kasanya
Forum Replies Created
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If you have poor posture, then your pelvis is probably not in a healthy neutral position. You might find it helpful to have some sort of professional assess your posture and find out whether you have an anterior or posterior pelvis tilt. This is really, really important to know for sure, because if you have an anterior pelvic tilt and you’re doing corrective exercises that are more appropriate for a posterior pelvic tilt (or vice versa), you will actually end up making your posture worse. It may be pretty obvious though which position your pelvis is in if you do some Google research on anterior and posterior pelvic tilts, so start with that and keep the idea of a professional posture assessment in mind.
For the upper body, the common problems are forward head posture, forward rolling shoulders, and a variety of issues with the shoulder blades. If you have problems with all of those areas, you probably have upper cross syndrome. Again, a professional posture assessment will help you figure out exactly what needs to be done to fix your specific problems, but you can also learn a lot from Google research.
Moral of the story: there is no one-size-fits-all approach for fixing posture. You have to figure out exactly what issues YOU have before you can fix them.
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Sorry, I screwed up the link for the transversus abdominis exercise progression. Here’s the correct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8O04WLXFt8 .
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Yes, that video is exactly the test I was talking about.
As for which exercises to do, that seems to depend on the underlying reason for the lazy glute(s).
The glutes are inhibited by tight hip flexors. If the hip flexors are tight simply because you spend a lot of time sitting, then you should be able to sort out the problem with hip flexor stretches + glute activation / strengthening exercises. There’s tons of information out there for glute exercise progressions. Here’s a couple examples I found pretty quickly on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpm36n5UhfQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPQOItIKyPo . It’s important to really pay attention to what your body is doing during the glute exercises. You’ll need to re-wire the brain to get glute dominant movement patterns rather than compensating with your lower back and/or hamstrings.
The other common reason for tight hip flexors is actually insufficient core stability. If you look at an anatomy diagram of the hip flexors, you’ll see that the psoas (one of the major hip flexor muscles) connects directly to the lumbar (lower) spine. If your lumbar spine is not being adequately supported by the deep core muscles (transversus abdominis, multifidus, and pelvic floor), then the body compensates by contracting the psoas muscles to pick up the slack. So if you’re the kind of person who can stretch your hip flexors endlessly and never actually become more flexible there, then this is likely your underlying problem. (Another common indicator of poor core stability is the frequent need to crack your lower back.) In this case, you’ll need to improve your core stability before you can get your hip flexors to unlock and your glutes to start firing properly. Here’s the first video in a 4 part series for strengthening the multifidus muscles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t9bZpl4EEY . Here’s the first video in a 4 part progression for strengthening the transversus abdominis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t9bZpl4EEY . And the pelvic floor can be strengthened through Kegel exercises.
I hope this helps!
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I’ve also noticed a difference in flexibility when working on my right and left splits. My quest for answers led me to discover theballetblog.com, which is written by a physiotherapist who works specifically with dancers. One of the main things she talks about for this issue is lazy glute muscles. Sure enough, I tried her test and my glute works fine on my more flexible side. On my less flexible side though, my glute was taking a nap and my hamstring was firing like crazy trying to lift that leg. No wonder my hamstring is tight on that side! >< So lately I've been working on glute activation exercises. I started with the test exercise and did it over and over again, really focusing on contracting the glute to lift the leg, until my brain figured out how to talk to that muscle consistently. Then I went on YouTube to find more difficult exercises. It seems to be helping, but I've only been working on it for about 10 days so it's a little early for definitive results. Here's a couple links for posts on the subject. The test I mentioned is described in the second one. http://www.theballetblog.com/article/the-relationship-between-your-gluteals-and-your-hamstrings/
http://www.frontsplitsfast.com/are-you-more-flexible-on-one-side-than-the-otherGood luck!
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Oh, another thought. I did private pilates classes throughout my last injury, with the instructor providing modifications based on what my shoulder could and could not handle at the time. When I finally returned to poling, I discovered I hadn’t lost any strength during my time off. You may want to look into a similar sort of cross training.
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I’ve had two major shoulder injuries due to pole. I lost 6 months to the first one and nearly a year to the second. I would strongly recommend seeking professional medical guidance rather than attempting to self diagnose. The shoulder girdle is an incredibly complicated joint and you run the risk of making your problem worse (or even permanent) if you try to treat it yourself.
That being said, there’s certainly a lot of things you can work on while you’re rehabbing the injury. The things you mentioned are all great ideas. Also, now is perhaps a good time to polish spins and other predominantly one-handed moves on the non-injured side? Just make sure you’re paying attention to what your body is telling you when you’re working out / practicing. If something’s painful or feels wrong, stop and move on to something else.
Good luck and I hope you have a speedy recovery!
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I believe Sweet Vixen Couture relocated to the UK a while back.
http://www.lightactivewear.com/ is Canadian and has a free shipping promotion for both Canada and the US. They’re also currently donating half their proceeds to the BC pole studio that burned down in November.
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I like the tutorials on Gymnastics WOD for basic tumbling moves. Good luck!
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I’m wondering if this is related to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program changes that have had the small-venue music scene up in arms lately. From what I can gather, it looks like a dance workshop tour would fall under the same rules as a small band tour — a $425 permit required for each and ever person on the tour for each and every location they stop at. I can see how that would make a workshop tour financially unfeasible.
