always missing out on what’s going on! I totally would’ve sent an email with my opinions had i known about this earlier! but anyways, i’m totally glad with the final outcome.. victory is sweeet!!!

[azriel]

i’m so sad i missed friday chat 2 fridays in a row! But at least both times were for a good cause. Last friday night i met up with a SV member out for a drink (Labirikos) YAY! And last night, Angel & I had planned to stop by for a bit, but we got caught up at my studio – breaking it in- & didn’t get home till about 3:30 am! Needless to say, we were so exhausted & went straight to bed! But i’ll be there next friday.. i’ve missed all the SV chat peeps! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[azriel]

Meleania i totally feel you! I had initially replied to this thread over a year and a half ago, and even now i still go through "bad phases". Sometimes it really is a loss of strength or technique (usually due to some time off or to light practices), but lately i’ve come to believe that many times it has to do with motivation. Sometimes i’m just not motivated enough to put in as much effort as a good practice session requires. It’s almost as if i feel like i should be able to execute moves more effortlessly after poling this long… and this leads me to actually try doing moves without effort, which in turn leads to a practice that just feels weak. This practice de-motivates me, leading to more "weak" practices.
Then one day i just snap out of it, and everything is fine again, & then i can’t understand why i was having such a hard time before. I don’t know if this makes much sense to anyone else.. Pole dancing is just hard, period!! But still so so worth it!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[azriel]

This challenge does sound fun! can’t wait to start working on it!!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_tongue.gif

[azriel]

Happy belated birthday my sweet lil Irish cailin!! Hope you had a good one with lots of fun drinking games! I haven’t had a laptop either, so i just saw this today too! Love you!!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cat.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cat.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/alien.gif