michaelaarghh
Forum Replies Created
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Ahhh yeah maybe that is it, I can’t get my centre of balance in it because of where my hips are.
Didn’t even think about that. I’ll try bringing my feet to a D and see if that makes it easier!
Thanks guys! -
Everyone has some awesome advice in here, so I’m not going to say too much because it will just repeat what everyone else has said.
But it does sound like a strength issue – training negatives or increasing the distance of you from the floor (using a bench or a wall) is an amazing way to train to build the strength to be able to do the exercise.
(Conversely if you’re pro and are awesome at push ups elevating the feet onto a bench will make the exercise harder)That ‘lumpy muscle’ nonsense sounds like broscience. What does that even mean??? I would ignore that advice.
Also just wanted to add in (which I don’t think has been added in) is that push ups are actually more of a chest exercise than people realise (in fact it’s mostly chest). So it’s not that weird that polers (who have a lot of back strength) may not necessarily be able to do push ups if they’re not training the reverse muscle groups.
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We use metho (methylated spirits) on our poles. Gets them nice and clean and strips any excess grip aids 🙂
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My shoulders roll forward from having really bad posture for most of my life. When I started pole and my instructors would tell me “down and back” it was really hard for me to remember that when doing moves…but it is SO IMPORTANT.
I think with beginners (especially if you have bad posture) it becomes even more important because you have a complete lack of body awareness. (‘you’ generally, not you specifically!)
Practice rolling your shoulders back, so you get the feeling of that, and then work on rolling them back and “pinching” the shoulder blades… that is “down and back” and is super important for engaging all the correct back muscles.
I now instinctively engage the shoulders (down and back) before even touching the pole, and this has helped so much wtih my posture and my rounded shoulders.If you lift yourself or perform any weight bearing exercise without the proper form you’re much more likely to injure yourself! (as you’ve found out!)
Plus it’s a lot easier if you’re using the bigger back muscles to lift, rather than stressing out the small shoulder ones and potentially putting stress on the skeleton. -
There’s no need to get defensive, Tasha, the comments are for anyone who comes across this and is having difficulties with it. We’re all just trying to help each other out.
Maybe you don’t care if you’re doing the move right, but I care if I am. -
These are pictures of the meat hook.
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Oh coz I think that arm is supposed to be straight not bent?
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Is Tasha J doing an armpit hold? Because hers looks different from the meathook I know, and looks more like a sideways pike?
With the arm straight hold you need to be tilted so feet are down and bum is up to get that balance. -
I think meat hook can only really be done spinning, because that spin movement helps to keep you on the pole. Although I still don’t feel “safe” taking that top arm off?
I tried another variation of it, coming into it from a twisted grip shoulder mount, (which you can do static)
(video: http://instagram.com/p/th9CHPlS21/)I wonder if it’s a simple matter of really engaging the lats of the arm that’s holding on? As well as bringing the toes down and keeping the butt up?
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a video would be really useful. It could just be that you’re not lifting your hips high enough in order to get that knee hooked high. bit tricky to know though without seeing what you’re currently doing 🙂
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My right hip is a bit weird like that, and if it’s not warmed up it kind of pops. It’s not painful, just uncomfortable. For me, I’ve found building the strength in my hip flexors and working on stretching out my hips has made a noticeable difference. My left hip doesn’t pop at all anymore, but my right is still a bit stiff.
That being said, ALL my joints (even my sternum…) crack really loudly (particularly my ankles!) and I can crack them multiple times within a short time span. I think that’s different to the hip popping though, right?ROLFing is a type of alternative medicine, and I’m a bit wary of spending my money on it knowing there is no scientific evidence that it assists with any condition. I do visit my physiotherapist (or physical therapist, I think they’re called in America) and he’s amazing!
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That’s a really good idea! Clever!
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Most studios in Australia pole on 38mm, (and our comps use 38mm) and I have a 40mm pole at home and love it. Like someone else mentioned if you eventually want to compete and the comps in your area use thicker poles, that would definitely be a consideration.