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There’s a FB group that does that on a weekly basis. It’s called Freestyle Friday:
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I got married this summer and deliberately got my wedding band a half size larger than I would normally wear, just because I knew how often I would be taking it off and putting it back on. The ring feels a bit loose when I wear it, but my knuckles are thicker than the upper part of my finger so the ring doesn’t come off unless I pull on it. Maybe try getting your rings sized up a little?
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Comments abound on this thread:
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I love this section:
"Although ‘pole fitness’ is sold as an empowering activity, we believe that women have been deceived into thinking this is a way of taking charge of their sexuality and their own decisions. Moreover we believe that it is just a further debasement of our culture and another sign of a creeping backlash against women’s true empowerment and a show of misogyny."
Apparently it is not misogynistic at all to imply that women are too stupid to realize they're being "deceived" into "feeling empowered".
Quite frankly, if I feel like something empowers me to "take charge of my sexuality and decisions", then it really does empower me. It is how I perceive it that matters — not some outsider's perspective. Although these outsiders appear to be doing their damndest to objectify and dis-empower any woman foolish enough to engage in a heinous activity like pole fitness.
This part is also nice:
"Female students have gender equality legislation behind them in allowing them a student experience free from inequality, sexual oppression and objectification."
So… That gender equality legislation makes it ok for an authority to limit women's freedom of choice in fitness and recreation activities? What's next? Banning the social dance club? Because, you know, tango and Latin dance forms involve dancing sensually on and around a man rather than an inanimate object…
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There's a lot of transition type moves that can be done equally well with a wall as with a pole. Leaning against it while you do a sexy squat would definitely qualify.
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I wear those shoes in a size 8. They were sooooooooooo tight when I got them. It took some serious work to squeeze my feet in and get my toes flat. I didn't want to go up a size though because the shoe itself fit my foot perfectly, it was just the plastic part that goes over the toes that was small on me. I squeezed into them and wore them for a couple practices and they ended up stretching out and molding themselves to my foot and now they fit like a glove.
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Koidragon said: "I was strong enough physically to do a lot of things with the wrong engagement, and thus am now paying for it."
That is exactly what happened with me. All the other girls in my class just slid down the pole when our instructor told us to do a particular move, but I was in the military and had the strength to brute force it even though I had the mechanics all wrong. End result = major injury (and not wanting to go see the military doctor, because I would have had to explain exactly what I was doing that resulted in said injury).
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I didn't actually realize the injury was that bad until 3 years later, when I finally went to see a physiotherapist for shoulder issues that kept flaring up every time I started hitting intermediate-advanced level pole tricks. If I had gone to a doctor in the first place, I probably would have seriously considered suing.
And yes, pokeyd is right. Education is definitely important and probably would have prevented my injury. But accidents can happen, so insurance is also important.
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For reference, I have a partially separated shoulder thanks to being improperly taught spins in a level 1 class at a studio. That is a life-long injury. The only way to fix it is surgery. I wouldn't skimp on insurance.
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I just flew with my X-Pole (original model) 10 days ago. I put the two long pole segments into their cardboard tubes, taped them together, and checked them. I put the top and base plates inside my checked suitcase. I had to pay $20 because I was checking 2 items and they only allow 1 for free on the airline I used.
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If the area is inflamed, start with rest, ice, and ibuprofin for a few days. Once the inflammation has started to subside, stick a tennis ball between your spine and shoulder blade and then roll up and down on it a few times. Do this several times a day (and on both sides!). That will help break up any adhesions and knots that may have developed in the area and will also help loosen up tight muscles. It may actually hurt too much at first to do this lying on the floor, depending on how tight you are, so you can modify it by doing it up against a wall to begin with.
If that helps but you still have lingering issues, you might want to look into trigger points. My rhomboid pain didn't go away until I dealt with trigger points in my neck and pecs that were referring pain to my back. (Weird, I know, but 8 months of chronic rhomboid pain and inflammation was solved in 2 days of self-treating trigger points, so I'm a believer!). "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" by Clair Davies was one of the best $30 I ever spent.
Next step is to modify your training so you don't continually re-injure yourself. Amy posted some great tips for this.
Hope that helps!
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Posture issues may also be preventing her from making progress. I had a really pronounced anterior pelvic tilt (AKA sway back), but I've been working with a personal trainer lately to correct that and I noticed that my front splits have improved by 3 inches even though I haven't been stretching much.
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Yeah, if I can't find one here then I'll try touching bases with the pole studios in town. Spending an entire month sitting around bored in an empty condo is not an option! (Although my floorwork would probably be amazing by the time I leave, LOL!)
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Better questions to ask:
Are you bigger than average or have big hands? You might prefer a 50mm.
Are you smaller than average or have small hands? You might prefer a 45mm.
Are you a tiny, petite little thing? You might prefer a 40mm.
Are you planning to dance in clubs? They usually have thicker poles. You might prefer a 50mm.
Are you planning to dance in non-exotic pole competitions? 45mm chrome seems to be the standard for those in North America.
Do you want to be able to easily transition between your home and studio poles? Go with what they use.
Do you want a good resale value for your pole? Go with a 45mm. It's easy to find second hand 50mm poles, but not many people are parting with 45mm ones.
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Dirdy Birdy has a really good tutorial on YouTube which covers inverting / aerial inverting / spin mode inverting / spin mode aerial inverting / invert preps.
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I have had really good results using Tite Grip on the inner thighs. It's an antiperspirant grip aid, so it prevents sweating wherever you apply it. It's made a world of difference for me with pole sit and plank types moves during hot, humid weather.
