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If there will be a north bay pole meetup I’d probably be down for it too. 🙂 I’m a bit farther east though and unfortunately have not tried any studios in San Francisco.

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Huzzah, happy happy! 🙂 hope it was great!

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I’m assuming the superman is the back muscle exercise instead of the pole move 🙂

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My old studio got their tall ones custom from platinum stages and it was a dual static/spin pole. They have had no issues with it.

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I never do challenges, but I miss lyra so very much, I’ll try. Hey, it’ll get me doing things every day, which will be a bonus anyways right? Now just to figure out instagram…

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I’ve dealt with all of those, and sometimes, I don’t fare well. I have an issue with sweat. I lather myself up with anti-perspirant before class, but sometimes it isn’t enough when I have to go through a lengthy warm up. My strength isn’t the issue, it’s the fact that I won’t be able to stick on the pole at all any more if I exert myself past a certain point. And I’m competitive.

So, one of the last times I went to my new studio, we did a long warmup, and then tried to do a variety of mounts (couldn’t stick to a shoulder mount) and we finally got to a freestyle. Now, I don’t usually jam out to the music in this studio. I’m not much of a dancer, and most of the hip-hop and r&b styles of songs don’t pull me in. But we played a song I really really like, and I went to do a brass monkey and slid out of that too and ended up having a mini breakdown because I was so frustrated at everything. I couldn’t do a shoulder mount, I couldn’t do a knee pit hold, and I can’t stick my flying body swirls anymore. Basically, all the things I love to do, that make me happy, I was too sweaty to do.

Problem is, all the classes here do the long warm ups for strengthening, and then by that point, I don’t get useful pole time as you can’t train tricks if you just slide. And yes, I wipe myself down, I try chalk, I wipe the pole… No, it doesn’t help that much after a certain point. 🙁

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I like my classes, which are strength/trick based. But I also like when they have level related pop ups, where its a time you can come in and freestyle up to the level of the popup. So anyone can come in to the beginner popup, but they are expected to only do beginner movements. It’s just your choice of practice time.

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Veena: where do you sell the A frame? I’ve been looking for the price of one since you mentioned it a few months back so I can save for it, but I’ve never been able to find it. Also, on your store on mobile only the xpert shows up..

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Ooh, I look forward to hearing about the pole warmers. It would cost me $140 for the mean girls pole warmer, so if it’s cheaper from x-pole I’ll be all on it! My hair dryer isn’t working, and I sweat so the dewpoint stuff doesn’t help me. 🙁

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I’m so sorry to hear that’s happening to you. Are there other studios in your area? Maybe it’s just something about the people in that studio. At my studio, there are people who improved quicker than others, but they just get claps, asked if they have a pointer that may help, and are seen as inspirations rather than competitions. (This is generally true).

Honestly, it seems like it could be a presentation thing. I don’t know how your classes are taught, and I don’t know your body language when you do moves. It could be something as simple as trying not to be so serious, or making an light toned comment when you get a move that has similarities to former dance moves like “oh, this is a form of that”. Maybe that will get the people thinking less that you know what you are doing with pole, and more that there are similarities to dance and gymnastics in case they show interest towards that as well.

I would still say go to intermediate classes. I progressed quickly out of Beginners classes as well, with no dance experience, but that was due to the fact that I was already fitter than most people in class, and I used to love to swing around poles as a kid. I also was able to climb the pole first day. Intermediate was much harder for me though. You may have less of the issue in a harder class.

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Not exactly what you are asking for, but amazon prime music, google music and I think spotify all have access to Cirque du Soleil sound tracks. And since the music is made for actual acts, there is a pretty nice beat and pause thing going on on most songs. I’m really liking the amaluna soundtrack, O ma Ley, and Elma Om Mi Lize are fun to do. Hope is actually for a Lyra set. 🙂

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Tacking on to what Runemist said: Your progress is quite possibly one of the most important things you will get. I have for most of my life been very uncoordinated and not entirely cognizant of the position of my body. But after struggling on moves in pole, I’ve become much more aware of what my body is doing, as well as what other people’s bodies are doing. Through my struggles to get into a pose, once I do it and it clicks, I often find that I modified the intro in order to actually work with my body. You may find that your body can’t exactly get into a move the same way as someone else, but try different variations. As long as you are secure in the end move and you didn’t hurt yourself on the way, it’s totally valid to do things differently. And who knows, your struggles may end up helping another new poler down the line with the same issues.

Good luck to both of you. Also, if you can post videos sometimes for things you struggle with, maybe people can think of alternate ways to help you achieve your goals because of an experience someone else previously had?

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Stretching lessons on studio veena are great and as someone earlier has suggested, Antranik (@Antranik.org) has quite a bit of stretching information and has made routines to improve flexibility for splits. You can also find him on reddit.com/r/flexibility or r/bodyweightfitness, as he’s an active member and moderator of those boards.

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I love the hoop, but I don’t own one… *sadpanda*

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So, I have this issue a lot. I was not very much into makeup and dressing up as a little kid, and I would get made fun of a lot. Now I’m trying to do pole, and in the back of my mind, all I can do is compare. Like how I have cellulite and so and so doesn’t, how my hair is shitty in comparison to someone elses, etc, etc. I started doing Lyra, and I begin to feel sexier. Partially because I get to hide my thighs (which I have a love/hate relationship with) and partially because I am strong enough to do many of the basic tricks and my body cannot sweat me off of a hoop like it can from a pole.

Anyways, I got a picture taken of me on the Lyra. I loved it. I shared it around. But then the more I looked at the picture, the more I started to nit-pick it. My body isn’t curved enough. I’m not pointing the toes enough. It was horrible. I mentioned it to my teacher at one point. She was appalled that I felt that way about myself. This past week, before class, one of the instructors brought makeup and hair products and gave me a mini makeover before pole. It was… I felt pretty. I looked pretty, I felt pretty, and I felt a little more free to just flow. I ended up being able to do a superwoman from a invert to a Jasmine. I’ve never even managed to hold the superwoman from the floor before!

This weekend I went out and I bought some makeup and clothes that I really like myself in. I’m hoping that if I can recreate what my friends gave to me, it will really help. It’s hard though. But maybe you just need the one moment where your imperfections are just hidden and your best parts brought to the forefront. And just because you don’t normally see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Good luck! I’m still working on it myself.