But I love my 40mm 🙂 -
hahaha no…no use of chainmail gloves over here!
I contacted them about 3 weeks ago 🙁 -
Hopefully they see this and comment, because like I said, they haven’t responded to me contacting them.
One of the teachers at the studio I train at told me she keeps her pole next to her bathroom, and it shows no sign of rust, so I wonder if there’s something wrong with my pole? 🙁 -
That’s not a bad idea…I wouldn’t know how to go about powder coating though, and I’ve never poled on a powder-coated pole. As I understand it’s quite expensive, so I would hate to go through with it, and then hate it! And obviously I’ve spent so much money on my pole currently (over $1000 easily, given the number of extensions I’ve bought).
I know my bike sits outside, and even after days of rain it shows no sign of rust, so I’m pretty disappointed that my pole is showing rust after being kept inside!
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oh like pole flex? I guess that makes sense. my chrome flexes like crazy, (probably because it’s so tall) but you don’t really notice it when you’re on the pole, I think. and then the brass poles we have at the studio are permanently mounted so I guess they don’t flex too much.
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I don’t understand how the finish would make a difference in terms of it being wobbly?
My 40mm is a chrome, and I still love it 🙂 -
Maybe they only have 40mm brass in Australia?
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I thought xpole did a brass 40mm? I use a 40mm chrome at home (there are pictures on my profile of my hands in comparison to it if that helps) and 38mm brass at the studio. I love skinny poles, and can’t even imagine poling on a thicker pole 🙂
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Spider veins are veins that are really close to the surface of your skin that have swollen up when that vein has had high pressure. so it’s likely johnssdeere that you always had those veins close to the surface of your skin but they’ve only just ‘swollen’ now and turned into spider veins.
I think they’re just genetic, I don’t think that activities can cause them. (this might be different with varicose veins though?) If anything, I think that being inactive would lead to more because in that case your circulation might not be as good.
I have spider veins as well, little patches of them on my legs that look like bruises, and on my cheeks and eyelids.I don’t bruise that easily at all, Jenn1989, so I don’t know if that’s the culprit of your easy bruising. Have you been tested for an iron deficiency?
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Sorry for the double post; I would add into what M Darling said and say if you’re new to these exercises, most of them can be done with bodyweight. So I’d recommend that before adding weights. e.g, body weight squats, lunges etc.
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My upper body is pretty unbalanced, because I’ve been lazy about practicing things on my left side, so naturally it’s a bit weaker. So I go to the gym and lift weights to try and balance that out a bit.
I love doing circuit training, I personally find it a really efficient way of working out at the gym, and like jivete mentioned, I prefer to do compound exercises rather than isolation. My typical week is pole – power circuit – yoga – power circuit – chest and back – legs – shoulders and arms
and then on the “non-pole days” I really try to fit in some pole practice where I can because I have a performance coming up.I worked out what exercises to do by looking around different fitness and bodybuilding blogs. Also, most gyms will have instructors who are moer than happy to help you out and put together a workout plan
Depending on what day it is, the exercises I do are: clean and press (barbell), hanging knee raises, weighted step ups, pull-ups, incline dumbbell press, incline pec flys, bench press, squats, deadlifts, hamstring curls, weighted lunges, weighted side lunges, dumbbell shoulder press, lateral raises, and then i do a bunch of different cable exercises too 🙂
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I have twitter!! http://www.twitter.com/michaelaarghh 🙂
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I started almost three years ago with absolutely no dance background, strength training, no gymnastics, nothing. I’m still pretty inflexible, although I am working on that.
In my teen years I had a pretty bad shoulder injury, that still irritates me to this day because it hinders my shoulder flexibility. For instance, this move: http://instagram.com/p/nDaARgFSyi/ took me over a year to get, because I needed to build up that flexibility for that bottom arm. For months and months, I could only just hold my arms in that position.It took me over a year to even feel confident holding my weight in a handstand, and now I’m training to do them free-standing.
I’ve had to work hard for every single move, and pole has taught me a lot about patience, and given me a lot of self confidence in what my body can do.
